OPay now earns more from credit than payments: 6.7 million Nigerian borrowers

OPay, one of Nigeria's largest fintechs, now generates more revenue from credit than from payments. This was revealed in a registration document filed on October 9, 2026, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was analyzed on October 13 by the Nigerian business media outlet Nairametrics.

In the first half of 2026, the company's revenue increased by 136.5% to reach $467.06 million, compared to $197.48 million a year earlier. Profit after tax rose from $21.71 million to $90.87 million, and operating profit grew from $35.80 million to $131.24 million, according to figures cited by Nairametrics and the Nigerian daily newspaper Blueprint.

Credit has overtaken payments

Lending revenue grew by 167.9% to reach $236.12 million, accounting for 50.6% of total turnover. Payments, long the core of OPay's model, now represent only 27.9% of revenue, at $130.55 million. When adding $41.57 million generated from loans arranged in Indonesia on behalf of third parties, the credit business accounts for 59.5% of revenue, with approximately 85% coming from Nigeria.

The volume tells the same story: new loans granted in Nigeria more than tripled, rising from $305.12 million to $927.63 million. The number of unique quarterly borrowers rose from 3.5 million to 6.7 million people.

One in four borrowers in arrears

This growth comes at a cost. Charges for expected credit losses jumped by 210.3% to $118.36 million, or 25.3% of revenue compared to 19.3% a year earlier. Bad debts written off reached $113.15 million, an increase of 520.5%: they alone exceed the total for the entire year of 2025, which stood at $69.95 million.

As of June 30, 2026, loans in arrears amounted to $113.80 million, or 27.4% of the $415.33 million owed. The proportion improved compared to December 2025, when it reached 34.2%, but the absolute value increased from $93.71 million to $113.80 million. According to the document, the company has tightened consumer credit and shifted toward merchant loans, which it considers less risky, while temporarily extending loan amounts and repayment periods for certain borrowers.

These accounts are being published as OPay prepares for an initial public offering in the United States, accompanied by a secondary listing in Nigeria. Behind the numbers lies a shift affecting millions of Nigerians: a platform born to facilitate daily money transfers is becoming a mass lender, and the question of the sustainability of this debt for small merchants and households will arise well before the Wall Street opening bell.