Opera OPay Shakes Africa with In-Broswer Payment
Few weeks ago, I wrote that Opera is redesigning itself as "Africa's Internet". In other words, if you use Opera browser, you may not even need to bother with most Internet-based solutions, because Opera will abstract away those services. Simply, Opera is lumping many web services right within its browser. This is disruptive because it is a clear new level of competition in the sector.
Opera is evolving as a platform with capabilities to abstract away most internet services at the level of its browser. That is a solid business model, and that is exciting. My thinking is that Opera will increasingly make it easier for the bulk of its customer base to do more on its platform, thereby saving them more money in visiting the main Internet. Technically, your Internet can end in Opera because it will allow you do most things there. Simply, Opera is transmuting as an aggregator.
It has $100 million to execute this vision. Opera OPay is one of the early moves: a payment platform, integrated right in your browser, which makes the need of looking for payment providers a waste of time.
Opera, the Norwegian developer of Opera Mini, the most popular mobile browser app in Africa, has integrated a new web payment platform in Kenya called OPay. The service directly runs on the Opera Mini browser, which will bring a new level of convenience to a nation that has become a world leader in leapfrogging its IT infrastructures with innovative, web-based solutions. This is part of the Opera’s $100 million investment initiative to grow the African digital economy announced earlier this year.
OPay allows you to do many things: pay for "electricity, cable TV and utility bills directly via multiple payment methods, from major credit cards to operator payment service and mobile phone-based money transfer service".
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If your browser can help you do this, it simply means that companies like Nigeria's Paystack, Flutterwave and even Interswitch would need to improve their games. Why leave the browser to open another tab when you can make the payment right there? This could be consequential. (As I noted in my earlier piece, if Google Chrome does this, some entities will ask anti-trust authorities to help. Opera is small and may not matter.)
I expect Opera to continue to launch these browser-level solutions, starting with Kenya (usually a fast tech adopter), and then move across Africa. Fintech startups in payment should take note: Opera browser can abstract away your value proposition even before your customers can even check your website.
I think Opera's payment system proposition is fully integrated, if allowed to march on. I expect those in the payment system to LOBBY against giving Opera free hand, else a lot of them might consider changing business.
