Flutterwave has found a new way into the wallets of Nigerians abroad: a 170-seat cinema in south London. The payments company is now the exclusive payments partner of EbonyLife Place London, the venue media entrepreneur Mo Abudu opened on Wandsworth Road on 8 October, and its remittance product, Send App, is the headline sponsor of the launch.
In practice, Flutterwave's technology will process the venue's card and electronic payments, from cinema tickets to restaurant bills and retail sales. Send App gets something arguably more valuable: a physical home for community events, masterclasses and premieres aimed at exactly the people it wants as customers.
Why a cinema matters to a remittance app
Money sent home is one of Nigeria's biggest sources of foreign exchange. Central bank data put diaspora remittances at about $20.9 billion in 2024, a record. Every app chasing that flow fights the same battle: acquiring customers abroad is expensive, and trust is earned slowly. A venue built around African film, food and fashion puts Send App in front of a diaspora audience in a setting where it is welcome rather than interruptive.
"Through Send App, we will also connect with the diaspora community," Flutterwave founder and chief executive Olugbenga "GB" Agboola said. Abudu, who runs EbonyLife Group, described the venue as "a new home for African and Black culture in London."
No financial terms were disclosed, so this is not a deal you can put a number on yet. That is a real gap. A single-screen cinema with a restaurant and a bar will not move Flutterwave's processing volumes on its own, and the sponsorship value is unknown.
A pattern, not a one-off
The move fits a playbook Flutterwave has run for a while: tie the brand to African creative stars, then sell the payments rails underneath. It has previously partnered with Wizkid and media personality Toke Makinwa. Send App, meanwhile, has been widening its reach in the United States, where Flutterwave added 20 money transmitter licences in 2025 to hold 34 in total.
For EbonyLife, London extends a format first built at its Victoria Island venue in Lagos, now pitched at the UK's large African and Black British audience.
It is a small deal in naira terms, but it shows Nigerian fintechs going where the diaspora actually spends time, not just where it downloads apps.
Figures are as reported at the time of writing. STATART news is written by Frank Brother (Markets), Christina Amgbari (Insights) and Ebipadei Joseph (Lifestyle), and checked before publication.