OPay estimates that it accounted for 57.4 per cent of the total value of digital loans disbursed in Nigeria in 2025, according to a registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of its planned initial public offering.
The fintech calculated the figure by dividing its own 2025 loan disbursements in Nigeria, drawn from internal lending records, by the estimated overall value of digital loans issued across the market. The market total was supplied by research firm Frost & Sullivan.
“In 2025, OPay is estimated to have accounted for approximately 57.4% of total digital loan disbursement value in Nigeria,” the filing stated. The company said its large digital-payments base and the transaction data it generates have helped it expand into lending and other financial services.
Okash Leads Digital Lending Apps
OPay’s Okash lending platform ranked first among digital lending applications in Nigeria during the first half of 2026, the registration statement said, citing data from independent mobile-app monitor DataSparkle. Okash’s active users were approximately 1.6 to 6.6 times higher than those of the other four platforms in the top five.
In the wider financial-application market, OPay accounted for about 66.1 per cent of monthly active users across the apps monitored in Nigeria in the same period, according to DataSparkle. Frost & Sullivan data cited in the filing also identified OPay as Nigeria’s largest processor of digital payments and transfers by gross transaction value.
Across all mobile applications in Nigeria, OPay ranked third by daily active users and fourth by weekly active users, making it the only financial app in the top five on both measures. It placed sixth by monthly active users and was the only financial application in the top ten.
The filing described OPay as having established a leading position in Nigeria’s digital banking ecosystem, particularly in user engagement and transaction volumes.
Competitive Landscape and Advantages
OPay identified Nigeria as its largest market and characterised the country’s digital financial services sector as large, fast-growing and highly competitive. It listed traditional banks, specialised digital lending platforms and other fintech companies as its main rivals.
Traditional banks, it argued, are constrained by branch-based models, elevated operating costs, limited reach among micro-entrepreneurs and informal workers, and slower technology and product innovation. Digital lenders were described as focusing mainly on short-term, small unsecured loans, sometimes charging high effective interest rates and employing aggressive data-collection and recovery practices that have drawn regulatory attention. Fintechs holding Mobile Money Operator or Microfinance Bank licences benefit from regulatory authorisation covering payments, deposits and credit.
OPay said its own technology platform is built to handle high volumes of concurrent transactions. Combined with network effects and an integrated suite of payments, savings and credit products, this allows it to address multiple financial needs for the same users and, in its view, sets it apart from competitors.
