Standard Bank weighs OPay stake before fintech’s planned US IPO

Standard Bank is in talks to acquire a stake in Nigerian financial technology company OPay before a potential US initial public offering, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

SoftBank- and Sequoia-backed OPay is working with Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan on a possible New York listing, the people said.

The companies have not reached an agreement, and the transaction may not proceed. OPay declined to comment, while Standard Bank said it does not comment on market speculation.

Founded in 2018, OPay serves as many as 50 million users and also operates in Egypt and Pakistan. The company became profitable last year as transaction values more than doubled to $358 billion, according to a company document reviewed by Bloomberg.

Mobile-money operators in sub-Saharan Africa processed $1.4 trillion in transactions in 2025, equal to 66% of global activity, according to the GSM Association.

McKinsey estimates that African fintech revenue could reach $47 billion by 2028 as mobile payments and digital banking expand across the region.