CBN grants Flutterwave Switching and Processing license

Technology company Flutterwave has been granted a Switching and Processing License by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The license is widely regarded as CBN’s most valuable payment processing license.

This license will allow Flutterwave to offer customers transaction switching and card processing services. Others include non-bank acquiring, agency banking and payment gateway services.

The Switching and Processing license allows Flutterwave to enable transactions between banks, fintechs and other financial institutions. The Company is also able to process card transactions, participate in agency banking and offer various payment services without any intermediary. Prior to this license, Flutterwave operated with its Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) and International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) licenses.

Since its inception, Flutterwave has processed over 200 million transactions worth over $16 billion to date and serves more than one million businesses including customers like Uber, Flywire, Booking.com, and others.

The company stated that its key advantage is international payment processing in 150 currencies and multiple payment modes including local and international cards, mobile wallets, bank transfers, Barter by Flutterwave etc. Flutterwave has an infrastructure reach in over 34 African countries, including Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa and others.

Flutterwave CEO and Founder, Olugbenga Agboola said: “This is big news for our customers, partners, investors, and other stakeholders. It is an important milestone in our growth story. Building a thriving payments ecosystem in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is in line with our goal of developing a world-class and secure payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent.”

Also, Flutterwave’s Chief Regulatory and Government Affairs Officer, Oluwabankole Falade said the firm was thrilled to have been issued the license after fulfilling all of the regulatory requirements. “The application process was rigorous and included a detailed review of our operations as a business. As a switch, we have more responsibilities and will continue to work with Regulators to ensure we meet and exceed their expectations.”

Head, Product Marketing of the company, Onyedikachim Nwankwo, said the license would allow the firm to offer more services and explore more payment use cases for its ecosystem. “With this license, we can offer more value to our customers while taking more control of our value chain to enable an improved payments experience for our enterprise, medium scale and retail customers.”

“The application and review process by the CBN was a tough and rigorous process that examined every aspect of Flutterwave’s business, including the company’s financial position.

“We remain a leading African payments technology company that enables businesses across the world to expand their operations in Africa and other emerging markets through a platform that enables cross-border transactions via one API.”