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When you hear the word Piggy Bank, I bet the picture that comes to your mind is that of a small ‘pig-shaped’ structure for saving money or a small wooden ‘savings’ box which was popular with Nigerian kids at some point in time. This was indeed a very reliable way of saving money in the past and it is back once again in a more digitalized form. In fact, the concept has been applied in such a way that people’s money are kept in a restricted account for a particular duration of time and made accessible only after the given time has elapsed. The idea which was conjured up by three Friends from Covenant University, Somto Ifezue, Odunayo Eweniyi and Joshua Chibueze, has become a digital “savings box” promoting a savings culture among Nigerians.

Meet The App: A Disciplinarian

“Saving with discipline made easy. We promise that you will be amazed with how much you will be able to save up within the next one month. Start Today”. — Piggy Bank

This seems like a fair bargain considering the fact that you will be able to specify exactly how you want to save which includes the amount, frequency and target and you will be earning on average 6% per annum on automated savings or 12.41% per annum on a fixed deposit product, Safelock and can withdraw funds for free once per quarter. To begin saving on the platform, you will be required to first deposit an amount of ₦100. This serves as the opening balance that marks the start of your accounting journey. You complete this transaction with your One Time Password (OTP) to ensure that you are the owner of your card and once completed, your account is ready for use. On PiggyBank savers can set aside a minimum of ₦1 a day and only withdraw it only on dates specified by them or on a quarterly basis, which will attract a 5% early withdrawal fee. So if you are planning to be spending your savings, Piggy Bank will have none of that. In this way, customers are encouraged to keep their money in place until the agreed date. Piggy Bank gives you three schedule options for saving your money which into a daily, weekly, or monthly basis until it accumulates to the specific amount you are gunning for. You can also click on the Quick Save icon if you want to manually add funds to your savings at any point in time. Another feature which will interest you is the Safe Lock icon which you can click on if you plan to keep your savings restricted for up to 1,000 days. The icing on the cake is that you receive an instant upfront interest of up to 34% which is about 12.41% per annum. Finally, there are four quarterly days in a year in which you can withdraw your money (31/03/2018, 30/06/2018, 30/09/2018, and 30/12/2018). A 5% break fee is however paid if you withdraw outside any of these days.

What’s In It For You?

Customers on Piggy Bank play a major role in the growth of the brand. This is because Piggy Bank relies greatly on peer-to-peer recommendation; that means its customers are its influences. People who like Piggy Bank and have benefited significantly from it are compelled to tell friends and family about it and this, in turn, produces more traction for the brand. In order to encourage its customers, Piggy Bank, has initiated a program called PiggyBank Stories which involves user being rewarded for sharing their story about the brand. PiggyBank users whose stories have been submitted and approved, receive a link which they can be shared with their loved ones. In this way they can be rewarded as they engage with PiggyBank.

Creating Something Out Of Nothing

Just recently, PiggyBank announce that it had raised a seed of fundraiser of $1.1 milllion from almost solely Nigerian Investors. Piggy Bank credits this to its continuous evolution as a brand and continuous engagement with customers. They also acknowledged Olumide Soyombo of Leadpath for connecting them to local investors. Given the fact that some Nigerian startups have to look for funding from foreign investors, Piggy Bank hopes its success from engaging with local investors will set the pace for other startups.

Get The App

PiggyBank is available on Google PlayStore for free on any Android-supporting device. It has good reviews and has been downloaded multiple times. Click here to download PiggyBank.