Optasia revenue hits $185m as core lending business grows

Dubai-based fintech group Optasia, which uses artificial intelligence tech to offer credit to underserved populations, saw its free cash flow soar 150%, while revenue was up  58%, and it launched its first merchant banking solution in the half-year to June.

It also launched microfinancing in South Sudan.

Optasia listed on the JSE in 2025 and is chaired by former FNB CEO Michael Jordaan, with FNB now holding a 26.1% stake as it increases its lending and services to lower-income consumers.

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Optasia processes more than 30 million loan transactions daily for over 120 million users across 38 countries, with its CEO Salvador Anglada saying it uses its data and intelligence to scale financial inclusion and credit offerings across different geographies.

“We are the ones that are able to understand the patterns, the behaviours, the unstructured data that exists in the market, and with this, we are able to understand the affordability of people in order to get a loan.”

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Optasia expands merchant lending

In its first-half to June, Optasia also launched its merchant financing in Ghana to about 56 000 vendors, with this now being offered in Uganda after June.

Merchant financing is a funding solution where lenders provide businesses with a lump sum of capital in exchange for a portion of future sales or revenue, benefiting small enterprises that may struggle to qualify for traditional bank loans.

Anglada said the firm had a “rich pipeline” of places to offer merchant lending and it will be expanded across the different geographies.

Anglada also said Optasia will be ready to start providing its credit products in three new markets of Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Kenya by 2027.

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Optasia revenue increased to $185.3 million and loans and income disbursed to $3.5 billion, up 46%.

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Its microfinancing services that enable banks to lend to underserved customer groups was the primary growth driver, with revenue increasing 84% and representing 72% – rather than its other product, airtime credit services.

Microfinancing is outpacing its airtime sales profitability due to three key factors: higher wallet growth as more users adopt digital wallets, larger transaction sizes compared to airtime and data purchases, and higher profit margins.

Optasia acquires Finergi

Optasia has completed its acquisition of Dubai-based Finergi, which owns proprietary technology that allows eligible customers to access prepaid electricity when they need it and pay for it later.

CEO of Finergi Avi Lasarow said prepaid electricity solutions help utility firms and governments when they face debt problems due to customers not paying their bills, but the prepaid models then create a problem for low-income consumers who often have irregular incomes.

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Finergi provides an electricity advance to the consumer, repays the electricity provider in full and only charges a flat fee to the consumer when they next are able to recharge.

The World Bank is aiming to have increased electricity to 300 million more people by 2030 and Finergi is in 53% of their priority markets, Lasarow said.

The firm reported strong growth across its established markets, including Ghana, Pakistan, Indonesia and Congo-Brazzaville. It listed on the JSE in 2025 with a share price of R19, which is now at R14.90 at 12:46pm.

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Financial highlights

Adjusted Ebitda: $77.9 million (42.0% margin), up 45%
Normalised net income: $39.3 million, up 40%
Basic and headline earnings per share: 2.79 US cents, up 50%
Adjusted free cash flow: $32.7 million, up 150%, with 41.9% cash conversion
Credit impairment ratio: 1.3%
Net debt to annualised adjusted Ebitda: 0.20x

Optasia share price

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