Nigerian payment and financial service company, Opay has unveiled its growth plans for 2021 and beyond after achieving a successful business year in a press briefing presented by several key members of its Nigerian Operations.
A quick summary and review of Opay’s operations and performance in 2020 was discussed by its Country Manager, Iniabasi Akpan touching on how the company provided Nigerians convenient access to cash and job creation, driven by innovation. Speaking further he stated, ”We helped to give easy to access financial services to close to more than ten million Nigerians in all corners of the country. Our agents serve a population that is far from bank branches and ATMs, often in the outskirts of cities, suburban areas or rural areas. The impact we have made so far could not have been without our most important partners – our agents and merchants. By providing their customers with convenience, they were able to earn a solid income with many expanding their businesses, even in the difficult pandemic.”
Joshua Yau, Managing VP for Opay Nigeria noted that, “Amidst the pandemic, lockdown and global uncertainty, Opay had its most impactful and transformative year yet in 2020. As a payment company, it grew its total gross transaction value 4.5 times to over 2 Billion dollars in December. The point of sale terminals deployed in its mobile money agent and merchant network represented roughly 1/5 of offline payments in Nigeria by year end. It’s mobile wallets have more than 2 million wallets with balance totaling over 17 Million dollars.”
The company also shed light on the gained perception that Opay is a ride hailing company based on its Oride division stating that they remain a payment and financial service company whose businesses are licensed and regulated by Central Bank of Nigeria.
For 2021 the growth plans will rely on developing and deepening their strategic partnerships in the financial ecosystem with banks, regulators, card schemes, payment processors, payment service providers and other key players. Opay debit cards is also scheduled to launch this year and it would be the first of its kind which will be directly linked to Opay wallets aimed to bolster its gospel of financial inclusion. CreditMe has also been launched to give easy access to credit to all wallet users at the point of purchase and a whole lot of innovative as well as supportive quality services.
