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Flutterwave Re-brands, Goes Beyond Payments

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Flutterwave, the leading technology company, has unveiled a significant re-brand and identity at Flutterwave 3.0, a virtual event held last Friday.

Following the announcement of a $250M Series D funding last week, Flutterwave is now rolling out its new and reimagined identity, to affirm its commitment to creating endless possibilities for all, through technology, as well as introducing new products and services that take the technology leader beyond payments.

During the Flutterwave 3.0 event, streamed across Youtube, the brand launched a series of products, including;

A Fintech as a Service (FaaS) solution which helps startups of all sizes quickly become Fintech companies using Flutterwave’s pre-built API and solutions.

Capital, a technology platform for businesses & consumers to access Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) & Merchant lending from regulated and certified credit providers.

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Grow, a B2B product that helps entrepreneurs easily incorporate their businesses globally.

Checkout, a new checkout experience that is 5x faster, reducing drop-off by 60%.

 – Card issuing, technology platform to enable businesses to issue both Mastercard virtual and physical debit/prepaid cards to their customers in partnership with Mastercard. These solutions remain subject to regulatory approval.

Additional improvements to existing products include; a new powerful dashboard, Barter v4, and an AI-powered compliance process. The Flutterwave visual rebrand comes with 6 new primary colours which depict creativity, motivation, passion, ease, robustness and eagerness.

Flutterwave launched in 2016, initially building innovative financial infrastructure to enable payments for banks and institutions, before expanding into checkouts and gateways for businesses of all sizes.

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Having invested in and built out a suite of products and services targeted at both consumers and businesses, Flutterwave has gone on to serve over 900,000 merchants, process over 200M transactions worth over USD $16B to date, across 34 countries in Africa, which has led to the company becoming one of Africa’s earliest unicorns in March 2021.

Friday’s event sees Flutterwave affirm its commitment to explore more areas of growth for businesses, startups and individuals. The move comes after a significant diversification of products in 2021, whereby the company announced the acquisition of Disha, a creator platform where creatives can receive money from across the world for their craft.

In the same year, Flutterwave went on to introduce Market, an extension of its e-commerce solution, Store to improve visibility and by extension, revenue for small businesses. Alongside global Afrobeats superstar Wizkid, in December Flutterwave launched a remittance solution, Send, to help anyone in the world send and receive money.

“We’re growing and for us, payments have become a means to an end.” Founder and CEO, Olugbenga GB Agboola, said, “Every part of our lives includes some form of transaction. Beyond powering those transactions, we want to also create those transactions.

“We want to help event organizers seamlessly register and sell out their events, we want to help artists receive money for their craft, we want to help entrepreneurs incorporate their businesses, we want to help startups build financial technology products easily and we want to create endless possibilities for all through technology.

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“Our new identity is a system that recognises how far we’ve come in our mission. It gives us space to include all of our dreams and aspirations for businesses and customers. It gives us the freedom to do and be more. We’re excited for this new chapter in our growth.”

Yewande Akomolafe-Kalu, head of Branding and Storytelling, said, “We always wanted to simplify payments for endless possibilities for our customers. Over time, we’ve come to see that the story of our impact goes well beyond payments.

“We understand how important it is to embrace the full story of our journey and make it a part of our identity. We’re excited to create endless possibilities through technology.”

Ted Oladele, VP of Design, Flutterwave, said, “During our first ever rebrand meeting, we asked ourselves; how much does our brand communicate who we are?

“We discovered we were confining ourselves to a single story of our brand when we were much bigger than that. This new brand is freedom. It enables us to create solutions that help people, whether payments or not. It recognises our growth and actively asks us to do more.”

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E-Business

PalmPay Targets Hong Kong IPO after $1Bn Valuation

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PalmPay, one of Africa’s leading digital financial services companies, is considering a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after attaining a valuation of more than one billion dollars, according to a Bloomberg report.

