OPay Launches OBus Service in Lagos

By Adedapo Adesanya

Opera-backed company, OPay, has formally launched OBus, a bus hailing service in Lagos known as OBus. The new business was launched by the firm last Saturday and came barely a week after the introduction of OTrike in Aba, Abia State.

OPay, in its plan to become a multi-service commercial internet platform, which it started as a mobile payment platform in 2016, has within the past months added motorcycle hailing, personal loans, food delivery and tricycle hailing to its list of services. And it doesn’t seem to be resting on its oars.

Its latest addition OBus, like ORide and OTrike, is a commuter transit service that operates using branded hummer buses for intrastate trips within Lagos.

It has since inception been incorporated into the OPay app where ride orders can be made. To access the OBus service, users would need to update their OPay app. Currently in beta testing, it only operates along the CMS-Ikeja routes.

OBus trip fare payments are made using an OBus Card. It is a QR-enabled card that comes in different denominations — as low as N200 and as high as N2000. Cards can also be purchased from OPay agents at different designated bus stops.

To make payment, cards are placed over a sensor reader inside the bus. The sensor then reads the ticket barcode which was generated through the mobile app before the trip and withdrawal made immediately.

An OBus Card can be used for multiple trips until the credit is exhausted. Alternatively, payments can also be made through the OPay wallet, as with other OPay services.

Regarding concerns about his company’s speed of product and services expansion, an OPay staff explains that it was a way of testing new waters.

There is no telling what surprises OPay is set to spring up in the coming months. Perhaps, this is a means of proving to investors how effectively the recent $50 million funding which it said will be used to strengthen the company’s position in Nigeria, expand to additional African markets and leverage its brand and app into other services, including motorbike ride-sharing and food delivery services, is being utilised.