Flutterwave has acquired open banking startup Mono in an all-share transaction valued at between US$25 million and US$40 million, marking one of the most significant fintech deals on the continent this year.
The acquisition deepens Flutterwave’s push beyond traditional card-based payments as African fintechs increasingly pivot towards account-to-account transfers, identity-linked verification, and locally regulated financial infrastructure. Despite the deal, Mono will retain its independence, with its leadership, staff, and daily operations remaining intact, according to sources familiar with the transaction.
Mono offers application programming interfaces that enable businesses to securely access bank account data, verify customer identities, and initiate direct bank payments. These tools are rapidly becoming essential as regulators and enterprises across Africa demand higher transparency, tighter fraud controls, and stronger compliance standards in digital finance.
“This deal reflects how we see the future of Africa’s financial infrastructure. Payments, data, and trust cannot function in isolation. Open banking is the connective tissue, and Mono has built some of the most important plumbing in this space,” said Flutterwave founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola.
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Founded in 2020, Mono has raised approximately US$17.5 million from investors including Tiger Global, General Catalyst, and Target Global. The acquisition allows most early backers to recover a substantial portion of their investment.
With card usage still limited across much of Africa, bank transfers and mobile-linked accounts continue to dominate both consumer and business transactions. By folding Mono’s technology into its platform, Flutterwave is expected to speed up merchant onboarding, enhance fraud detection, and improve reliability, particularly for cross-border and high-volume payments.
“Combining Mono’s strengths in financial data access, direct bank payments, and identity verification with Flutterwave’s scale and international reach creates a far more resilient and comprehensive infrastructure,” said Mono founder and CEO Abdulhamid Hassan. “This positions us to build the backbone for the next generation of African fintech at the scale the continent requires.”
For developers and financial institutions, the integration is likely to simplify operations by bringing payments execution and financial data access under one roof. Regulators may also benefit from increased standardisation and improved data governance as platforms consolidate under global security frameworks such as PCI-DSS and ISO 27001.
The transaction was advised by Chrysalis Advisors Africa.
