Nigerian digital payments company Flutterwave was granted its first banking license in the country, the latest sign of a push among Africa’s fintech leaders to diversify and capture more of the value in the continent’s growing digital economy.
Flutterwave has mainly operated as a digital payments processor since it was founded in 2016, which meant that it had to depend on and share revenue with partner banks in Africa’s most populous nation. But owning a license gives the Lagos-headquartered company greater autonomy. The firm, which also offers cross-border remittance services and operates in 35 African countries, said it will now be able to hold customer deposits, offering savings and credit products.
Competition in Nigeria’s banking scene has increased between legacy brick-and-mortar institutions and digital-first upstarts, driven by increased broadband penetration and smartphone affordability. Flutterwave is entering the scene after fintech players OPay, Palmpay, and Moniepoint have demonstrated consumer appetite for app-based banks that provide fast transaction settlements that commercial banks were slow to adopt.
