OPay Receives Approval from CBE to Issue Prepaid Cards

OPay, an emerging financial technology company, confirmed today that it received preliminary approval from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on 13 April for the issuance of prepaid cards. The fintech firm has received approval from the CBE for its partnership with Masria Digital Payments (MDP), one of the largest card providers in Egypt.

OPay aims to provide convenient and fast financial services to the users in the country through the issuance of approximately 200,000 prepaid cards in the first phase. Additionally, the company highlighted the importance of digital tools in Egypt’s payment sector.

"We are very pleased to cooperate with the Egyptian Card Company to issue prepaid cards, as it provides more than one payment option, which will greatly contribute to continuing our endeavors to provide the best non-banking services to our customers through a smooth and easy system represented in prepaid cards, which enables them to benefit from its services in buying and selling operations and to meet their financial needs whenever and wherever they are,” Mahmoud Khader, the Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at OPay, commented on the announcement.

Earlier this year, OPay developed a partnership with Banque Misr to provide electronic collection services to merchants and SMEs.

Unicorn

In August 2021, OPay became one of the most valuable startups in Africa after the fintech company raised $400 million in its Series C funding round. The investment round witnessed participation from some of the top venture capital firms, including SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Long-Z Capital, Sequoia Capital, RedPoint China, Source Code Capital and SoftBank Ventures Asia. Following the funding, OPay received a valuation of $2 billion. Previously, OPay completed its Series B financing in November 2019 with nearly $120 million in funding.

In March 2022, the fintech company, Jeeves received $180 million in Series C funding.