Top 10 savings apps in Nigeria and their interest rates as of August 2023 (2024)

Saving money can be difficult, especially at this time of economic turbulence, but it is important to have a financial cushion for unexpected expenses.

Savings apps can make it easier to save money by automating your savings and offering interest rates higher than what you can get from keeping money in a regular savings account with traditional banks.

Savings apps offer users several benefits, some of which include the ability to automatically transfer money from your bank account to your savings account on a schedule that you set, thus helping you to save money without even thinking about it.

In addition, many savings apps allow you to create savings goals, which helps you stay motivated to save money and reach your financial goals.

While some of these apps combine investment with savings, and or loans, a look at the savings offerings of these apps shows that some are better than others in terms of interest promised to their customers. It must be noted, however, that these interests in savings are as promised by the respective apps.

Here are the top 10 savings apps in Nigeria judging by their promised interest as of August 2023:

• Moni

Moni is a savings and loans app that offers a variety of features to help you save money. Moni offers two types of savings plans, which include Safebox and Reserve.

Safebox is a flexible savings plan that allows you to save money daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. You can set a target savings goal and Moni will help you reach your goal by automatically transferring money from your bank account to your Moni account on a schedule that you set.

Reserve is a fixed deposit savings plan that allows you to lock away your money for some time. You can earn a higher interest rate on your savings with Reserve, but you will not be able to access your money until the end of the term.

Interest rate

The company says it offers up to 21% interest per annum. This is currently the highest rate offered by any savings app in the country.

• Palmpay

Popular for its instant loan service, Palmpay recently introduced a savings feature on its app to encourage its customers to save as opposed to taking loans. Like other savings apps, Palmpay allows its customers to choose between regular savings and fixed savings.

Interest rate

The company said its regular savings offers daily interest which sums up to 16% per annum. Its fixed savings plan offers up to 20% per annum.

• FairMoney

FairMoney is a digital bank that offers savings and loan services. The Fairmoney app allows users to choose between its two variants of savings plans depending on their targets. These include FairSave and FairLock.

Interest rate

According to the company, users get a 10% interest rate on the FairSave plan while FairLock, which is fixed, offers up to 18% interest per annum.

• Kuda Bank

Kuda is a free, digital-only bank with a microfinance banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Kuda includes tools for tracking your spending habits, saving more, and making the right money moves. The app allows you to decide whether you want to save daily, weekly, or monthly. The flexible savings plan ensures you put some money away regularly.

Interest rate

Kuda offers different savings plans with different interest rates. While its flexible savings plan attracts 10% interest per annum, Kuday says its fixed savings yields up to 15% interest annually.

• V Bank

V Bank owned by VFD Microfinance Bank is another digital bank in Nigeria that offers people the ability to save and get high interest on their savings. You can open a V bank account in 2 minutes with just your smartphone. With a V account, you can expect a streamlined digital and mobile banking experience, with ease of access to your accounts, swift and secure transfers, withdrawals, and bills.

You can take charge of your banking. No confusing charges, no paperwork, and everything happens on your phone. The V app allows its users to track their expenses and income, group budgets, and set spending limits.

Interest rate

V Bank says its customers get up to 9% interest per annum on target savings and up to 16.5% per annum on fixed deposits.

• SumoTrust

SunTrust is an automated savings and investment platform helping reshape the poor saving and investment culture of Nigerians. The saving app allows you to set aside money easily and automatically and offers both savings and investment services.

The app offers its customers 3 saving plans, which include Main Savings, a plan that gives its users the liberty to make choices to either go for daily, weekly, or even monthly savings; Fixed Savings, a plan that keeps you away from the funds you’ve saved for one year; and Mission Savings, a plan designed for users with projects that need to be completed within a specific time frame.

Interest rate

SumoTrust promises 10% interest on savings on the ‘Main savings’ account and ‘Mission savings’ account and 15% on the ‘Fixed Deposit’ account per annum.

• Piggyvest

PiggyVest is one of the largest single online savings & investment platforms in Nigeria. The company says it currently helping over 3 million customers achieve their financial goals by helping them save and invest with ease.

Launched in 2016, Piggyvest has continued to deliver excellent service to its customers, helping them manage their finances with simplicity and transparency. With over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store, Piggyvest has different savings plans tailored to meet the different needs of its customers.

Interest rate

Piggyvest offers different rates based on its different savings plans. The company offers an 8% per annum interest rate on its Piggybank savings plan and 8% on its Target savings, while it promises up to 13% per annum on its Safelock plan.

• KoloPay

KoloPay is a mobile application that greatly helps you save money more than you thought you could. With the EasySave and Autosave options, you can choose to automate your savings by schedule – daily, weekly, or monthly. Through these plans, the app helps you easily save little by little towards your goals.

You can also use the Koloshare feature to invite others to contribute to your saving goal. KoloPay allows you to have multiple saving goals at a time.

Interest rate

Just like many of the other apps, KoloPay has a withdrawal date policy and offers an interest rate of up to 10%.

• ALAT by Wema

ALAT is the innovative brainchild of WEMA Bank Nigeria and is fully digital. This means that you can perform all your transactions on your electronic devices and from the comfort of your home – you do not have to go to a physical branch.

ALAT allows you to set your savings goal and determine how much you want to save and for how long. You can automate your savings or choose to save at your own pace. You can also choose to save alone or with friends via the Group Savings option.

Interest rate

The platform promises an interest rate of up to 10% savings when a customer consistently saves for at least 30 days in its savings challenge.

• Cowrywise

Launched in 2017, Cowrywise offers savings with interest rates at periodic, fixed, and one-time rates. With this app, you can build your savings and investment portfolios and manage your money securely.

It also allows you to save as an individual or with a group. A notable highlight of Cowrywise is the friendly user interface and the ‘Savings Challenge’, which challenges you to engage in rigorous savings plans that help you build emergency funds or a better stash of funds at the end of the specified period.

Interest rate

Based on its rate calculator that determines how much interest you get per time, the company promises up to 8.5% interest per annum.

Other factors to consider before choosing your savings app

While interest rate seems to be the major consideration for most people when considering savings apps, there are other factors you should consider before deciding on which app to use. These include:

Features: Consider the features that are important to you. Some apps offer automatic savings, goal-based savings, and investment options.

Fees: Make sure to compare the fees charged by different apps. This is important because some apps charge fees for transactions, withdrawals, and inactivity.

Security: The security of the app you are using is very important, hence, it is always advisable to look for an app that uses encryption and other security measures to protect your data.