PalmPay Targets Hong Kong IPO After $1bn Valuation, Eyes Fresh Capital Raise

PalmPay

The report, citing sources familiar with the matter, said the fintech company was also seeking to raise between 150 million dollars and 200 million dollars in fresh funding ahead of a potential Initial Public Offering (IPO).

According to the sources, the additional capital is expected to support PalmPay’s next phase of expansion across Africa and selected Asian markets.

If completed, the IPO would rank among the most significant public market debuts by an African fintech company and could encourage other technology firms on the continent to explore listings beyond the traditional financial centres of London and New York.

Founded in 2019, PalmPay has emerged as one of Africa’s fastest-growing consumer fintech platforms, providing digital payments, money transfers, savings, lending and merchant payment solutions.

The company has established its strongest market presence in Nigeria while expanding operations into Ghana, Tanzania and Bangladesh as part of its international growth strategy.

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PalmPay says it currently serves more than 35 million registered users and supports over one million businesses and merchants, processing millions of transactions daily.

Its rapid growth has positioned it among Africa’s leading fintech firms, alongside companies such as Flutterwave, Moniepoint, OPay, Wave and Onafriq.

Unlike many technology startups that have prioritised rapid customer acquisition over profitability, PalmPay reportedly achieved profitability in 2025, a development analysts say could enhance investor confidence as the company prepares for another fundraising round and an eventual stock market listing.

The report noted that Hong Kong could offer strategic advantages for PalmPay due to its strong commercial ties with Asian investors and the company’s growing presence in emerging Asian markets.

PalmPay’s early investors include Transsion Holdings, the maker of the Tecno, Infinix and itel smartphone brands, as well as investors linked to NetEase and MediaTek.

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Industry analysts believe these long-standing relationships could make Hong Kong a natural destination for PalmPay’s public listing while broadening access to investors already familiar with its business model.

The company’s IPO plans come as venture capital investment in African startups has slowed considerably since the record funding years of 2021 and 2022, prompting many technology firms to focus on profitability, stronger balance sheets and sustainable long-term growth.

Against that backdrop, PalmPay’s proposed fundraising and listing are expected to serve as an important test of international investor appetite for profitable African fintech companies.

The company’s valuation also underscores the resilience of Africa’s digital payments sector, driven by rising smartphone adoption, expanding internet access and increasing demand for cashless transactions across the continent.

Although PalmPay has yet to make a final decision on either the fundraising or the IPO timetable, the reported preparations indicate that the company is positioning itself for its next phase of growth.

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Industry observers say a successful Hong Kong listing could provide fresh momentum for Africa’s technology sector and create an alternative pathway for high-growth startups seeking access to global capital markets.

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Zenith Bank Confirms Cyberattack, Says Hackers Accessed Limited Customer Data

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Hackers have hit the database of Zenith Bank, one of Nigeria’s largest financial institutions, stealing customers’ information.

Zenith confirmed the attack in an email to customers on Tuesday.

The bank said the hackers accessed limited customer information, “including email addresses and phone numbers, during a cyberattack that forms part of a broader global attack on organisations across different sectors”.

The lender stressed that the incident involved only limited customer information, adding that its banking services and digital channels remain secure and fully operational.

The bank said it is investigating the attack, noting that its incident response protocols and other cybersecurity measures were immediately activated after the breach was discovered.

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“As a precaution, we encourage our customers to remain vigilant against phishing emails, text messages, or phone calls, and to never disclose their password, PIN, One-Time Password (OTP), or other security credentials to anyone,” the bank said.

Zenith Bank said it remains committed to protecting customers’ information and thanked them for their continued trust, adding that investigations into the incident are ongoing.

In August 2024, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) reported experiencing a similar incident.

The commercial bank said there were attempts to compromise its website domain, but customers’ data was not affected.

The latest attack comes months after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warned the public of cyber hack attempts to gain access to personal accounts of Nigerians.

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The CBN said the hackers were circulating fraudulent messages and emails falsely claiming to originate from the bank.

