If you go for the money, then persuing DBA is the right path ( sometimes I think they're way overpaid alrite... i'm just joking..) .. statistically, DBA does make more $$ compared to other IT groups and definitely OCP is a plus. I think OCP, if it doesn't help you to get a raise, then it gives you a strong foundation to do your job well. Well, good luck and I hope that you find working w/ Oracle is rewarding.
True words.

Something to add: I think that going after OCP only because of the money is by far the worst reason. I even don't think that OCPs get more money than non-OCPs. At least not in Western Europe.

I personally became an OCP for self-confidence and in order to learn more about Oracle. Before I opened the first OCP book I thought that basically I should know almost everything about how to administer Oracle DBs. Boy, how wrong was I! I used to be one of many DBAs who do their job, can have the DB on and running, etc.

Now I know, that a non-OCP cannot simply know half of the things about Oracle. I know DBAs who have worked with Oracle since Oracle 5 but have never heard of a bitmap index, inverse index, stored outlines, RMAN, not to mention how Oracle works internally. And they are good at what they do, they get good salary, they are respected at their jobs. But only after passing those OCP exams you may comprehend what advantage you have to the ordinary DBAs. In one sentence: you know more about Oracle than them, they can hardly surprise you with anything, but *you* can!