Standard Bank Seeks Stake in OPay Ahead of IPO

South Africa’s Standard Bank Group is in talks to acquire a stake in Nigerian fintech company, OPay Digital Services, ahead of the payments firm’s planned initial public offering (IPO) in the United States.

The proposed investment would give the African banking group a position in OPay before the fintech seeks to raise fresh capital on the US market, Bloomberg reported.

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Standard Bank is seeking to acquire the stake ahead of the IPO, although the size of the proposed investment and the percentage stake being targeted remain unknown.

The development comes as OPay intensifies preparations for what could become one of the biggest African fintech listings in the US, with the company reportedly targeting a valuation of about $4 billion.

In May, OPay had appointed Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase to advise on its planned US listing. The IPO could take place later this year, according to people familiar with the plans. OPay, which is backed by SoftBank Group and Sequoia Capital, has grown into one of Nigeria’s major digital payments platforms, providing transfers, payments and other financial services to consumers and businesses.

Bloomberg reported that “Standard Bank Group Ltd. is in talks to buy a stake in Opay Digital Services Ltd., as the Nigeria-focused financial technology firm prepares for an initial public offering in the US, according to people with knowledge of the matter.”

It added that OPay “is working with Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to help list the company in New York,” while Standard Bank is seeking to acquire the stake before the IPO.

The proposed transaction comes on the back of strong operating growth by OPay, which has significantly expanded the volume of transactions processed on its platform and its active customer base.

The fintech processed $358 billion in gross transaction value (GTV) in 2025, more than double the $166.2 billion recorded in 2024. This represents a 115 per cent increase in transaction value within a year, highlighting the rapid expansion of OPay’s payments business and the growing scale of its operations in Nigeria.

The growth in transaction volumes was accompanied by a significant increase in the number of users on the platform. OPay’s monthly active users rose by 57 per cent to 39.3 million in 2025, compared with 25.1 million recorded a year earlier.

Daily active users also increased by 50 per cent to 22.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, further demonstrating the rising frequency with which customers use the platform for payments and other financial transactions.