Piggyvest versus Cowrywise: Which Is Best For You?

On October 31 every year, the world observes World Savings Day and there is a lot of talk about developing the habit of saving. Thanks to Fintech startups like Cowrywise and PiggyVest, this is increasingly possible because saving and investing isn’t as tedious as they used to be.

Piggyvest was the first digital wealth management platform to go live in Nigeria, delivering digital savings programs to Nigerians. The firm then expanded its products to include investment programs and other community-focused initiatives. Over 2,000,000 individuals use PiggyVest to better manage their money, minimize overspending, and be more accountable to themselves.

Cowrywise, on the other hand, is a wealth management software for Nigerians, allowing them to conveniently plan, save, and invest their money. Cowrywise provides both manual and automated savings strategies, as well as mutual fund investments in Naira and dollars. While both platforms are legit Fintech companies that are rapidly gaining traction and widespread acceptance, there are some peculiarities and distinctions between them. This post will try to highlight these peculiarities and similarities and try help you decide what works for you.

Savings

Both platforms offer a wide range of savings options. PiggyVest for instance has three main savings options:

The Piggybank Wallet is a simple savings plan that allows you to stash away money on a regular interval direct from your bank account. You are only permitted to withdraw money using this plan once every three months. To avoid having to manually send funds at the appropriate moment, deposits can be automated. This strategy is appropriate for those who just want a place to put money aside for savings purposes.

Those who are saving for a specific goal should use Target Savings. It may be for your rent, a car purchase, college expenses, or any other undertaking. With this strategy, you could even pull a Go Fund Me style by encouraging friends and family to participate. This plan, as its name implies, is for specific projects, and money will only be released at the designated time. The SafeLock plan is more long-term than the first two savings plans. This strategy is intended for those who want to lock away money for a very long time. Because this plan has greater interest rates, the longer it is kept in the safe, the more money it will yield.

Flex Dollar is a relatively new plan offered by PiggyVest. This program is for people who want to invest and save money. It enables the immediate purchase of Dollars with Naira and has an interest rate of 7% annually.

It costs nothing at all to deposit money into your PiggyVest account. You can always use the QuickSave option, which lets you deposit up to N500,000 all at once if you forget to make a scheduled deposit. A daily deposit ranges from N50 to N25,000 and between N1,000 and N100,000 every week. The range of monthly deposits is N3,000 to N500,000.

Compared to Piggyvest, there are more savings options on Cowrywise. These are a few of them:

Periodic Savings Plan, which enables you to regularly and automatically save money. Every day, every week, or every month. The program is designed for those with steady incomes, NYSC participants, or students who get regular monthly stipends.

In that it enables you to establish and commit to long-term goals, the Life Goals saving plan is quite similar to PiggyVest's Target Savings. Regular salary earners can also benefit from this strategy.

Users without a steady source of income are the target audience for Save as you Earn. With this strategy, you are free to make deposits whenever you like. This strategy is appropriate for freelancers, independent contractors, traders, and generally anyone with sporadic sources of income.

For those who have money, they won't need for a long, Fixed Savings is a good option. It could last for three months, six months, a year, or longer. Simply locking the lump payment into a predetermined savings plan with a set maturity date would be sufficient. This plan is suited for people whose businesses operate in seasons and who make money at specific intervals.

Halal Savings is modeled after the Islamic banking system. Following Islamic beliefs, there is no interest at all in this scheme. It is intended for Muslims and those who adhere to other faiths or convictions and generally support zero-interest banking.

People that want to save money collectively can join Saving Circles. Saving Circles is created just for you whether you're buddies saving for a mutual friend's wedding or a group of people saving to attain a common objective.

Interest Rates

PiggyVest and Cowrywise both have excellent interest rates. Although both have an annual minimum interest rate of 10%, PiggyVest offers subscribers of its SafeLock plan 13% instead. 10% interest is offered to Piggybank and Target Savings customers.

For starters, all Cowrywise users receive 10%. Nevertheless, they claim that depending on how long the money is kept in their system, the interest might rise to as high as 15%. However, there is neither a clearly defined duration nor a set of benchmarks for the range of 10% to 15%. All interest is divided into daily payments. Users of PiggyVest pay an upfront 13% interest rate for the SafeLock plan, which is available at any time. PiggyVest also gives users a Flex sub-account where interests are paid and from where users can withdraw their money whenever they want.

Investment

The major investment vehicle however is the mutual investment plan which pools money from various other small investors to make up one big investment. Returns are subsequently shared accordingly in the proportion they were pooled. However, you’ll be required to take a short risk assessment test to qualify for this investment plan.

On Cowrywise, you could invest in its mutual funds' program through a Systematic Investment Programme (SIP). This system allows you to invest bit by bit at regular intervals.

PiggyVest has Investify, this feature allows users to invest in primary and secondary opportunities. These opportunities have been vetted and certified to be low and medium-risk. Investments under PiggyVest are insured for the customer against risk.

Piggyvest has four categories of investments. They are: Fixed Income, Real Estate, Agriculture, and Transportation. From these four, users can pick which sector(s) satisfy their investment goals. Most of the investments on Piggyvest are agriculture-based and might not be suitable for conservative investors who prefer the option of low-risk assets.

Withdrawals

As long as you withdraw on the dates you specify, withdrawal is free. You can also choose to use PiggyVest's normal withdrawal dates. A penalty of 5% of the withdrawal amount is assessed for withdrawals made after these specified dates.

There is simply no way for users to make an emergency withdrawal on Cowrywise outside the designated date. If you decide to save with them, you might want to take this into account. Its withdrawal policy is tougher than PiggyVest's. According to the company, this will guarantee that customers are completely devoted to saving money and accomplishing their goals.

Conclusion

The platform you decide to choose ultimately depends on your peculiar realities and how they match with the offerings of both platforms. Saving is good but investing is even better. Both platforms offer both in their unique ways. Choose which platform better suits your needs and stay with it.