OPay
OPay is a Nigeria-licensed mobile money and digital banking platform serving 45M+ consumers, 1M+ merchants and 500,000+ agents with a mobile wallet, USSD, QR payments, debit card, daily-interest savings (OWealth) and a 26-city branch network, operating under a CBN Mobile Money Operator License.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersIkeja, Nigeria
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What OPay does
OPay is a Nigeria-licensed digital financial services platform founded in 2018, operating under a Central Bank of Nigeria Mobile Money Operator License with NDIC-insured deposits. Its core product is a single integrated mobile application (iOS/Android) backed by USSD (*955#) for feature phones, delivering a consumer wallet, instant inter-bank transfers (100% success rate to all Nigerian banks via NIBSS), airtime/data top-ups with up to 6% cashback, bill payments, a co-branded Visa/Mastercard debit card with zero maintenance fee, and OWealth — a daily-interest savings module powered by OPay Microfinance Bank Limited. Layered on top are merchant-facing products (QR payments, POS/agency acquiring) and a consumer security suite including XtraCova (₦5M transaction insurance), NightGuard, Large Transaction Shield and Location Guard.
The company operates a two-sided distribution model: 500,000+ agents across 26+ Nigerian cities provide last-mile cash-in/cash-out, while 1M+ merchants accept OPay QR/POS. Revenue is generated primarily from transaction and transfer fees, card interchange and issuing, merchant acquiring take rates, net interest on wallet/OWealth balances held with partner banks, distribution commissions on airtime/data reselling, and a freemium premium-services layer. The platform reaches 45M+ consumer users, processes more than $12B in monthly transactions and is preparing for a US IPO at a reported ~$4B target valuation with Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan engaged as advisors, having been granted a national CBN licence in early 2026 and completed the acquisition of Finja in November 2024.
OPay firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- OPay
- Legal name
- OPay Digital Services Limited
- Website
- https://opayweb.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- OPay is a Nigeria-licensed mobile money and digital banking platform serving 45M+ consumers, 1M+ merchants and 500,000+ agents with a mobile wallet, USSD, QR payments, debit card, daily-interest savings (OWealth) and a 26-city branch network, operating under a CBN Mobile Money Operator License.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
OPay industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Mobile Money / Digital Payments
- NAICS
- Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)
- SIC
- Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cash-in/Cash-out Agent Network Wallets (FSAMAEAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Digital Wallet Platforms (Consumer & Merchant) (BPAMAFAC)
Keywords
Where OPay is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ikeja
- HQ country
- Nigeria
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices29 records
Markets served
OPay business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Transaction & Transfer Fees: Interchange, transfer, bill payment and POS transaction fees generated from wallet-to-bank transfers, merchant payments, airtime/data purchases, and inter-bank settlement — the primary revenue engine. Free intra-wallet transfers are a customer hook while bill pay and merchant acquiring carry fees.
- Card Interchange & Issuing Revenue: Revenue from issuance and usage of OPay debit cards including interchange on card spend, ATM withdrawal fees beyond the free monthly allowance, and international usage charges.
- Merchant Acquiring / POS Fees: Commission on merchant POS acquiring volume from over 1 million merchants using OPay payment acceptance.
- Floating Interest & Treasury Yield: Net interest income earned on customer wallet balances and OWealth deposits held with partner banks and treasury instruments; the company pays customers a portion of this and retains the spread.
- Premium / Value-Added Services (Freemium): Optional paid tiers and value-added services (e.g., premium debit cards, higher cashback tiers, advanced security features, financial products) layered on top of a freemium base offering.
- Distribution & Recharge Commission (e.g., Vitel Wireless): Distribution economics from partnerships that resell airtime/data and other digital goods through OPay's network, generating commissions on each transaction.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Freemium consumer wallet with cashback and free-transfer incentives |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Usage-based merchant acquiring / POS pricing |
Go-to-market motion5 records
Marketing channels8 records
OPay product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OPay operates a CBN-licensed mobile money platform that provides Nigerian consumers with a digital wallet for instant bank-to-bank transfers, airtime/data top-ups, bill payments, and merchant QR payments. It layers a daily-interest savings product (OWealth, backed by OPay Microfinance Bank), a co-branded Visa/Mastercard debit card, and a 500,000+ agent network for cash-in/cash-out. Consumer-facing security features (NightGuard, XtraCova, Location Guard) and merchant acquiring/agency banking services round out the offering.
