Fintech group Optasia delivered a big jump in revenue by the end of the third quarter, driven by growth in its microfinance unit.
On Thursday, the group reported that it generated revenue of about $270m (R4.42bn) in the nine months to end-September 2026, a 45% boost compared to the previous comparable period. The group said this was based on preliminary management accounts.
Shares shot up close to 3% in early trade on the voluntary trading update.
Optasia said it distributed about $5.1bn of value through its platform, an increase of 34% year-on-year. The company said reported results in the first half of 2026 included a foreign exchange benefit, “which has since largely eased”.
Optasia describes itself as “an AI-enabled fintech platform that provides microfinancing solutions and airtime credit solutions”. In essence, it offers microloans across various platforms. For instance, it is the company behind the airtime lending businesses of mobile operators Vodacom and MTN.
Even then, the group is shifting its revenue mix as part of a push to diversify its revenue streams.
Of the company’s total revenue for the period, micro-financing solutions contributed about $194m, an increase of 67% on the first nine months of 2025, while airtime credit solutions contributed about $75m, an increase of 8%.
As such, micro-financing accounted for about 72% of group revenue in the year to date “and remains the group’s primary growth driver”.
In July, CEO Salvador Anglada told Business Day the fintech group aims to make more than 80% of its money from a growing slate of microfinance offerings, including cash and loans for utilities bills.
The group launched its first merchant lending proposition during the first half and continues to develop additional embedded credit propositions. It also continued to broaden its distribution model during the period, adding banking and utility ecosystems as additional routes to customers alongside its established telecom and mobile-money channels.
This week, the group said the average ticket size for micro-financing solutions continued to increase, and the combined take rate rose to 5.3% compared with 4.9% in the previous comparable period.
Earlier this year Optasia acquired Dubai-based electricity credit specialist company Finergi for nearly R500m. Finergi is a technology company providing “real-time credit access through prepaid electricity systems”.
Finergi extends the group into utility credit, creating a new growth vertical and broadening the ecosystems in which Optasia can deploy its decisioning, technology and operating capabilities.
Its strategic partnership with FirstRand continued to deepen. FirstRand increased its shareholding in Optasia to 26.1%, while the group’s collaboration with FNB also progressed into product development and implementation, including the integration of Optasia’s decisioning capabilities behind FNB Connect’s airtime-advance proposition and the development of a cash-advance proposition within the FNB wallet ecosystem.
The company said its full-year targets to December 2026 were unchanged.
Opatsia shares were 2.81% firmer in early trade on Thursday at R15.83. The stock has shaved off a quarter of its value since the start of 2026, valuing the fintech operator at R19.62bn.
Business Day
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