African payments technology firm Flutterwave has been granted a Switching and Processing License by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which is widely considered the most significant payments processing license in the country.
The license gives Flutterwave permission to offer customers in the region switching and card processing services, as well as non-bank acquiring, agency banking and payment gateway services, according to a press release Thursday (Sept. 1).
The company can now enable transactions between banks, FinTechs and other financial institutions and can process card transactions, participate in agency banking and offer various payment services without any intermediary.
“This is big news for our customers, partners, investors, and other stakeholders. It is an important milestone in our growth story,” said CEO and founder Olugbenga GB Agboola.
“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,” he added.
Prior to being granted a license in Nigeria, Flutterwave operated with its Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) and International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) licenses, according to the press release.
The Nigerian payments startup was recently in the crosshairs of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) for alleged claims of financial impropriety under anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, PYMNTS reported earlier this week.
See also: Flutterwave Moving Ahead With IPO Despite Woes in Kenya
Its bank accounts were frozen by Kenya’s High Court and the CBK directed banking and mortgage CEOs to stop doing business with Flutterwave because it wasn’t licensed to operate in Kenya.
Read more: Flutterwave Denies Kenyan Regulator’s AML Claims
Founded in 2016, Flutterwave enables businesses worldwide to grow their operations across Africa and other emerging markets. Its platform enables cross-border transactions via one application programming interface (API) and processes in 150 currencies and multiple payment modes, including local and international cards, mobile wallets and more.
The company has processed over 200 million transactions worth over $16 billion to date and serves more than 1 billion businesses.
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