Taking Advantage of Financial Technology In Nigeria

Financial technology simply refers to the application of scientific methods to meet human financial needs. ‘FINTECH’ was coined from the words Financial Technology, as a shorter way to refer to the system of financial operations in recent time. This article intends to provide advice on some of the financial applications that can be used to grow your finances, without the stress of having to understand and monitor the stock market; such applications help users to save money and make simple and safe investments. The focus of this article would therefore be on financial technology suits that focus on providing savings and investment services.

Financial Technology has indeed become widely recognized all over the world, including in developing nations, and it has come to stay. As a matter of fact, Fintech has this day become a competition to actual banks, as it has broken the barrier of movement, time, distance, work and speed of making financial transactions. Financial Technology is an economic industry composed of companies that use technology based software to make financial services more efficient. This includes your business transactions, your day to day money transactions such as loans, savings and transfers, to mention a few. It is really easy to use and reduces the stress of making numerous trips to the bank whenever the need arises. It is for this reason that even banks now have mobile applications in order to stay abreast with their competitors.

Fintech is gradually seeing a redefinition of the way banks operate, even in the setting of their interest rates and the frequency with which they appropriate loans due to the competition they pose in some developed countries. As a synergy between finance and technology, it can take the form of software, a service or a business that provides technologically advanced methods for financial effectiveness. The software aspect of fintech is what many of us are familiar with today and some of the most prominent applications have features that include; mobile payments, automated investment processes, crypto-currency, crowd-funding options and online lending suites. In this article, we would be shedding a bit of light on Investment applications and crowd-funding applications.

The rise of the development and use of investment applications and crowd-funding sites in many different forms as we have now began to see today is instrumental to the development of many economies, especially developing economies, since savings and investments are now being made accessible to just anyone.and financial inclusion has become the order of the day.

In the light of all the praises for Fintech, a good point to note is that there are many financial aid systems that have emerged since the beginning of the technology era and the need to understand what they are about and how to use them to our advantage is becoming increasingly important. Some investment and crowd-funding applications that have gradually begun to gain attention and trust for use in Nigeria include;

Piggyvest

Its name was coined from the old piggy bank or the native kolo ideas which helped save money in small bits until a specific period of time when it would have accrued to a sensible amount of money. But unlike the old fashioned piggy bank, Piggyvest is an online application which offers 10% interest after three months of saving your money. The longer you leave your money there the more your interest builds up. The application also has other features including flex savings where you can save in naira or dollars and investment sites where you can buy shares temporarily in their partner companies and get a stipulated interest on your money invested. I for one enjoy it a lot because I use it and it has really helped me save and spend less on unnecessary things.

Cowry wise

This was coined from the word cowry which used to be a means of transaction way back in time. Cowry wise helps you invest in low, medium and high risk investments depending on the choice of the individual. The application also features a savings tab from which you can get 10% interest on your savings.

Afrinvestor

Afrinvestor is an online trading and investment management portal. This is yet another fintech application where they deal with investment and private banking to empower brokerage clients to take control of their investments. Some of the services they offer include sales of stocks, bonds and treasury bills. Other impressive services they have available are asset management and investment research. I for one have bought treasury bills and I can assure you that it’s highly profitable and trustworthy. A caution to this tale would be for you to be careful when trading bonds and stocks so you are sure to get your return intact or to hold back from carrying out the investment at all because the stock market rises and falls within a particular period and could be a gamble when trading.

Agritech Platforms

Agricultural technology or Agritech platforms generally use the crowd-funding variety of fintech. These are usually a safe way to invest because agriculture is a necessity of life. Systems like theses are funded by many people and are therefore usually insured against the unforeseen risks that are involved in agricultural production. Investing with an agritech platform may be a wise way to earn an interest on money locked for a period of time especially during this corona pandemic. They are designed to encourage digital farming, and to become safer options for investors therefore making farming more profitable by attenuating risks and delivering return on investments. The investors in question are usually not required to own farming lands neither do they have to buy. The responsibility of acquiring land, paying workers and burning cash on and management rests solely on the shoulders of the investment company. Some examples of these platforms in Nigeria include; Farmcrowdy, Farm Republic, Group farma, Farm Sponsor, Requid, Thrive Agric, to mention a few.

In conclusion, Fintech is one of the fastest and the wisest means of saving money, investing and carrying out financial transactions today. In case you were still contemplating jumping on the fintech train before reading this article, now that you have, what are you waiting for? Take that bold step now and create an account with any of the Fintech applications stated above and begin your path to financial success.

Contributors; Izy Abdul and Ireoluwa Bolajoko