Opay Vs Owealth: Differences Between Opay And Owealth

The fintech industry in Nigeria has seen tremendous growth in recent years with the entrance of many new digital financial services platforms. Two of the most popular fintech apps that have gained significant user bases are Opay and Owealth.

Both platforms aim to provide access to digital financial services and products to Nigerians. However, there are some key differences between the two.

In this post, we’ll compare and contrast Opay and Owealth across several categories to understand where each excels and what sets them apart.

Company Overviews

What is Opay

Opay is a Nigerian-based financial technology (fintech) company that provides various services, including mobile money, bill payments, and ride-hailing. It aims to simplify financial transactions and increase financial inclusion in Nigeria and other markets where it operates.

Opay first launched in Nigeria in 2018 founded by Chinese company Opera. It started primarily as a payment processing and agent banking platform but has since expanded into other verticals like ride hailing, food delivery, lending and wealth management.

Features of Opay

Mobile Money Services: Opay offers mobile money services, allowing users to make digital transactions, transfer money, and manage their finances using their mobile phones.

Bill Payments: Users can conveniently pay bills such as utilities, cable TV, internet, and other services through the Opay platform, streamlining the payment process.

Food Delivery: Opay may offer food delivery services, allowing users to order food from restaurants through the platform and have it delivered to their location.

Investment and Savings: Some fintech platforms, including Opay, may offer investment and savings options, providing users with opportunities to grow their money.

QR Code Payments: Opay likely supports QR code payments, allowing users to make transactions by scanning QR codes at supported merchants, contributing to a cashless and digital payment ecosystem.

What is Owealth

OWealth is a high-yield savings account offered by OPay, a Nigerian mobile payment platform. It allows users to earn interest on their money daily, with the current interest rate being 15% per annum.

Owealth launched in 2020 and is focused mainly on investment and wealth management services. The O in Owealth stands for Omega and the company aims to provide ethical investment opportunities powered by AI and blockchain technologies.

Features of Owealth

High interest rate: Earn 15% annual interest on your savings, paid daily into your OPay wallet.

Flexible: You can start investing with as little as N500 and deposit as much as N1,000,000 daily.

Easy access: You can withdraw your money and the daily interest you’ve earned anytime, just like with a regular bank account.

Safe and secure: OWealth is powered by BlueRidge Microfinance Bank, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Deposits are insured by the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC).

Investments: OWealth invests your money in low-risk assets such as Treasury Bills, mutual funds, and short-term placements.

Service Offerings Comparison

When it comes to services offered, Opay has the wider range spanning payments, transportation, deliveries, lending, savings and investments amongst others. Opay has a super app strategy aiming to be the platform for all aspects of digital life. In payments, Opay offers mobile money accounts and services, bill payments, airtime purchases and bank account services through partnership with ALAT by WEMA.

In contrast, Owealth is more specialized solely on wealth and investment management services. Owealth provides AI-based advisory and investment opportunities in mutual funds, real estate, agriculture and commodities. Owealth offers tailored investment portfolios and products for users. While not as wide-ranging as Opay, Owealth aims to capture the growing fintech investment market in Nigeria.

Technology and Security

Opay leverages partnerships with banks for managing users funds through bank-grade security systems. Opay also uses AI and big data analytics to understand user behavior and preferences to tailor services. For payments, Opay utilizes rapid low cost payment processing infrastructure optimized for the Nigerian market. Opay also uses blockchain and distributed computing for other services like lending and investments.

Owealth utilizes AI algorithms for analysis and advisory. It runs automated robo-advisors to understand risk appetite and suggest ideal investment portfolios. Owealth claims to achieve higher than average returns through quantitative analysis and modeling using vast historical data. Owealth also deploys blockchain, smart contracts and tokenization for transparency, efficiency and security throughout the investment process.

User Experience

The Opay super app offers seamless transitions between services all on a unified interface and profile. This allows easy access across Opay’s multi-category offerings from payments to transportation booked directly in-app. Opay also has a large agent network supporting cash-in and cash-out services for users lacking bank accounts or internet connectivity.

The Owealth app and web platform provides detailed investment performance dashboards for portfolio monitoring and tracking. Users can efficiently execute trades, make deposits and withdrawals and access advisory resources all in one place. While more singularly focused, Owealth aims to provide rich analytics and transparency in a secure environment ideal for wealth management.

Investment Products

Opay offers a variety of investment products including mutual funds, index funds, commodities and cryptocurrencies. Many products come through partnerships with banks and other fintech platforms. Opay aims to provide diversified investment opportunities catering to different risk levels and preferences. However returns on some Opay investment products have faced criticism for underperforming market averages.

Owealth has concentrated offerings centered around AI-driven actively managed mutual funds across money markets, fixed income, equities, commodities and real estate. The data-based algorithms used aim to optimize portfolio constructions for higher risk-adjusted returns. Owealth also offers non-conventional products like fractionized real estate units opening up alternatives to expensive direct investments.

Costs and Revenue Models

Opay primarily makes money through payment processing fees and commissions. The super app strategy also allows for revenue across its multi-services through direct fees charged for rides, food orders, loans etc. Opay likely runs on very thin margins offset by large transaction volumes given its extensive network and user base. Partnerships with banks also provide avenues for monetization.

For Owealth the bulk of revenues comes from advisory and assets under management fees. Management fees are charged yearly as a percentage of assets invested through the platform. Owealth also benefits from the spread between returns achieved on investments and amounts credited to client accounts. A data-driven robo-advisor model helps keep overhead costs low.

Frequently Asked Questions

What key investors are backing Opay?

Major investors in Opay include Chinese company Opera and venture capital firms Sequoia Capital China and IDG Capital.

What makes Owealth different from Opay?

While Opay offers a wide array of services like payments, transportation, delivery, etc. – Owealth is solely focused on investment and wealth management services powered by AI and blockchain technologies.

What are the revenue models for Opay and Owealth?

Opay primarily makes money via payment processing fees, commissions on transactions and subscriptions for certain services. Owealth generates revenue through management fees charged yearly as a percentage of assets under management and keeps the investment spread.

How does Opay benefit its unbanked users?

Opay allows the unbanked to open mobile money accounts on the app and access financial services through Opay’s network of agents providing cash-in and cash-out touchpoints in the absence of bank branches, especially in rural areas.

Which company offers a wider range of investment products?

Opay offers more diversified investment product offerings spanning across mutual funds, cryptocurrencies, commodities etc. In contrast, Owealth focuses on AI-based actively managed mutual funds and alternative assets like real estate.

What technology does Owealth leverage for its services?

Owealth deploys artificial intelligence algorithms for investment analysis, advisory and portfolio optimization along with blockchain, smart contracts and tokenization to enable transparency and security.

Which fintech displays faster growth and wider reach presently?

As a payments super app with multi-category services backed by major Chinese investors, Opay displays much faster user growth, transaction volumes and wider reach across Nigeria presently compared to more specialized Owealth.

Conclusion

While Opay and Owealth both represent leading innovators in Nigeria’s booming fintech space – their business models, product offerings and target users diverge in important ways. Opay embodies the super app ambition to be the connective platform at the center of digital lifestyle. In contrast, Owealth aims to capture the high-growth niche of online investment management as access to capital markets expands.

Both have potential to continue positively impacting economic empowerment and financial access for regular Nigerians. But their trajectories may also involve risks as regulations evolve around data privacy, fund security and consumer protection. Nonetheless, Opay and Owealth remain two compelling homegrown fintech players powering the future of finance in Africa’s largest economy.