Flutterwave to advance open banking with Mono

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 05 Jan 2026
Olugbenga Agboola, founder and CEO of Flutterwave.
Olugbenga Agboola, founder and CEO of Flutterwave.

Fintech Flutterwave has acquired Mono, a continent-wide pioneer in open banking infrastructure.

According to the fintech, the acquisition strengthens Flutterwave's long-term commitment to developing a connected, interoperable financial system for Africa and positions open banking as a core pillar in the evolution of alternative payment methods across the region.

Flutterwave said in a statement Mono's API-driven platform allows for secure access to financial data, identity verification, and account-to-account payments, all of which are becoming increasingly important as African economies transition to more trustworthy, data-driven financial services.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Mono will remain independent, with no changes to its leadership structure, personnel, or day-to-day operations.

The statement went on to say: “Flutterwave’s stake enables strategic alignment rather than operational control, allowing Mono to maintain its pace of innovation while contributing its open banking infrastructure to Flutterwave’s broader payments ecosystem.

“The acquisition reflects a growing recognition that the next phase of Africa’s payments growth will be driven less by card rails and more by bank-based, authenticated, and locally relevant payment methods. By integrating Mono’s open banking APIs, Flutterwave strengthens its ability to support faster on-boarding, improved verification, reduced fraud, and seamless account-to- account payments.”

According to Flutterwave, the collaboration also creates a clear pathway for “expanding into richer alternative payment methods, authenticated payment flows, and, over time, open banking-enabled stablecoin use cases.”

Commenting on the acquisition, Olugbenga Agboola, founder and CEO of Flutterwave, said, "This acquisition reflects how we think about the future of financial infrastructure in Africa. Payments, data, and trust cannot exist in silos. 

"Open banking provides the connective tissue, and Mono has built critical infrastructure in this space. This acquisition allows us to expand what’s possible for businesses operating across African markets, while staying grounded in security, compliance, and local relevance."

Abdulhamid Hassan, founder and CEO of Mono, added: "We built Mono to unlock Africa's Open Banking potential, and since our first partnership with Flutterwave in 2021 and working together over the years, we've seen the power of a coordinated effort towards this goal. 

"Mono's capabilities across financial data access, direct bank payments, and identity verification, combined with Flutterwave's unmatched scale and global reach, create something more defensible and comprehensive. This acquisition allows us to build the infrastructure layer that powers the next generation of African fintech at the speed and scale the continent deserves.”

The transaction was advised by Nichole Yembra, founder and managing partner at The Chrysalis Advisors Africa, who supported the parties through strategic positioning and execution.

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