If Nigerians are talking about banks, digital banks like OPay, PalmPay and Moniepoint cannot be left unmentioned. Digital banks (also known as Fintechs) and traditional banks are the major players in Nigeria banking landscape.
In today’s article, I will be talking about OPay as a digital bank in Nigeria and why people trust the fintech app more than long existing commercial banks.
OPay Bank in Nigeria
Rest of World calls it “app that revolutionized money transfers in Nigeria.” OPay Digital Bank is a reputable financial company in Nigeria. The company has an app that’s very popular among households in the country.
OPay isn’t just Nigeria’s most popular fintech app but also its most downloaded one in the Nigeria Google Play Store and Apple Store in 2024 before it’s outranked by Temu—the latest e-commerce app.
Why OPay Bank?
OPay uses technology that doesn’t rely on traditional banking system. This technology allows anyone using OPay to transfer, withdraw and pay bills seamlessly and instantly. This simple implementation of leveraged technology gives OPay higher chances to win majority of the market shares.
However, in agency banking landscape, Moniepoint is currently talking the lead followed by OPay Business. That’s to say, OPay doesn’t only rely on individual banking, it also do well to provide banking services to the underbanked community via it agency banking network.
Furthermore, the easy accessibility of new users makes also makes the platform to gain more market shares over time. Potential customers who sign up using their phone numbers are automatically assigned a bank account number using the last 10 digits of their phone number.
This eliminates the need of going to bank and stay on a queue for hours. The OPay’s new account registration can be done and completed online via internet or USSD code. You can also visit any OPay agent near you to register an account.
About OPAY Bank
OPay was formed in 2018. At that time, the company didn’t begin as a fintech company. The company had a lofty dreams of becoming a super-app in Nigeria but as OPay started gaining more investors and getting people attention, the company focused more of its efforts on revolutionizing the Nigerian financial landscape.
When OPay first started out, it begin with financial solutions (through OPay App), and other services like OFood—a food delivery service and ORide—a ride-hailing services. However, following the Lagos state government’s ban on e-bike-hailing in 2020, which also affected food delivery services, OPay streamlined to focus more on fintech solutions.
In 2019, some big companies like Sequoia China, IDG Capital, and Source Code Capital gave OPay $50 million to help it grow. Later that year, OPay received another $120 million to expand its services.
In 2021, more companies like SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Sequoia Capital China and Redpoint China invested $400 million in OPay, making the company worth about $2 billion. By 2024, OPay’s value grew to nearly $3 billion because more people in Nigeria started using their phones to pay for things instead of cash.
OPay Bank App
OPay has two banking app: OPay App and OPay Business App. The OPay App is a personal banking app which is available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The OPay Business App is available on the app stores.
OPAY Bank Mobile Applications:
- OPAY App Android
- OPAY App iOS
- OPAY Business Android
- OPAY Business iPhone
