OPay transaction value surges 115% to $358bn as IPO plans advance

OPAY recorded a major expansion in transaction activity in 2025, processing $358 billion in gross transaction value (GTV), up 115 percent from the $166.2 billion recorded a year earlier.

The growth underscores the rapid expansion of the fintech company’s payments business as it moves closer to a potential listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

Data contained in an investment document relating to the proposed Initial Public Offering (IPO) showed that the surge in transaction value was accompanied by strong growth in users and lending activity.

OPay’s monthly active users increased by 57 percent to 39.3 million in 2025 from 25.1 million in 2024. Its daily active users in the fourth quarter also rose 50 percebt to 22.7 million, representing a daily-to-monthly active user ratio of 57.8 percent

READ ALSO: Nigerian Senate moves to give CBN full oversight of Opay, Moniepoint, digital lenders

Lending business expands

OPay’s lending operations also recorded substantial growth during the year. New loans originated climbed 285 percent, from $243.9 million in 2024 to $938.3 million in 2025. At the same time, the number of unique quarterly borrowers in Nigeria increased 119 percent to 4.6 million.

The stronger transaction and lending volumes translated into significant revenue growth. OPay’s total revenue jumped 161 percent to $536.3 million in 2025, compared with $205.7 million a year earlier.

The company also posted a sharp improvement in operating performance, moving from a $35.1 million operating loss in 2024 to a $107.1 million operating profit in 2025.

EBITDA similarly swung from a loss of $33.6 million to a profit of $113.1 million. The investment document, however, noted that net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders differs from operating profitability because of non-cash accretion on redeemable convertible preferred shares. These shares are expected to convert into ordinary shares if the company completes a qualifying IPO.

Nigeria drives business

Nigeria remains the company’s biggest market, accounting for 88.1 percent of its total revenue in 2025. Indonesia contributed 9.9 percent, Egypt accounted for 1.6 percent, while other markets made up the remaining 0.4 percent.

OPay currently operates in Nigeria, Indonesia, Egypt and Pakistan, offering payments, savings, credit and lifestyle services through its mobile-first platform.

Its Nigerian operations are supported by licences as a mobile money operator and microfinance bank. The company said its platform achieved a first-attempt transaction success rate of more than 99 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The company also reported strong engagement among Nigerian users, with about 70 percent of its wallet monthly active users using more than five product features as of March 2026. It said 96 percent of users in this category remained active the following month.

OPay targets $4bn valuation

OPay, one of Africa’s unicorns, is reportedly preparing for a US IPO that could value the company at about $4 billion. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase have been appointed to work on the proposed offering, which is expected to take place later in 2026.

The proposed US listing, first reported by Bloomberg in May, has nevertheless generated debate in Nigeria because the fintech derives the overwhelming majority of its revenue from the Nigerian market.

READ ALSO: Value of ATM transactions nearly triples despite rising charges

The debate received further attention last week when Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Limited, Temi Popoola,called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to support policies that would encourage major companies operating in Nigeria, particularly fast-growing fintechs, to list on the domestic exchange.

One billion users target

OPay is also looking beyond the IPO as it seeks to scale its operations across its markets.

In July, the company announced a long-term ambition to reach one billion users, serve 10 million merchants and create one million jobs.

Chief Commercial Officer of OPay, Elizabeth Wang, said the company’s strategy goes beyond running a payments platform, with technology at the centre of its efforts to broaden access to financial services and increase participation in the digital economy.

According to Wang, OPay was established to advance financial inclusion through technology while building a platform capable of generating economic opportunities for individuals, businesses and communities.