OPay Files for US IPO: 50M Users, $467M Half-Year

TL;DR: OPay, the Nigeria-focused fintech, filed for a New York Stock Exchange IPO on October 9, 2026, under the ticker OPAY. First-half revenue was $467.1 million and net profit $90.9 million, per bne IntelliNews. Half of revenue is consumer lending, so credit quality matters more than user counts.

I read IPO filings the way I used to read work packages on the boat. The headline number gets the attention, and the sign-off sits further down the page.

What did OPay actually file?

OPay Limited filed a Form F-1 with the SEC. The F-1 itself lists the registrant as a Cayman Islands company with its principal offices at 30 Raffles Place in Singapore, and it is marked "As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 9, 2026." The company proposes listing American depositary shares (ADSs) on the NYSE. It had filed confidentially on February 12, 2026, per Nigeria Communications Week.

No price range or share count has been reported yet. bne IntelliNews says Renaissance Capital estimated proceeds of up to $500 million, and that Bloomberg reported in May that OPay was targeting a valuation of about $4 billion. Both are third-party estimates. The company hasn't set terms.

How big is OPay, and is it making money?

Per bne IntelliNews, OPay reported 50.1 million monthly active users and 26.8 million daily active users as of July 31. The profit swing is the bigger story, because the table below shows a company that lost money two years ago.

Metric	Figure	Source
First-half 2026 revenue	$467.1M, up 136.5%	bne IntelliNews
First-half net profit	$90.9M, from $21.7M	bne IntelliNews
Revenue, 12 months to June 30, 2026	$806M	Nigeria Communications Week
2025 full-year result	$72.5M profit, after a $50.8M loss in 2024	bne IntelliNews

Going from a $50.8 million loss in 2024 to $90.9 million of profit in half of 2026 is fast, and I'd test two things in the filing: whether any one-off gain sits inside that profit, and whether the timing of loan-loss provisions flatters the half. Two years of profit history is short.

Where does the revenue come from?

Consumer lending generated $236.1 million, or 50.6% of first-half revenue, and Nigeria generated about 89% of total first-half revenue, per bne IntelliNews. So you aren't buying a diversified emerging-markets payments company. You're looking at a Nigerian lender with a payments app attached.

The credit-loss numbers matter as much. Per the same bne IntelliNews report, Nigerian loan originations more than tripled to $927.6 million, while provisions for expected credit losses rose to $118.4 million from $38.1 million. Provisions tripled alongside originations. That's what you'd expect from fast lending growth, and it's also where the next two years of earnings get decided.

Should the transaction volume impress you?

OPay processed 90.1 billion transactions with a gross transaction value of $558 billion in the 12 months to June 2026, per bne IntelliNews. The bne report calls that "a measure of platform activity rather than revenue." Revenue over the same period was $806 million, per Nigeria Communications Week, so I'd hold the big number loosely and anchor on revenue.

Who is backing the deal?

Edgex reports that Stanbic Africa Holdings has committed to invest up to $200 million through a concurrent private placement. bne IntelliNews adds that the investment is capped at a maximum 4.99% stake in OPay's post-transaction equity. SoftBank, through entities linked to its Vision Fund, holds 6.6% before the IPO, per the same report.

A strategic bank buying in is a real signal. It's also a bank that wants distribution for its own products, so I read it as interest, not a verdict on valuation.

What does this mean if you hold or are offered pre-IPO shares?

The last private mark was $2 billion, set in a 2021 round, and a $4 billion target would double it, per PYMNTS. That gap is the comparison to make if a secondary seller shows you OPay paper. It's only a target until a price range is filed. SoftBank's 6.6% is the kind of early position the filing will detail. I haven't seen lock-up terms reported, so those come from the final prospectus.

Common mistakes

The easiest slip is hearing "50 million users" and picturing 50 million paying customers. The company calls them active users, and the filing will show how it counts them. I couldn't find that definition in the reporting I read, so verify before you trust the number.

Another is anchoring on the $4 billion talk. That was a May target, and nothing has been priced. Then there's the currency. Revenue is reported in dollars but earned mostly in Nigeria, so a naira move changes what the numbers mean. I haven't seen the filing's currency disclosures reported anywhere yet, so that one is yours to look up.

If you want the mechanics of getting in before or after a listing, I covered how accredited investors access private shares. For the wider lending backdrop, see where $2 trillion is flowing in private credit. And before you trust any pre-IPO story, see how the Spaventa and TSG markup scheme worked.

FAQ

Where will OPay trade? The F-1 proposes ADSs on the NYSE under the ticker OPAY, per bne IntelliNews. Edgex adds that OPay is also considering a Nigerian Exchange listing. Neither timing nor price has been announced.

What is OPay worth? No public market has priced it. Bloomberg reported in May that the company was seeking about $4 billion, double its 2021 valuation of $2 billion, per PYMNTS. Treat that as a target.

What does the IPO mean for pre-IPO shareholders? Nothing is priced yet. The last private mark was $2 billion in 2021, and Bloomberg reported a $4 billion target, per PYMNTS. Whether holders can sell, and when, depends on lock-up terms I haven't seen reported. Check the final prospectus.

Is OPay profitable? Yes, on the reported numbers: $90.9 million in first-half 2026 and $72.5 million for 2025, per bne IntelliNews. It lost $50.8 million in 2024.

What to do today

Open the F-1 on SEC EDGAR, skip the user numbers, and find the risk factors on credit losses and Nigerian currency exposure. Write down the provision rate against originations. If you'd like me to walk through the pricing terms when they're filed, sign up free for the AIN Briefing and I'll flag them the day they appear.

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