According to the financial regulator, there were misleading messages circulating, designed to deceive Nigerians and compromise their personal information.

The regulator said the fake communications, which include emails and online messages, often prompt recipients to click suspicious links while spreading false claims about the bank’s leadership, licensing activities, and policy decisions.

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Nigerians Lost N25.85Bn to Digital Payment Fraud in 2025 –CBN

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Nigerians lost N25.85 billion to digital payment fraud in 2025, according to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Nigerians Lost N25.85Bn to Digital Payment Fraud in 2025 –CBN

Though the figure represents a significant decline from the N52.26 billion recorded in 2024, CBN, said the losses remained substantial for payment service providers (PSPs).

According to the report, although the value of digital payment fraud declined significantly year-on-year, when compared to the N52.26 billion recorded in the previous year, the losses remained substantial for Payment Service Providers (PSPs), underscoring the need for stronger fraud prevention measures across the industry.

In the report, the CBN, also identified systemic risks, cyber threats, the dominance of a few systemically important payment service providers, and the activities of unlicensed payment companies as major concerns confronting the financial sector.

According to the report, although the value of digital payment fraud declined significantly year-on-year, the losses remained substantial for Payment Service Providers (PSPs), underscoring the need for stronger fraud prevention measures across the industry.

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“Digital payment fraud in Nigeria stood at N25.85 billion in 2025,” the apex bank said.

It noted that while this represented a considerable improvement from the N52.26 billion lost in 2024, the amount remained significant.

“Though this was lower than N52.26 billion in the preceding year, it represented a substantial loss for PSPs,” the report stated.

The CBN attributed the reduction in fraud losses to enhanced security measures implemented across the financial sector.

It said, “The lower losses in 2025 reflected improvements in monitoring, BVN-NIN integration, and tighter controls.”

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Beyond fraud, the report warned that Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital payments landscape faces increasing systemic vulnerabilities as banks and fintech companies become more interconnected through shared payment infrastructure.

According to the report, a major operational failure involving a single payment service provider could quickly spread across the financial system because of the growing dependence on integrated payment platforms.

The CBN observed that despite ongoing efforts to strengthen payment system integration, interoperability remains a significant challenge.

It disclosed that about half of fintech stakeholders continued to express dissatisfaction with the current level of system-wide interoperability.

The report stated that “about 50.00 per cent of fintech stakeholders continued to rate system-wide interoperability as poor, primarily due to the lack of universal APIs and data-sharing standards.”

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The apex bank also expressed concern over the concentration of payment activities among a few Systemically Important Payment Service (SIPS) providers, warning that operational failures involving any of them could have widespread consequences.

It explained that the failure of such providers could trigger a “domino effect”, where insolvency or operational glitches in one payment service provider spread rapidly to others, disrupting the smooth functioning of the financial system.

Cybersecurity also featured prominently among the risks identified in the report.

The CBN warned that payment service providers remain vulnerable to ransomware attacks, data breaches and credential theft, noting that cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in targeting financial institutions.

According to the report, “Banking and fintech institutions remained prime targets for ransomware, data leaks, and credential theft.”

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It added that, “Cyber threats in Nigeria are no longer random cybercrimes, but increasingly targeted, organised, and identity-driven campaigns.”

The report further cautioned Nigerians against transacting with unlicensed payment companies, stressing that such entities operate outside regulatory oversight and expose users to significant financial risks.

It warned that customers using unlicensed PSPs are not protected by existing regulatory safeguards and that such operators could facilitate illicit financial activities.

“Users of unlicensed PSPs are not covered by regulatory protection that comes with effective oversight and supervision,” the CBN said.

It further warned that, “Unlicenced payment companies are gateways for money laundering which could undermine regulatory efforts and corrode public trust.”

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The report underscores the growing importance of strengthening fraud detection systems, improving payment infrastructure interoperability, enhancing cybersecurity resilience, and intensifying regulatory oversight as Nigeria continues to expand its digital payments ecosystem.

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