How OPay is Improving Consumers’ Lives

By Femi Babalola

As a youthful population, increasing smartphone penetration and a focused regulatory drive continues to increase financial inclusion and cashless payments in Nigeria, OPay, the fastest African startup to cross a $1 billion valuation mark, has continued to create the perfect recipe for a thriving fintech sector.

Though a relatively young sector, Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy with a population of over 200 million, 35% of which is financially excluded, offers significant opportunities for fintechs across the consumer spectrum, notably within the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Other affluent segments and, increasingly, the mass-market segment are not also left out.

To proffer solutions to digitally savvy, middle-aged and young affluent individuals who face poor user experience on products and find the value-add from using financial products underwhelming, OPay launched its OPay app three years ago and has recorded a huge success with over 17 million customers in Nigeria.

The OPay App competes in the mass and urban youth market where key competitors are banks and new digital MFBs.

What’s more, in less than three years, OPay has gone from a popular startup with commercial motorcycles in Lagos, Nigeria, to a financial services company worth $2 billion. In the second half of 2021, OPay’s valuation came after it raised $400 million from a round led by SoftBank, the Japanese investment firm, with Sequoia Capital China, and five other large firms. No startup situated in Africa has raised as much in one round except Flutterwave which achieved a value of $1 billion in the first quarter of 2021, after raising $170 million.

The Nigerian government’s latest policy has significantly impacted many fintechs such as Kuda MFB and Carbon. Following the new policy directive which states that a charge of N50 will be applied to all deposits of N10, 000 and above, OPay’s campaign is focused on communicating the massive benefits of the platform and as the platform of choice for consumers given the current realities with policies that might impact competitors. To drive the initiative, OPay intends to promote the campaign with the following products, including OPay Wallet, a secure wallet that allows users to carry out transactions, make bill payments, and save and invest from their comfort zones; OWealth, a savings product that gives customers at least 15% annual interest rate per annum on savings. The product allows customer withdrawals at any time without any penalty fee or withdrawal charges. As part of the benefit, OWealth promises a 15% per annum interest rate on savings with an additional 2% as an OPay debit card holder. It is imperative to note that all OPay products are powered by Blueridge microfinance bank.

In addition, customers get 30 free transfers monthly and OPay customers can deposit funds above 10,000 for free. Customers can also use the OPay without a data subscription and earn cashback on all transactions, an additional 2% interest, and a cashback reward on card activation.

According to the brand owners, a mechanism has been put in place to amplify the security of funds with OPay, licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and insured by the NDIC as well as quick customer complaints resolution.

Harnessing new cutting-edge technologies to provide services, OPay’s reliable, safe, and secure app is built to give users value for money, especially the youth. It is also friendly, fun, and easy to use by digitally savvy consumers and upwardly mobile professionals who are driven by the latest trends and other lifestyle elements. It is designed to be accessible, aspirational, inclusive, positive, and ambitious.

As the financial services industry continues to experience the emergence of new technology innovations and process disruptions, OPay will continue to create new pathways for successful business models and enhanced customer experience. The OPay App is designed to achieve digital services transformation in the fintech space and improve efficiency. Known as a customer-centric brand, OPay App offers a new fintech innovation that enables changes and transformations in the financial technology services landscape. It is a technological innovation that helps users to leverage the execution and customer value associated with payments, lending and deposit services, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, social media use, and other services influenced by fintech innovations. OPay is truly Beyond Banking.