Opay unveils location guard feature as security challenge winners get N1m each

OPay, Nigeria’s leading mobile financial services platform, has unveiled the location guard security feature as part of its efforts to secure customers’ funds.

The location guard feature, OPay’s eighth security initiative, was unveiled on Friday during the grand finale of the ‘My OPay Security Vote Challenge’, which took place at the firm’s office in Ikeja, Lagos.

In August, the financial platform launched seven security features: scam alert, night guard, large transaction shield, online subscription control, USSD lock, large transaction double check, and emergency lock.

During the ceremony, OPay rewarded the four winners of the security vote challenge with N1 million each.

The winners were selected from a list of Nigerians who participated in the challenge by creating a 30-second video showcasing Opay’s security feature.

The ceremony was attended by Nollywood actress Funke Akindele, as well as social media influencers and skit makers such as Samuel Perry, popularly known as Broda Shaggi; Layi Wasabi, and Chukwuebuka Emmanuel, also known as Brain Jotter.

Speaking during the event, Elizabeth Wang, the chief commercial officer of Opay, said the security of customers’ funds remains a top priority, noting that a huge investment has been made to secure it effectively.

Wang said with the location guard security feature, if a customer’s phone is used outside their preferred location, only the face identity option will trigger the transaction.

“Our mission is to make financial services more inclusive through technology. One of our core values is always customer first. I believe that for any customer, the top priority is security,” Wang said.

“That’s why, at OPay, we invest a lot and will continue to do so in security products so that we can protect our customers from any situation and threat that [they] might face for the security of their funds.

“At Opay, every day we listen to our customers to fully understand their key concerns. I want to emphasise that at OPay we build everything for our customers and not for us. We listen to our customers.

“I will like to announce that during this campaign, we also launched another product called location guard. How did this location guard come about? Some customers reached out to us and said, ‘I live in Lagos. If somebody steals my phone and takes it to Ibadan or PH, what can I do?”

“That means your location is also very important. With location guard, you can set where you are now. If your phone is used outside that location, we will lock it. Only your face ID can unlock it.”

Also speaking, Oluwaseun Imade, enterprise marketing manager at OPay, said the company creates the security features with the interests of the customers in mind.

Imade said the firm will continue to create more products to meet customer needs.

In her remarks, Akindele commended OPay for creating the security features to prevent customers from losing their funds to fraudsters, adding that it is painful to lose hard-earned money to fraudsters.

At the event, Opay announced Ezeonwuka Greatness as the winner of the X category of the OPay security challenge, Onyinye Mercy Ekeogu won the Instagram category, Charles Chinaemere Lhugba won the TikTok category, and Adegoke Oluwatoyin Adewunmi won the Facebook category.

The winners were rewarded with N1 million each.