Flutterwave Bags CBN’s Highest Payments Processing License

Popular financial technology company, Flutterwave, has secured Nigeria’s highest payments processing license from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The latest licence known as a Switching and Processing License is widely regarded as CBN’s most valuable payments processing license. This license shall allow Flutterwave to offer customers transaction switching and card processing services. Others include non-bank acquiring, agency banking and payment gateway services.

Reportedly, the company could also process card transactions, participate in agency banking and offer various payment services without intermediaries. Prior to this license, Flutterwave operated with its Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) and International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) licenses.

According to Flutterwave’s Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Olugbenga GB Agboola: “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, aligns with our goal of developing a world-class and secure payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent.

Reacting to the news, Onyedikachim Nwankwo, Head of Product Marketing, said, “The license will allow us to offer more services and explore more payment use cases for our 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.”

This new feather to the company’s cap came on the heels of the now viral news that Flutterwave is considering an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the US and Nigeria.  Sources familiar with the situation told Bloomberg that the recent recruitments into key positions at Flutterwave were all in preparation for the IPO. Recall that Flutterwave had recently hired Oneal Bhamban, a former VP at American Express, as its new Chief Financial Officer. Also, the company hired Gurbhej Dhillon, a former MD at Goldman Sachs, as its new Chief Technology Officer.