Flutterwave has agreed to acquire open banking company Mono, bringing financial data connectivity and account to account capabilities into its broader payments platform. The acquisition reflects a shift toward deeper financial infrastructure in African markets, where bank transfers, mobile money, and regional payment rails often sit closer to everyday customer behavior than card networks.

Why open banking matters for Flutterwave

Flutterwave already operates across multiple African markets with payments, remittances, wallets, and merchant services. Many of its business customers work across borders, handle diverse customer segments, and need payment flows that match local habits. Adding open banking helps address this reality at the infrastructure level.

With Mono’s technology, Flutterwave can access customer-permissioned bank data, verify account ownership, and support direct account to account transactions where appropriate. This can reduce friction during onboarding, improve fraud controls, and provide payment choices that align with how users prefer to transact in markets where card penetration is still developing.

From a platform perspective, this creates a closer connection between payments, identity checks, and financial data. It supports use cases that rely on verified account activity rather than static documentation or manual checks.

What Mono adds to the infrastructure

Mono was founded in 2020 with a focus on connecting fintech companies and financial institutions to bank systems through APIs. Its services make it possible to review transaction history with user consent, confirm that an account belongs to the right customer, and enable data-driven assessments in lending and financial services.

In many African markets, formal credit files remain limited for a large share of the population. Bank activity and transaction behavior therefore play a meaningful role in risk assessment, eligibility evaluation, and customer trust. Mono’s infrastructure has helped fill that gap by turning live financial data into an operational tool for fintech firms.

Keeping Mono as a distinct business unit within the Flutterwave group allows its team to continue developing its core product while aligning with a larger payments ecosystem.

How this shapes the ecosystem

The acquisition shows how African fintech infrastructure is maturing toward more integrated platforms. Open banking is becoming part of the base layer that supports compliance, underwriting, onboarding, and payment innovation. When financial data, identity checks, and payment initiation operate inside one environment, it becomes easier for partners and developers to design services that reflect real customer behavior at scale.

Key takeaways for fintech startups

Here is a short summary of the main lessons from this acquisition:

• Integrated platforms that combine payments and financial data can create stronger value for partners and developers.
  
  
• Customer-permissioned bank data supports better verification, onboarding, and risk assessment where credit files are limited.
  
  
• Account to account payment options remain strategically important in markets where bank transfers are widely used.
  
  
• Maintaining product independence inside a larger group can protect innovation while benefiting from platform scale.
  
  
• Infrastructure decisions increasingly shape how fintech products grow across multiple markets.

If you are developing or scaling a fintech product and want support in shaping your strategy, positioning, or partnership approach, Your Fintech Story can help you build a roadmap grounded in real market dynamics.