Product overview
OPay operates a single integrated digital financial services platform (OPay App) composed of a core mobile wallet and payments engine with several modules and add-on services layered on top. The core platform provides Easy Account Opening, Instant Transfer (free to all Nigerian banks), Airtime/Data Top-up with Cashback, and Bill Payments. Built on top of this core are the OWealth savings module (powered by OPay Microfinance Bank Limited, offering daily interest), the OPay Debit Card (instant issuance, zero maintenance fee), the QR Payment Service for interoperable merchant/customer payments, an Agency Banking/Merchant acquiring service for agents and merchants, and consumer-facing security products including XtraCova funds protection, NightGuard, Large Transaction Shield, and Location Guard. CSR-branded offerings include OPay Scholars with the National Innovation Challenge, Play4aChild, Campus Structural Upgrade, and the OPay Empowerment Programme (OPEP). The platform targets financial inclusion, serving tens of millions of users and merchants in Nigeria, and pursues a 'Super App' vision aiming for 100 million daily active users by 2030.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- OWealth: Daily-interest savings product on the OPay platform, powered by OPay Microfinance Bank Limited.
- XtraCova
- OPay Scholars
- OPay Futures
- Play4aChild
Products and services
- OPay App The core mobile platform of OPay Digital Services Limited, providing a one-stop financial services platform with a mobile wallet, transfers, savings, payments, and debit card management. Licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria and insured by the NDIC. Available on iOS and Android, with USSD access for feature phones.
- OWealth Daily-interest savings product offering users daily interest on funds held in the OPay wallet, with full access and control; transactions do not affect accrued interest. Powered by OPay Microfinance Bank Limited. Targets retail consumers seeking yield on idle balances.
- OPay Debit Card Co-branded Visa/Mastercard debit card linked to the OPay wallet, available as instant issuance at select OPay agents or via the OPay app. Zero maintenance fee for active cards, 10 free ATM withdrawals per month; accepted at any ATM, POS terminal, or online merchant.
- OPay QR Payment Service Interoperable Quick Response payment protocol enabling wallet-to-bank, wallet-to-wallet, and merchant payments between OPay users and customers of other Nigerian banks. Transaction fees apply based on transaction value and prevailing tax provisions.
- XtraCova Funds Protection Funds protection product launched in March 2026 that reimburses users up to ₦5,000,000 for verified unauthorized transactions caused by platform failures or external fraud (identity theft, phishing, malware). Functions as embedded transaction insurance for the OPay wallet.
- OPay Business (POS / Agency Banking) Business-facing service providing POS terminals and merchant acquiring services for agents and merchants across Nigeria. Powers the 500,000+ agent network for cash-in/cash-out and enables 1M+ merchants to accept QR and POS payments with instant settlement to wallet or bank.
- USSD Banking (*955#) Feature-phone compatible USSD channel that allows Nigerian users to conduct wallet transactions, transfers, airtime/data top-ups, and bill payments without internet connectivity or a smartphone, broadening reach to underbanked segments.
Quantifiable outcome
- 45M+ consumer users reached
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use OPay
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
OPay technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
AI capability4 records
Feature9 records
OPay partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators9 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
OPay competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- PalmPay: PalmPay is OPay's closest direct competitor in Nigerian mobile money — both are CBN-licensed wallets/agents offering free transfers, cashback, and a large Nigerian agent network, and both were subject to the same CBN onboarding suspension in April 2024.
- Moniepoint: Moniepoint is a directly comparable Nigerian fintech that received a CBN national licence at the same time as OPay in 2026 and competes in merchant acquiring, POS and agent banking for the same Nigerian consumer and merchant base.
