More and more international financial institutions are participating in the development of Fintech in emerging markets. MasterCard recently established a strategic partnership with OPay, a Fintech unicorn in emerging markets.
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On May 19, 2022, MasterCard and OPay, a fintech company focused on emerging markets, announced a strategic partnership to enable OPay consumers and merchants across the region (including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates) will be connected to brands and businesses across the globe through the OPay wallet. The move will open the door to digital commerce for millions of people in the Middle East and Africa, driving wider financial inclusion and economic prosperity.
MasterCard has comprehensively deepened its financial inclusion initiatives around the world, promising to empower 1 billion people to enjoy the dividends of the digital economy by 2025, including helping 50 million small and medium-sized enterprises and providing solutions to the business development needs of 25 million female entrepreneurs solution.
Over the past three years, OPay’s business has grown rapidly, covering markets such as Nigeria, Egypt, and Pakistan, becoming one of the largest fintech companies in Africa and the Middle East. OPay provides customized services for different users, including financial services such as offline payment, online payment, and digital wallet. Currently, OPay serves more than 15 million wallet users, and more than 600,000 merchants, and has a monthly transaction volume of more than $6 billion.
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In Nigeria alone, where OPay has had a significant market share since its inception in 2018, users have saved billions of dollars over the past four years through credit-linked savings accounts in mobile wallets and microloans provided by the platform. At present, OPay’s business map has expanded to most of the emerging markets, in addition to Nigeria and Egypt, it also includes Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico, and other countries.
OPay continues to gain the favor of capital. The latest round of C round of financing was completed in August 2021, with a total amount of 400 million US dollars. The investment was led by SoftBank Vision Fund II. Since then, OPay has become a fintech unicorn in emerging markets. valued at $2 billion.
OPay not only provides mobile payment services but also brings advanced financial technology into the financial ecology of emerging markets in the fields of technology services, artificial intelligence, software, and information services. With the power of science and technology, we will help financial inclusion in emerging markets, and bring services to everyone. In the future, OPay plans to land in more markets within three to five years, vigorously promote digital popularization and e-commerce expansion, and at the same time bring more OPay users into the global economy.
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