When Was Opay Founded and How Has It Grown in Nigeria?

If you live in Nigeria today, chances are you have seen the bright green logo of Opay on a kiosk, used it to send money to a friend, or relied on it to pay for electricity or airtime. It is one of those names that has become so common that it feels like it has always been there. But behind the brand that millions of Nigerians interact with daily lies a fascinating story of how and when it was founded, and how it managed to grow into one of the country’s largest financial technology companies in just a few years.

Understanding Opay’s history helps us appreciate not only its current size but also the strategy that turned it into a household name. From its humble beginnings as a mobile payment platform launched by Opera to its current role as a fintech giant, Opay’s growth in Nigeria is one of the most remarkable business success stories in Africa.

The Founding of Opay

To answer the question directly, Opay was founded in 2018. It was launched by Opera Software, the Norwegian internet company widely known for its Opera Mini browser, which had already established a strong presence in Africa due to its ability to save data and work well on basic smartphones.

By 2018, Opera had shifted its focus from being only a browser company to exploring broader digital services. The company recognized that while millions of Nigerians had mobile phones, many still lacked access to traditional banking. This gap between high mobile penetration and low banking inclusion was the opening that Opera seized. Through its financial arm, Opera Pay—shortened to Opay—it introduced a mobile-based financial platform designed to make everyday transactions faster and easier.

The launch was not accidental. It came at a time when Nigeria’s financial sector was ripe for disruption. Banks were struggling with infrastructure, long queues, and expensive charges, while people in rural and semi-urban areas remained excluded from financial services. By bringing Opay into Nigeria, Opera was positioning itself to ride on the country’s growing digital wave.

The Early Days of Opay in Nigeria

At the start, Opay was more of a payments platform than a full-fledged fintech ecosystem. Its primary purpose was to allow Nigerians to send and receive money, pay bills, and top up airtime. But Opera had bigger plans. Inspired by the success of super apps in China, particularly Alipay and WeChat Pay, the company envisioned Opay as more than just a wallet. It wanted to create a single app that could handle everything from transport and food delivery to financial services.

That vision led to the launch of services like ORide, a bike-hailing service, and OFood, a food delivery platform. Although not all of these services lasted in the long run, they played an important role in familiarizing Nigerians with the Opay brand. Suddenly, green ORide bikes were everywhere in Lagos, and the name Opay became a conversation starter. This visibility laid the foundation for Opay’s later dominance in the financial sector.

Building the Agent Network

One of the smartest moves Opay made early in its Nigerian journey was building a vast network of physical agents. While many urban dwellers were quick to adopt digital payments, millions of Nigerians still preferred dealing with cash. To bridge that gap, Opay empowered shop owners, kiosk operators, and small businesses to serve as agents where customers could deposit or withdraw cash into their Opay wallets.

This model was not unique to Opay, but the company executed it on an unprecedented scale. Soon, you could hardly walk down a street in Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, or Port Harcourt without seeing an Opay banner. These agents became the human face of Opay, making digital money more tangible to ordinary Nigerians. For rural areas where banks were scarce, Opay agents effectively became the bank.

The agent network also made it easy for Nigerians to trust the platform. Knowing that you could always walk into a nearby shop to withdraw your money made people less skeptical about using a digital wallet. This combination of online convenience and offline presence was a turning point in Opay’s growth.

The Growth Spurt

By 2019, just a year after its launch, Opay was already attracting serious attention. The company raised large funding rounds from global investors, signaling that international stakeholders believed in Nigeria’s fintech potential. With that financial muscle, Opay expanded its services, improved its app, and incentivized both customers and agents.

Growth accelerated as the company started processing millions of transactions monthly. Nigerians quickly adopted Opay for paying utility bills, buying airtime, and transferring funds. What made it especially attractive was that its charges were often lower than those of banks, and in some cases, free during promotional periods. This aggressive approach won the company a loyal customer base.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, digital transactions spiked across Nigeria. People avoided crowded banking halls and turned to apps like Opay for safety and convenience. This period cemented Opay’s place as more than just an alternative but as a primary financial platform for millions.

Shifts in Strategy

Not all of Opay’s early experiments lasted. Services like ORide and OFood were eventually shut down, partly due to regulatory issues and stiff competition. But rather than seeing this as a setback, Opay used the moment to double down on its most successful product: financial services.

This focus proved wise. The company obtained an Electronic Money Transfer License (EMTL) from the Central Bank of Nigeria, giving it the authority to operate fully as a mobile money provider. With regulatory backing and growing trust among users, Opay transitioned from being just another tech app into one of Nigeria’s most important financial institutions.

Competition and Differentiation

Of course, Opay was not alone. Nigeria’s fintech space has become one of the most competitive in Africa. Companies like Paga, Kuda, PalmPay, and traditional banks’ mobile apps all compete for the same audience. Yet Opay stood out for its agent-driven model, low fees, and heavy marketing.

Unlike purely digital banks that required users to already be comfortable with app-only systems, Opay’s hybrid of digital and physical interaction made it accessible to everyone. This inclusiveness, combined with Opera’s resources, allowed it to scale faster than many rivals.

The Numbers That Tell the Story

By 2021, Opay had become a unicorn—a privately held startup valued at over one billion dollars. It was processing billions of dollars in transactions annually and had millions of active users. Its green kiosks had become part of Nigeria’s urban landscape, and the app was ranking among the most downloaded financial apps in the country.

This kind of growth in just a few years highlights not only the demand for fintech solutions in Nigeria but also Opay’s ability to meet that demand effectively. The company went from being a new player in 2018 to becoming one of the largest mobile money operators in Africa in less than five years.

Lessons From Opay’s Growth

The rise of Opay offers a few important insights. First, timing matters. By entering Nigeria in 2018, Opay positioned itself at the perfect moment when mobile adoption was high but financial inclusion was low. Second, scale matters. By aggressively building an agent network, Opay reached customers that purely digital platforms could not. Finally, adaptation matters. By shutting down services that did not work and focusing on those that did, Opay avoided wasting resources.

For users like you and me, this means that the Opay app we see today is not just the result of a single idea but of multiple experiments, adjustments, and a relentless focus on growth.

The Road Ahead

So far, Opay has grown from being a new entrant in 2018 to becoming a fintech giant in Nigeria. But what does the future hold? Nigeria’s financial landscape continues to evolve, with more players entering and regulations becoming stricter. For Opay, growth will mean not only expanding its user base but also offering more services that build long-term loyalty.

There is potential for the company to expand beyond Nigeria, or to deepen its role in areas like savings, lending, and insurance, provided regulations allow. With its foundation in Nigeria already strong, Opay has the opportunity to become one of Africa’s dominant digital financial brands.

Conclusion

Opay was founded in 2018 by Opera Software, and in just a few years it has transformed how Nigerians interact with money. From its early days as a simple wallet to its rise as a multi-billion-dollar fintech giant, its growth story is remarkable. By building an extensive agent network, leveraging global investment, and focusing on what worked, Opay has embedded itself deeply in Nigeria’s financial fabric.

The journey from a newly launched app to a trusted daily companion for millions shows how quickly digital transformation can take root when technology meets real needs. And as we look toward the future, Opay’s continued growth will likely remain a central part of Nigeria’s evolving financial story.