Flutterwave Acquires Open Banking Startup Mono in All-Stock Deal Valued Up to $40 Million

LAGOS — Flutterwave, Africa's leading payments technology company, has officially acquired Mono, a pioneer in open banking infrastructure across the region. Valued between $25 million and $40 million in an all-stock transaction, the strategic deal deepens Flutterwave’s long-term commitment to building an interconnected, interoperable financial system while establishing open banking as a foundational pillar for alternative payment methods across Africa.

As African markets rapidly transition away from traditional card rails toward trusted, data-led financial services, demand for bank-based and authenticated payment methods has surged. Founded in 2020, Mono’s API-driven platform enables secure access to customer-permissioned financial data, robust identity verification, and direct account-to-account payments.

By bringing these core capabilities in-house, Flutterwave significantly bolsters its vertical stack. The integration delivers immediate operational advantages:

• Enhanced Fraud Mitigation & Security: Verified account data and streamlined compliance processes drastically lower transaction risk.
• Frictionless Onboarding: Businesses gain access to automated verification frameworks that reduce drop-off rates and improve conversion at scale.
• Future-Proofing Payments: The collaboration clears a direct pathway toward advanced alternative payment rails, authenticated flows, and emerging open banking-enabled stablecoin use cases.

Under the agreed-upon terms, Mono will maintain its distinct operational autonomy. The deal is structured for strategic alignment rather than heavy-handed operational control, ensuring zero disruptions to Mono's leadership structure, internal teams, or day-to-day operations. This model allows Mono to preserve its agile pace of innovation while channeling its infrastructure depth directly into Flutterwave's expansive pan-African ecosystem.

“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,” said Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave.

“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,” added Abdulhamid Hassan, Founder and CEO of Mono.

Beyond immediate product synergies, the acquisition signals a broader maturation of the African technology landscape, where early-stage infrastructure providers increasingly find optimal paths to scale by integrating with established giants. For regulatory stakeholders, the deepened integration promises stronger standardization, elevated data protection, and stringent adherence to global frameworks including PCI-DSS and ISO 27001.

The transaction was advised by Nichole Yembra, Founder and Managing Partner at The Chrysalis Advisors Africa, who provided critical guidance on strategic positioning and execution.

Learn More at: https://flutterwave.com/us/blog/flutterwave-expands-payments-infrastructure-with-acquisition-of-open-banking-firm-mono