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Sometimes in life, we have extra cash without an idea of how to invest it. We end up going safe and saving it in the bank with very little interest rates.
But old things are passed away.
Now there are easier ways to make your money work from you. Some of these can even be done on your smartphone. It is because of this that we will be exploring some of the top savings and investment apps in Nigeria that you should definitely consider in 2020.
Some of these apps have made investing as easy as click on a few menus. Investment options range from stocks, T-bills to even farms – no Economics degree or years of trading experience required. All you need is a smartphone, internet, and some spare cash.
Here are some of the best savings and investment apps in Nigeria in 2019;
PiggyVest
PiggyVest started as a savings platform (PiggyBank) before evolving into a more encompassing brand. PiggyBank was my first foray into the digital savings culture. Upgrading to PiggyVest came with more product offers than conventional savings. One of these product is the investment area.
On PiggyVest, you can invest in farms and other opportunities. ROI range from 10 -25% over 3-12 months. Investments are insured so you are assured of at least your initial capital if things don’t go as planned.
Download PiggyVest App here
CowryWise
CowryWise is a savings and investment platform. A major standout feature I noticed on CowryWise is the ability to invest in mutual funds. You can pick from a number of mutual funds graded from low, medium to high risk. There are also dollar investments following recent app updates.
Interest rates differ with the investment options.
Click here to download Cowrywise App
i-invest
The i-invest app is a product offering of Sterling Bank that helps you invest in treasury bills. As with standard treasury bills, the minimum investment amount is N100,000. You can pre liquidate after a minimum holding period of 30 days.
PayDay Investor
PayDay Investor is owned by ARM Investment Managers. With PayDay Investor, you can invest in ARM Money Markey Fund. To start investing you transfer from your ATM card or initiate a payment with your bank account number. Interests in investments are paid quarterly.
You can choose to lock-in your investments for 90 days when setting your investment plan. 20% of your accrued rest will be charged if you wish to break this lock before the expiry of the period.
Investments start from as low as N1,000.
Afrinvestor
According to their about page, Afrinvestor.com is the online trading and investment management portal of Afrinvest Securities Limited (ASL) designed to give brokerage clients control of their investments.
Afrinvestor is more for investments as there are no savings options as in the first two entries on this blog post. This is more tailored to brokers, investors more familiar with managing investment and active trading.
Stocks are top on the list of financial instruments you can trade-in. Treasury bills were unavailable at the time of this post. To start trading you pick and open one of the available account types.
Common trading charges (brokerage, buy/sell trades) apply. Transaction fees may also apply for deposits.
Ziing
Ziing was launched in January 2019 by Investment One Financial Services (formerly GTB Asset Management). Ziing has different plans one of which operates like a normal bank savings account (zSave). You can save towards goals on your zPlan free of charge with a breaking fee of 25% of accrued interest on withdrawals before due date.
Money saved in Ziing is invested in treasury bills, bonds, and other money market instruments
You can also open a stockbroking account with Ziing after updating your KYC documents and answering some questions. Interest varies from 5.2-10% depending on tenor/save option while charges apply for buying and selling of stocks.
InvestNow
InvestNow has an array of product offerings such as treasury bills, stock trading, money market funds, Nigerian Eurobond Fund, Retirement planning, Equity fund and so on.
People in the diaspora are not left out as there is a Nigerian Diaspora Trust which helps them invest in naira or dollar-denominated instruments. If you are a savvy, active investor, InvestNow is worthy of a lookup. Interest depends on investment choice.
FBN Edge
FBN Edge is the mobile app for FBNQuest Asset Management. With FBN Edge you can invest in and manage mutual funds.
Investa
While they seem relatively new on the block, Investa offers savings, investments, and cooperatives. Cooperatives function like how the conventional cooperative savings do – you save with others and access to low-interest loans. Investa also says they offer dollar accounts, so you can change your naira to dollars and vice versa.
Investment options on investa include Treasury bill and Mutual funds and insured Agricultural Investments
Carbon (formerly Paylater)
Carbon provides loan, savings and investment services. You can also use it to buy airtime or pay bills. PayVest is Carbon’s high-interest investment plan that promises up to 16% interest annually.
Farmcrowdy & CrowdyVest
Farmcrowdy prides itself as Nigeria’s 1st Digital Agriculture Platform. Farmcrowdy makes it easy to sponsor properly vetted farms to earn returns on your investment. Interest rates differ per farm type and duration. To invest you buy at least a farm unit of available farms at the ‘farm shop’.
FarmCrowdy recently announced CrowdyVest which, I think, is an expanded version of FarmCrowdy. With CrowdyVest, you can invest in more opportunities beyond agriculture. Now you can invest in transportation as well. I reckon more investment categories are also in the works. The ‘farm shop’ we know in FarmCrowdy is aptly replaced with a ‘Sponsorshop’.
The fintech space is agog with new entrants. The competition is good for the consumer as there are more options for investment, savings. We expect new savings and investment apps in the near future, we’ll be more than excited to share them with you.
Which of these apps do you use and why?