Piggybank.ng, a Nigerian fintech company, had a solid 2017 performance despite the economic challenges Nigeria faced last year.
In an overview for last year, posted on its blog, Piggybank.ng stated that its users saved close to N1 billion last year.  A whopping increase from the N21 million in savings it began with in 2017.
The number of users on the platform also grew by 3000% in 2017, with minimal marketing. Piggybank.ng also launched its apps on the Google Play and Apple app stores.
In order to aid its operations and expansion plans for 2018, Piggybank.ng also disclosed that it had acquired a significant acquired a significant stake in a fully licensed and functional Nigerian Microfinance Bank.
What could be responsible for the success ?
Piggybank has lower operating costs since it does not have physical branches. It is thus able to charge lesser fees compared to conventional financial institutions. Nigerians are increasingly comfortable with technology, which gives them the options of not having to go to a bank.
Alat, a fintech owned by Wema Bank has also had a fabuolous year since its launch in May last year. During the bank’s Q2 conference call in June, it disclosed that about 120,000 accounts had been opened with balances of over N300 million. The app was also downloaded over 100,000 times on the Google Play store.
Going forward
Piggybank is not resting on its laurels as it has launched the Piggybank2018 challenge. Savers are given points and a rank based on how much they have saved.
About Piggybank
Piggybank was founded by Somto Ifezue, Joshua Chibueze and Odunayo Eweniyi in April 2016. Piggybank.ng is a platform that works directly with financial institutions to enable individuals save little amounts of money periodically (Daily, Weekly or Monthly) and restricts withdrawals until set dates.
