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OPay financial inclusion efforts have moved a step further with the opening of a new office in Kaduna, as Nigeria pushes towards a target of about 95 percent financial access by 2028. The fintech says the office will bring its services closer to customers, merchants and agents in the north.
OPay financial inclusion and the Kaduna office
OPay officially launched the Kaduna office in June, calling it another milestone in its plan to expand secure and convenient financial services across the country. The company says the location will let it provide localised support, deepen community engagement and respond faster to the needs of users who prefer in-person help.
For many Nigerians, especially outside the big commercial centres, a nearby office or agent is the difference between joining the formal financial system and staying outside it. By putting staff on the ground in Kaduna, OPay aims to build trust and handle customer issues that are hard to resolve through an app alone.
The 2028 access target
Nigeria’s drive to reach roughly 95 percent financial inclusion by 2028 sits within the Central Bank’s Payment System Vision 2028. The plan envisions a country where almost every adult can save, send and receive money through formal channels rather than cash alone. Fintech firms are seen as central to closing the gap, because they can reach people that traditional banks find too costly to serve.
Through investments in technology, payment infrastructure and service reliability, OPay says it has helped tens of millions of Nigerians gain easier access to formal financial services. Its agents, present in markets, shops and roadside kiosks, have become a familiar route for deposits, withdrawals and transfers in communities far from bank branches.
Why physical presence still matters
In an era of mobile apps, a brick-and-mortar office might seem old-fashioned. But in Nigeria, where power, data and digital literacy vary widely, human contact remains important. Customers want somewhere to walk in when a transaction fails, a card is blocked or money seems stuck. A local office signals that a company intends to stay and stand behind its product.
The Kaduna launch also reflects competition in Nigeria’s fintech market, where rivals are racing to win agents and customers in regions with room to grow. Northern states, with large populations and lower banking penetration than the south, are a key battleground for that expansion.
Analysts note that deepening financial inclusion is not only about opening accounts. It also depends on keeping people active in the system, protecting them from fraud and ensuring services work when they are needed. Offices, agents and reliable support all feed into that longer goal.
For everyday users in Kaduna, the immediate benefit is simpler: a place to get help, ask questions and carry out transactions with a measure of confidence. Whether that translates into the national target of near-universal access will depend on how well the system performs over the coming years.
OPay says the expansion is part of a broader strategy to bring financial services closer to Nigerians wherever they live and work.
