By Ghazali Ibrahim
African fintech giant Flutterwave has announced it has secured regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate with a banking licence, marking a major step in its 10th year transition toward becoming a full-service financial institution.
The company disclosed that the licence, will enable it to accept deposits and expand its offerings beyond payments into broader financial services.
Reacting to the development on X, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Olugbenga Agboola described the milestone as transformative for the company.
Agboola said the approval would allow Flutterwave to deepen its infrastructure and deliver more comprehensive financial solutions.
“Today, @theflutterwave announces a Nigerian banking license. It is a defining step in our 10-year journey to build the financial infrastructure powering Africa’s future,” he wrote on X.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had selected Flutterwave, Paystack and other firms as the initial phase of the pilot supervision program for virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
Earlier this year, Flutterwave acquired Nigerian open banking startup Mono in an all-stock transaction worth up to $40 million.
With the new licence, the company is expected to roll out services such as account management, lending, and other banking products, positioning it to compete more directly with digital banks and traditional financial institutions.
