The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has certified Nigerian payment unicorn, Flutterwave, with a Switching and Processing Licence. The highly rated licence would enable the FinTech company to offer transactional services to other payment gateway providers, customers, and stakeholders of the sector without a third party.
What’s more
The license also enables flutterwave to perform services, including card processing, non-bank acquiring, inter agency banking and payment gateway services.
Why it matters
While this highly rated license from Nigeria’s apex bank strengthens its hold on the Nigerian financial space, the FinTech company is still facing allegations of fraud in Kenya. Flutterwave with acquisition such as this is eyeing greater success in Africa.
What they are saying
Flutterwave’s chief regulatory and government affairs officer, Oluwabankole Falade, stated at the breaking of the news that “we are thrilled to have been issued this licence after fulfilling all of the regulatory requirements. The application process was very rigorous and included a detailed review of our operations as a business.”
What you should know
Flutterwave is a leading financial service operator in Africa with a valuation of $3 billion.
Flutterwave in the past operated with its Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) and International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) licenses. While the PSSP license allowed the FinTech company to pay merchants, the IMTO allowed the company to facilitate cross-border payments.
Regardless of these licenses, the FinTech company had to perform transactions through its partner companies. But with the Switching and Processing License, flutterwave can launch new payment services while improving its existing products.