OPay wrote off $113m in unpaid loans in six months: what loan app borrowers should know

Figures OPay filed in the United States ahead of a planned share listing show it wrote off $113.15 million in loans it did not expect to recover in the first half of 2026, more than in the whole of 2025. The numbers went viral this week as a claim that Nigerians 'refused to pay' about ₦150 billion, but a write-off is an accounting step and does not show why borrowers missed payments.

OPay filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 9 October ahead of a planned share listing in New York. The filing shows the company wrote off $113.15 million in loans in the six months to 30 June 2026, up 520.5% on a year earlier and more than the $69.95 million it wrote off in all of 2025. At the end of June, $113.80 million in loans and interest, or 27.4% of the $415.33 million owed to it, was overdue, Nairametrics and TechCabal reported.

The losses rose alongside rapid growth in lending. OPay issued $927.63 million in new loans in Nigeria in the first half of the year, up from $305.12 million a year earlier, and its quarterly borrowers rose from 3.5 million to 6.7 million. Lending now earns the company more than payments: $236.12 million against $130.55 million, out of total revenue of $467.06 million. It still made a profit after tax of $90.87 million, TheCable reported.

The figure shared widely online, that Nigerians failed to repay about ₦150 billion, is not in the filing, which reports in dollars. The naira value depends on the exchange rate used: at around ₦1,500 to the dollar, $113.15 million is about ₦170 billion. OPay treats a loan as written off once it is 120 days overdue, and a write-off does not mean the company has stopped trying to collect or that the borrower no longer owes the money.

Online reaction split between users blaming borrowers and others blaming high interest and frequent loan offers. A national survey by EFInA, carried out with the National Bureau of Statistics and cited by TheCable, found that 40.8% of formal borrowers in 2026 took loans to cope with daily costs such as rent, medical bills and school fees, up from 31.7% in 2023, and that 45.8% reported difficulty repaying.

Pidgin: OPay papers for America show say dem write off $113 million loan wey people never pay inside six months this year. Dem no talk say na ₦150 billion, and write-off no mean say the debt don cancel. If you collect loan for app, check how much you go pay back before you press accept.

How this affects you: Before accepting any app loan, check the total you will repay and the exact due date, not just how fast it is approved. Avoid taking a new loan to repay an old one. A written-off loan is still a debt and can still be pursued and reported to credit bureaus, which can affect future borrowing. Digital lenders must be registered with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), which takes complaints about harassment and hidden charges.