Sunday Ehigiator
OPay has strengthened its compliance and risk-management systems with the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and real-time transaction monitoring to prevent financial crime, and enhance the security of digital payments in Nigeria.
The fintech company reported it had blocked more than one million fake identities and deployed thousands of real-time risk controls as part of efforts to protect consumers, merchants, and the wider digital economy.
The company said the approach to compliance had become a core part of its operations as digital payments increasingly supported everyday economic activities, including receiving money, paying suppliers, settling bills, and running businesses.
It said it had spent three years independently developing an Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) risk-control and compliance system, benchmarking its approach against global fintech practices while retaining full intellectual property rights over the system.
The system combines AI, big data, and real-time transaction monitoring to identify and respond to suspicious activities within milliseconds.
“Stop financial crime before it causes harm while protecting legitimate customers and businesses,” the company said, outlining the objective of the system.
OPay said its approach went beyond detecting suspicious transactions after they had occurred, stressing that greater emphasis is placed on prevention and real-time intervention.
It said its risk-control system currently used more than 5,000 monitoring and blocking rules and over 10,000 risk-feature profiles to assess transaction behaviour and identify potential threats.
“Where suspicious activity is detected and verified, the system can intervene immediately by blocking transactions or, where appropriate, freezing and permanently suspending accounts,” the company said.
According to OPay, the controls have helped keep its transaction fraud rate below 0.001 per cent.
The company said preventing suspicious transactions before funds moved through the system could reduce losses, protect legitimate users, and make digital payment channels more difficult for criminal networks to exploit.
On identity-related fraud, OPay said it had developed digital identity verification and live facial detection capabilities to detect identity forgery and impersonation.
It said more than one million fake identities had been blocked, while its facial live-detection system blocked tens of thousands of attack attempts every day.
OPay stated, “These controls provide an important first line of defence,” the company said, adding that preventing suspicious identities from entering the financial system reduces opportunities for fraud, impersonation and money laundering.
It also said its compliance framework used AI and data analysis to identify unusual behaviour, with a client reporting centre and large AI models and intelligent-agent technology integrated into its risk-control processes.
“These tools support automated analysis of information and help identify account patterns that may signal suspicious activity,” the company said.
It explained that once a risk was verified, the system could trigger immediate intervention, a capability it described as increasingly important as financial crime became more organised and criminals continuously changed their tactics.
It added that the ability to analyse large volumes of data and respond in real time could help financial institutions identify threats earlier.
Beyond technology, OPay said the ultimate objective of its compliance framework was to protect consumers and legitimate businesses.
It stated, “Consumers need confidence that their money, accounts and personal information are protected.
“Merchants need payment systems that allow them to transact without unnecessary exposure to fraud.”
The company said Know Your Customer (KYC) controls helped verify identities and reduce account misuse, while AML controls helped to identify unusual transaction patterns and potential financial crime.
It also stressed the importance of consumer security awareness, fraud prevention, and clear guidance to help users protect their accounts.
“Technology provides an important layer of defence, but informed customers remain a critical part of the wider security system,” OPay said.
The fintech company described compliance as a form of economic infrastructure, stating that a safer digital payments system could strengthen confidence in formal financial services, support legitimate commerce, and reduce opportunities for fraudsters and other financial criminals.
OPay said, “For businesses, reliable digital payments can reduce the risks associated with carrying cash and make it easier to receive and make payments.
“For consumers, stronger controls can provide greater confidence when using digital channels for everyday financial activities.”
OPay also stated that compliance was “no longer simply a back-office function,” but increasingly part of the infrastructure supporting Nigeria’s digital economy.
The company acknowledged that technology alone could not deliver effective compliance, stressing the need for skilled professionals, clear processes, staff training, strong governance, continuous monitoring, and effective risk management.
“OPay’s compliance framework combines technology, people, and governance,” it said, stating that financial crime continues to evolve while regulatory expectations also change.
It added that a resilient compliance system must be capable of responding to emerging threats.
The company also called for greater collaboration among financial institutions, regulators, technology companies and other industry stakeholders to address increasingly sophisticated forms of financial crime while supporting responsible innovation.
“Such collaboration can strengthen industry standards, improve understanding of emerging risks and support a safer digital financial ecosystem,” it stated.
The company maintained that trust would ultimately determine the impact of security and compliance investments as Nigeria’s digital finance sector became more deeply integrated into everyday economic activity.
It said its investments in AML/CFT controls, digital identity verification, AI-powered risk monitoring, KYC, consumer protection, and governance reflected the growing importance of security alongside convenience.
It said, “The impact is ultimately measured by what these systems prevent: fake identities stopped, suspicious transactions intercepted, fraudulent activity disrupted, and legitimate customers protected.”
OPay added that much of the work took place behind the scenes, but its value was reflected whenever a customer completed a transaction with confidence or a legitimate business received payment securely.
The company stated, “Innovation can make digital finance faster and more convenient, strong compliance makes it safer, and together, they provide the foundation for greater trust in Nigeria’s digital economy.”