- MTN MoMo (MTN Group): MTN MoMo is a telco-backed mobile money operator across Nigeria and Africa with a comparable wallet/agent proposition, leveraging MTN's subscriber base to reach the same underbanked consumers OPay targets.
- Kuda Bank: Kuda is a CBN-licensed Nigerian neobank offering a mobile-first current account, transfers, savings and debit cards — overlapping OPay's core wallet and card products for the same digitally active Nigerian consumer segment.
- Flutterwave: Flutterwave is a Nigerian-founded payments infrastructure company enabling merchant payments, transfers and pan-African settlement that overlaps with OPay's merchant acquiring and QR payment services, particularly for Nigerian and cross-border merchants.
- Paystack: Paystack (Stripe-owned) is a Nigerian payments processor serving online merchants and developers, competing with OPay Checkout for merchant acquiring volume and developer mindshare in the Nigerian payments stack.
- Chipper Cash: Chipper Cash is a pan-African digital payments platform competing in cross-border transfers, consumer wallets and merchant payments across multiple African markets — overlapping with OPay's QR and wallet-to-wallet payment flows.
Broad incumbents
- Interswitch: Interswitch is the established Nigerian payments incumbent operating Verve (card network), Quickteller (bill pay) and broader switching/processing — overlapping OPay's acquiring, bill payment and card issuing but as part of a much wider portfolio.
Emerging players
- Piggyvest: Piggyvest is a Nigerian digital savings and investment platform that overlaps with OPay's OWealth daily-interest savings product for the same mass-market Nigerian consumer targeting disciplined savings and investment.
Regional players
- M-Pesa (Safaricom / Vodacom): M-Pesa is the dominant East African mobile money operator (Safaricom/Vodacom) — not directly competing in Nigeria but offering a benchmark for agent-based mobile money economics that OPay is replicating across West Africa.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
OPay social profiles
Digital presenceOPay compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance7 records
OPay financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
OPay leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles14 records
OPay subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
OPay funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors15 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
OPay M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about OPay
What does OPay do?
OPay operates a CBN-licensed mobile money platform that provides Nigerian consumers with a digital wallet for instant bank-to-bank transfers, airtime/data top-ups, bill payments, and merchant QR payments. It layers a daily-interest savings product (OWealth, backed by OPay Microfinance Bank), a co-branded Visa/Mastercard debit card, and a 500,000+ agent network for cash-in/cash-out. Consumer-facing security features (NightGuard, XtraCova, Location Guard) and merchant acquiring/agency banking services round out the offering.
Is OPay a public or private company?
OPay is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was OPay founded?
OPay was founded in 2018. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is OPay based?
OPay is headquartered in Ikeja, Nigeria, in the Africa region.
How does OPay make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Transaction & Transfer Fees are the primary driver. The others are card Interchange & Issuing Revenue, merchant Acquiring / POS Fees, floating Interest & Treasury Yield, premium / Value-Added Services (Freemium) and distribution & Recharge Commission (e.g., Vitel Wireless).
Who are OPay's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are PalmPay, Moniepoint, MTN MoMo (MTN Group), Kuda Bank, Flutterwave, Paystack and Chipper Cash. Interswitch is listed as a broad incumbent. Piggyvest is listed as an emerging player. M-Pesa (Safaricom / Vodacom) is listed as a regional player.
Does OPay have an API?
Yes. OPay offers a partner-facing developer API documented at documentation.opaycheckout.com (OPayCheckout). Per the Terms of Service, OPay provides an interoperable Quick Response (QR) payment protocol enabling wallet-to-bank and wallet-to-wallet transfers, merchant receiving from OPay users and other banks' users, bill payments, airtime, utilities, CAC business registration, and USSD services. Developers and partners can build payment integrations via the documented checkout API. Developer documentation is at documentation.opaycheckout.com.
What industry is OPay in?
OPay's product category is Mobile Money / Digital Payments. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMAEAJ, Cash-in/Cash-out Agent Network Wallets, with a secondary code of BPAMAFAC, Digital Wallet Platforms (Consumer & Merchant). Its NAICS code is 523 and its SIC code is 6199.