OPay will list on the New York Stock Exchange as a payments brand, but its filing describes a lender. The OPay IPO filing, an F-1 lodged with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on October 9 under the ticker “OPAY”, shows loan financing revenue of $236.1 million in the first half of 2026, against $130.6 million from transaction-based services. Credit now drives the revenue line. How investors read the loan book will decide the valuation more than payment volume will.
What the OPay IPO filing says about revenue
Total revenue was $467.1 million in the six months to June 30, up from $197.5 million a year earlier, according to the registration statement on Form F-1. Loan financing, the interest and fees on loans to Nigerian users, rose 168% from $88.1 million. Transaction-based services grew 86.9% from $69.9 million. Loan facilitation in Indonesia added $41.6 million and interest on short-term investments $50.6 million. Together, the two credit lines were 59.5% of revenue, Nairametrics calculated.
The payments business is large and thinly priced. Gross transaction value reached $339.1 billion, up from $139.3 billion, with 25.8 million daily active users. Transaction revenue was under four basis points of that GTV, on GL Insight’s arithmetic; GTV includes loan disbursements, so the payments-only take rate is somewhat higher. Payments acquire the user at a low price. Credit earns the margin.
Net income was $90.9 million, up from $21.7 million. The filing cites Frost & Sullivan estimates giving OPay about 57.4% of Nigerian digital loan disbursements in 2025, which makes it the dominant lender in its home market.
Growth is flattering the credit metrics
Nigerian loan originations were $927.6 million in the half, against $305.1 million a year earlier, and quarterly unique borrowers almost doubled to 6.7 million. A book growing that fast makes ratios look better than the underlying loans may be.
The headline NPL ratio fell to 4.3% at June 30 from 4.8% a year earlier. That ratio counts loans 90 or more days past due, and OPay charges off loans at 120 days, so it captures only a 30-day window before balances leave the book. Measured more broadly, $113.8 million of the $415.3 million in gross loans and interest receivable was past due at June 30, or 27.4%, down from 34.2% at the end of 2025. Around 97% of the book was originated in 2026.
The loss lines tell the story better. Credit-loss expense rose 210% to $118.4 million, about half of loan financing revenue. Write-offs in the first half were $113.2 million, against $70.0 million for all of 2025. The allowance for credit losses stood at $90.4 million at June 30, about 79% of past-due balances on GL Insight’s arithmetic.
Pricing and regulation are the real risks
The filing’s risk factors concede that OPay charges interest rates on certain Nigerian credit products “higher than those typically observed in other markets.” TechCabal’s analysis looked at how much revenue OPay earns per dollar lent, though reported revenue includes accrued interest and late fees, so it is not the rate borrowers are quoted.
Loans are booked through OPay Microfinance Bank, which holds a Central Bank of Nigeria licence. That places it under CBN supervision. It also brings the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s digital lending rules, which took effect in July 2025 and from which licensed microfinance banks seek a waiver rather than registration. A tightening of pricing rules by either regulator would hit the revenue line that now matters most.
The capital structure gives the listing a local anchor. Stanbic Africa Holdings has agreed to invest up to $200 million in a concurrent private placement, and OPay plans a secondary listing on the Nigerian Exchange. Citi, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank and CICC are underwriters. SoftBank holds 6.6% and Opera remains a shareholder.
Bottom line
OPay should be valued as a high-yield consumer lender with a cheap payments funnel. The funnel is the moat: 50.1 million monthly users at July 31 give it data and distribution that standalone lenders cannot buy. The lending economics are where the risk sits, and a young, fast-growing book makes the 4.3% NPL ratio a weak guide. Investors should price the IPO off write-offs and credit-loss expense against loan revenue, and off the regulatory tolerance for Nigerian loan pricing.
Watch for:
- Price range and valuation against the $2 billion of the 2021 raise
- Second-half write-offs and past-due ratios as the 2026 vintages age
- Any CBN or FCCPC move on digital loan pricing
- Whether the Indonesian facilitation business grows enough to diversify credit exposure