OPay and Moniepoint’s $644.85 Billion Payments Split

By Daniel Okafor

OPay and Moniepoint processed a combined $644.85 billion of electronic payments in 2025, according to company disclosures and Central Bank of Nigeria data. CBN said Nigeria processed more than ₦1.2 quadrillion ($880.51 billion) in electronic transactions that year. TechCabal identifies both as microfinance banking licence holders. TechCabal described the split: a Bolt driver in Nigeria is more likely to request OPay after a trip, while a local shop is more likely to offer a Moniepoint terminal. That divide sets up two different economic models.

Why do average ticket sizes differ?

• Moniepoint processed 14 billion transactions worth ₦412 trillion ($286.85 billion at ₦1,436.31/$ as of December 31, 2025).
• OPay processed 62.3 billion transactions worth $358 billion.

The disclosures show OPay processed 4.45 times as many transactions. Moniepoint’s $20.49 average ticket was 3.56 times OPay’s $5.75. Moniepoint said it serves more than 20 million businesses and individuals. OPay reported 50.1 million monthly active users. TechCabal also reported that Moniepoint had tripled transaction volume in two years.

TechCabal offered two possible explanations: Moniepoint has more merchant, business or other larger payments, while OPay carries more frequent, low-value consumer spending. The disclosures do not confirm either explanation.

OPay says its wallets were “used an average of 209 times per user per month,” while Moniepoint said its cards were used 1.7 million times daily. TechCabal reported that Moniepoint entered Kenya in March 2026 through a 78% stake in Sumac Microfinance. OPay also operates in Indonesia, Egypt and Pakistan, but Nigeria generated 88.1% of its 2025 revenue.

How does payment value become revenue?

Payment volume does not equal revenue. TechCabal says earnings depend on fees, commissions, lending, merchant services and other income sources. OPay disclosed $536.25 million of 2025 revenue. Moniepoint does not publicly disclose revenue.

OPay’s revenue equalled about 0.15% of its $358 billion in transaction value. TechCabal’s illustrative calculation applies that rate to Moniepoint’s $286.85 billion, yielding $430.28 million. TechCabal cautions that different transaction mixes, fees and revenue sources make this a scenario, not an estimate.

TechCabal’s explainer traces a ₦1,000 purchase from an issuing bank or wallet, which verifies the balance and debits the customer, through the NIBSS payment switch to a merchant acquirer and settlement account. An OPay wallet paying an OPay POS terminal may settle within OPay’s internal ledger and bypass the national switch.

The explainer depicts most of the ₦1,000 as merchant settlement and 15% as fees. The acquirer charges a capped or flat fee, then shares part with the central routing network. TechCabal describes OPay as building consumer loans, savings and merchant settlement around its wallet while deploying POS terminals. It says Moniepoint grew through merchant acquiring and now promotes working capital, expense cards and personal banking. The same payment data records purchase frequency, basket size and cash-flow consistency. TechCabal says both companies turn those signals into credit intelligence.

How much is lending worth?

Both companies increased lending activity in 2025, according to their disclosures. OPay originated $938.3 million in new Nigerian loans, up 284.71% in one year. Moniepoint said it disbursed more than ₦1 trillion ($696.23 million) in small-business loans, after $71 million of working-capital loans in 2023.

TechCabal explains that Moniepoint’s terminals reveal sales volume, payment frequency and changes in activity. That helps it assess businesses with weak financial statements or insufficient collateral. Moniepoint’s portfolio covers provision stores, supermarkets, restaurants and wholesale distributors. Moniepoint says recipients recorded “an average 36% increase in transaction value” after obtaining credit.

OPay reached 4.6 million quarterly unique Nigerian borrowers in 2025, more than twice the 2.1 million a year earlier. OPay has also introduced merchant lending. It says those loans carry higher limits, lower rates and longer tenors aligned with business cash-flow cycles.

OPay’s loan-financing revenue rose to $260.3 million from $71.5 million in 2024, growth of approximately 264.1%. The figure supplied 48.5% of total revenue; other revenue was $275.9 million. OPay’s expected-credit-loss provision climbed from $24.8 million to $121.3 million, nearly five times the 2024 level and 46.6% of loan-financing revenue. TechCabal cautions that provisions estimate future losses; they are not realised defaults. It also cited rising complaints about interest rates used to cover credit-loss provisions.

Moniepoint says its non-performing loans are small, but does not disclose lending revenue or default costs. CBN reported Nigerian NPLs at 7% in 2025. NPLs mean loans overdue by 90 days or more. A Moniepoint impact report said 62% of women entrepreneurs it supported received their first formal loan.

What do the profit figures show?

TechCabal lists technology, processing, acquisition, compliance, fraud, staffing and credit costs as the price of scale. OPay reported $110.79 million in income before taxes on $536.25 million of revenue. Its pre-tax margin was 20.66%, leaving about 21 cents before tax per revenue dollar.

TechCabal’s scenario applies OPay’s revenue yield and margin to Moniepoint’s volume, producing an indicative $88.89 million profit estimate. The calculation is not a reported result and assumes similar yields and costs.

What changes under the new CBN rules?

In June 2026, CBN set limits on any licensed institution controlling more than 25% of consumer issuing. CBN would cap its merchant-acquiring share at 15%. The thresholds are regulatory limits, not findings that OPay or Moniepoint breached them.

TechCabal said the rule could constrain firms pursuing both ends of a transaction. Growth will depend on each company’s position across issuing, acquiring, settlement and credit, not just transaction count.