Saving should be at the core of everybody financial strategy but in Nigeria it is not so, we actually have a bad saving culture, “who want to save in the face of economic downtown or when there is more to buy but less income” this are the reaction I get when I asked my friend to save some of his salary, all the effort to prove to him that saving is good was abortive.
He simply said unless there is a mechanism that can make him safe automatically before he get he could touch his salary and as if God was hearing him, Paystack and Crowrywise came on board.
Thanks to them people cannot only save, they can also invest their money; though many were skeptical about the option of investing but over the year they’ve proof to be better.
We know that both of them are good and capable but people need to choose one, since it is not advisable to use both, you wont have a focus that is why we write this article to show you the different and similarities between Piggyvest and Cowrywise in short Piggyvest vs Cowrywise.
Piggyvest vs Cowrywise: History
Piggyvest History
Piggyvest was not always Piggyvest it started as Piggybank; a saving only app that help people to save their money automatically and manually. It was after three years they added investment to their core feature and this was a feat that brought them to limelight.
Piggyvest was founded by Joshua Chibueze and since its inception it has helped over 1 million people save their money and has over 100,000 download on google play store.
Cowrywise History
Cowrywise started with saving and investment in mind though it took them some time before they finally role out their investment feature. It was founds by Razaq Ahmed and Edward Popoola in 2017 to do the same thing has Piggyvest and this they have doing well as they are already in par with Piggyvest.
Acoeding to them they have process more than $1.5 million dollar investment and one of their noticeable partner is Meristem Trustees
Piggyvest vs Cowrywise: Saving feature
Piggyvest saving
Below are the saving Feature on Piggyvest
Piggybank
On Piggy bank you have option to save your money automatically and manually
Automatic saving
This is best for those who find it hard to save, you just need to input your bank detail and specify amount you want to be saving per day, per month, and the money will be deducted automatically form your bank.
Periodical saving
For those that receive or earn money periodically you can schedule your saving time to fall to the time you will receive your money. It is also automatic and once setup Piggyvest will charge at appropriate time.
Manual saving
Still on piggy bank, if you are discipline or your income is irregular you don’t need to save automatically; use manual saving method to save your money anytime you want to
Safe lock
This is for those that receive extra cash and don’t want to touch it, you can put it in safe lock and specify the time you want to access usually more than a year. Under this feature you can only withdraw at the time you specify, no cry and wailing can withdraw it.
Target saving
If you have a financial expectation to meet this is best feature for you, you can save automatically and manually, and cash out when you meet your targeted amount.
Flex naira
Flex naira is like a normal bank saving where you save and withdraw your money at any time. This is best for those that just want to safe for a short time. You will also earn interest on your money depending how long you save.
Flex dollar
Flex dollar was introduce to fight against inflation, we all know what Nigeria inflation rate is saying now, to not be a victim you can save your money in dollar on Piggyvest and withdraw in naira when you want, it also comes with interest rate.
Piggyvest interest rate
Below is the summary of Piggyvest interest rate for deferent saving plan
Piggybank —– 8% per annum
Savelock ——- 13% interest rate
Target —— 8% interest rate per annum
Flex dollar —— 7% interest rate
Flex ——- 8% interest rate per annum
Crowrywise features
Like Piggyvest they also have many saving features, but they are a bit strict with their saving plan, you cant break any of it once you click save that’s it, you have to wait till the date you specify. Their features are
Regular saving
Here you can save money for a minimum of three months to target short time financial goal. Once you save you can only withdraw after you reach your specify month.
Life goal
Life goal saving is for a long time, the minimum time to withdraw your money is 1 year. If you want to save for business, education, retirement and vacation this is best feature for you
Emergency plan
This is like flex saving of Piggyvest, here you save for an emergency situation and you can withdraw at any time.
Halal saving
His option is for Muslim who don’t want any interest rate on their saving, that just want to save and withdraw the same amount.
Saving circles
Saving circles is for two or more people who want to save together, it has three options and they are
Challenge
To make saving fun Cowrywise create challenge option such that you can save with your friends and family
Collection
This for group of people or friends that want to save money for an investment
DUI saving
This is for two people e.g. couple that want to save for a financial goal.
Piggyvest vs Cowrywise: Interest rate
Both Piggyvest and Cowrywise have little difference in their interest rate.
On Piggyvest
On Piggyvest the interest rate is between 8% and 13% and it is pay daily and can be withdraw after the end of saving, except for safe lock (13% interest rate) which is paid up front.
On Cowrywise
The interest rate is 10% across the saving and investment features, but according to them they say it can go more than that depending on the years of saving.
Piggyvest vs Cowrywise: Investment
Piggyvest
Piggyvest has four categories to invest in and you can earn as much as 20% interest rate on each of the categories, these categories are
- Income
- Real Estate
- Agriculture
- Transportation
Crowrywise
On Crowrywise you only have mutual fund and you can with with as little as #1,000 a little bit chipper to #5,000 minimum investment of Piggyvest.
Before you can invest on Cowrywise you need to take assessment test to ascertain your level of risk.
What is mutual fund?
Mutual fund is an investment plan where investors pool their resource together to make an investment therefore reducing risk.
The profit there of is share between the investors. Cowrywise in this case act as collator which helps to gather resources from their deferent user.
Note: Cowrywise does not invest directly on mutual fund they give it out to a specialize company
Piggyvest vs Crowrywise: Withdrawal
Piggyvest
On Piggyvest withdrawer is free when you withdraw in the specific date you set. To cater for emergency situation Piggyvest let you withdraw your money during an open window
(March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, and December 31st) but 5% of the money you want to withdraw will be charge as a penalty.
Cowrywise
On Cowrywise there is no open window once you safe just forget it no going back. They claim they do this so as to inculcate financial discipline in their customer since that is the goal of the platform.
Ratings and review
Piggyvest app has been downloaded over 500,000 times on Playstore and it has 4.56/5 star rating.
There are less negative review except advice to add more features.
On app store it has 4.6/5 star rating and good review
Cowrywise
Cowrywise app has been downloaded over 100,000 times on play store and has 4.5/5 start rating with good review. The negative review so far is about bug issue which has been attended to by the technical team.
Piggyvest vs Cowrywise: Security
Is Cowrywise Safe?
As we use to state in all of our review articles, Cowrywise is save as at the time of writing this article we don’t know what can happen to it tomorrow.
Cowrywise is safe because of the following
The platform is PCIDSS compliance
They do not engage in risk investment; mutual fund is considered the lowest risk investment.
They have encryption in place.
Your data are encrypted no one can steal your bank details.
They have two factor authentication to secure user account.
Piggyvest
Piggyvest is safe because of the following reason
Like Cowrywise your data is encrypted
The platform is PCIDSS compliance
It has two factor authentication
Conclusion
Above is an article about Piggyvest vs Cowrywise, the truth is that they are both good and do the basic that are expected of them which is to save and invest.
It is now down to your want and specification, if you think financial discipline is not your thing; you will need a platform where you can withdraw until your specify time, you can go for Cowrywise but if your want an open window in case of emergency go for Piggyvest.
If you want good interest rate on your investment and saving go for Piggyvest but if it is less risky investment go for Cowrywise.
