Summary
South Africa's Standard Bank Group is in talks to acquire a stake in Nigerian fintech OPay Digital Services ahead of the payments company's planned U.S. listing, according to Bloomberg. The investment would give Standard Bank a position in OPay before it seeks to raise capital on the U.S. market. The size of the investment and percentage stake have not been disclosed. OPay has appointed Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan to work on the planned IPO, targeting a valuation of about $4 billion, which could be one of the biggest African fintech listings in the US.
Key Facts
- Standard Bank Group in talks to acquire a stake in OPay Digital Services ahead of its US IPO
- Size of investment and percentage stake undisclosed
- OPay working with Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan on the planned US IPO
- Target valuation of about $4 billion
- OPay processed $358 billion gross transaction value (GTV) in 2025, more than double the $166.2B in 2024 (+115%)
- Monthly active users rose 57% to 39.3 million in 2025 (from 25.1 million)
- Daily active users climbed 50% to 22.7 million in Q4 2025; daily-to-monthly ratio 57.8%
- Backed by SoftBank Group and Sequoia Capital
- OPay provides transfers, payments, and financial services to Nigerian consumers and businesses
- Listing could take place later this year
- The deal would give Standard Bank exposure to a high-growth African payments leader before its public listing
Why It Matters
Standard Bank's pre-IPO investment underscores the growing strategic and financial interest in African fintech and OPay's transformation from a ride-hailing-payment offshoot into one of Nigeria's dominant digital payments platforms. The deal comes amid a wave of interest in African fintech listings, and OPay's explosive growth (GTV more than doubling to $358B) positions it as a potential landmark U.S. listing for African tech. For Standard Bank, it's a way to capture African fintech upside without direct operational exposure.