What happened?
Flutterwave is a payment technology company that provides various payment solutions to businesses and individuals in Africa and around the world. One of its payment solutions is the Flutterwave Send, a remittance solution. To bolster the presence of Flutterwave Send across the continent and consolidate its payment offerings, Flutterwave has acquired two licenses, an Electronic Money Issuer and a Remittance licence from the National Bank of Rwanda.
What does this mean?
Flutterwave can now provide wallet, payments and cross-border money transfer services in Rwanda.
What are the details of the license?
The Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) license in Rwanda is issued by the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) and allows companies to provide electronic payment services to the public.
More specifically, an EMI license permits the following activities:
- Issuance of electronic money: An EMI licensee can issue electronic money, which is a digital representation of fiat currency, that can be stored in an electronic wallet and used for payments.
- Redemption of electronic money: An EMI licensee must also ensure that users can redeem their electronic money for fiat currency or other acceptable forms of payment.
- Transfer of electronic money: An EMI licensee can facilitate the transfer of electronic money between users and merchants or other EMI licensees.
- Management of electronic wallets: An EMI licensee can provide and manage electronic wallets for users to store and manage their electronic money.
- Provision of payment services: An EMI licensee can provide payment services such as bill payments, merchant payments, and other financial services.
Who are the other market players with an EMI license?
There are four licensed Electronic Money Issuers in Rwanda:
- Airtel Money Rwanda Limited
- MTN Mobile Money Rwanda Limited
- KCB Bank Rwanda Limited
- Bank of Kigali Limited
In conclusion, this licenses makes Flutterwave a direct competitor to the leading Mobile money operators in Rwanda - Airtel Money and MTN Momo as well as the remittance companies in Rwanda.
