Standard Bank Weighs Stake In OPay Ahead Of $4bn US Listing

Standard Bank Group is considering buying a stake in Nigerian fintech OPay as the company prepares for a potential United States initial public offering (IPO) later this year, which could value the payments firm at about $4 billion.

The South African banking group has held preliminary discussions with OPay over a possible investment, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The talks are at an early stage and may not lead to an agreement, while the size of the proposed investment remains unknown.

OPay and Standard Bank have not confirmed that a transaction is imminent.

The potential deal comes as OPay seeks to strengthen its position ahead of the proposed US listing. An investment from Standard Bank could provide another major institutional shareholder for the fintech, while giving the African banking group exposure to Nigeria’s expanding digital payments market.

OPay’s proposed $4 billion valuation would be double the $2 billion valuation it secured in a $400 million funding round in 2021. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led that round, with Sequoia Capital China, Source Code Capital, Redpoint China, Long-Z Capital and 3W Capital also participating.

The fintech’s performance in Nigeria has grown significantly, according to an investment document prepared ahead of the proposed listing. Nigeria accounted for 88.1 percent of OPay’s revenue in 2025, while gross transaction value more than doubled to $358 billion from $166.2 billion in 2024.

Over the same period, monthly active users climbed from 25.1 million to 39.3 million, while revenue increased from $205.7 million to $536.3 million.

The document also showed that the company returned to operating profitability in 2025, although OPay has not independently published the figures in audited financial statements.

Founded in 2018, OPay offers mobile payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, debit cards, savings and agency banking services. It has also expanded into Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia, although Nigeria remains its main market.

Standard Bank already has a substantial Nigerian presence through its controlling stake in Stanbic IBTC Holdings, which provides banking, investment, pension and asset management services. The group has previously indicated plans to deepen its investment in Nigeria.