12 Best Investment Apps in Nigeria to Make Money Legitimately

Isn’t it awesome to earn as you save OR get guaranteed investment opportunities without hassle?

You can achieve any or even both of these benefits using savings and investment apps in Nigeria.

All you need is just your SMARTPHONE.

Be it Android or iPhone, we got you covered.

Still not sure about this?

I’m going to show you what are the best top investment apps in Nigeria to make money while you save.

These include FinTech apps that have amazing features to catalyze your WEALTH CREATION.

Why need savings and investment apps?

With the availability of savings accounts, saving money remains a herculean task for many people.

According to Nairametrics, With the presence of about 210-250 FinTech companies/operators in Nigeria, the sector targets an unbanked population of 60 million Nigerians which is more than a quarter of the country’s estimated population of 200 million through the use of mobile apps. This is predicted to have been achieved by 2022.

To make the matters worse, the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card at our disposal leads to the disbursement of funds set aside for future purposes.

On the other hand, investing money has been made tasking due to the presence of numerous dubious investment companies and the eventual failure of promising investment companies either in the short-run or long-run.

The above reasons have, however, prompted some financial technology (Fintech) companies to come up with lasting solutions to these problems.

They rationalized and realized the need for easily accessible, user-friendly, and digitally oriented platforms where people can save and invest their funds without any difficulties.

Thus, the creation of several platforms in the form of mobile applications, computer software, and websites known as “FinTechs” surfaced.

Some companies even went as far as ensuring that their services are available in two or more of the above platforms.

Top investment apps in Nigeria

The following are the best top investment apps in Nigeria to help you reach your millennium goals and targets as an individual or business.

1. Piggyvest

Without any sentiment, Piggyvest is arguably the best among the savings apps in Nigeria.

This platform is known to be the forefront of the innovation of mobile financial applications in the country.

It was initiated on the 7th of January, 2016, and offered only savings services.

Piggyvest used to be “PiggyBank”.

After running PiggyBank for 3 years, the app was eventually re-branded in April 2019 and it became “Piggyvest” with more great features.

These features include:

• PiggyBank
• Flex Naira and Flex Dollar
• Safelock
• Target Savings
• Investify

Let’s look at each of the services offered by Piggyvest one after the other.

PiggyBank

Piggyvest retains the services offered by PiggyBank, which was the initial platform, serving the purpose of the traditional savings box.

This feature allows the users to be able to choose the rate of savings, be it daily, weekly, or monthly.

There are two ways of saving money in PiggyBank.

• Quicksave
• Autosave

Quicksave: This allows you to save instantly from your bank account. All you need to do is to click the “quicksave” option on your PiggyBank page, input the amount you want to save, and choose the payment method.

Eg., choose “pay with bank” in case you are saving from a bank account.

You can save as high as ₦500,000 using the Quicksave option.

Autosave: This is a standing order which allows a specific amount of money to be deducted from your bank account as savings into your PiggyBank at a stipulated time.

For instance, you can set a sum of ₦5,000 to be deducted from your bank account and saved into your PiggyBank every Tuesday at exactly 9:00 am.

The interest rate on savings in PiggyBank is 8% per annum and is calculated on a monthly basis.

You can redeem your accrued interest of a month at the beginning of the following month and is paid into your Flex Naira account.

Isn’t that a pretty good way to earn as you save?

Withdrawals from your PiggyBank can be made on a quarterly basis (March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, and December 31st) without any withdrawal fee.

However, you can request a withdrawal before your free withdrawal date at a rate of a 5% penalty charge.

There is an option for you to fix your withdrawal date but once you withdraw on the first date, the next withdrawal can only be done after 3 months without any penalty charge.

Flex Naira and Flex Dollar

These two features serve the purpose of a normal savings bank account where you can deposit money either in Naira (Flex Naira) or Dollars (Flex Dollar).

The Flex Naira is where you can keep funds for emergencies, receive funds, transfer and withdraw for free.

Piggyvest will provide you with an account number to receive your funds and you’ll be entitled to an interest of 8% per annum on money you keep in your Flex Naira account.

The interest is automatically paid on the 1st day of each month into your Flex Naira wallet.

Flex Dollar provides an avenue where you can save, invest, transfer funds in dollars, convert dollars to Naira, and vice versa.

There are no withdrawal charges and you’ll get an interest of 5% per annum on your Dollars.

You can fund your account by purchasing dollars through the platform, keeping it, and earning interest before withdrawing to your domiciliary account or converting it to Naira.

Note: Transfers to domiciliary accounts are currently on hold as a result of the national unrest.

Safelock

This is the fixed deposit account feature on Piggyvest.

The service allows you to lock funds for a fixed period of time, starting from as little as 10 days to as much as 1000 days.

You can set aside funds from your PiggyBank or directly from your bank account for this purpose and you’ll earn up to 13% interest per annum depending on how long you want to lock your funds.

The good thing in this service is that interest is paid upfront. However, withdrawals can’t be made before the date you set.

Target Savings

This allows you to save towards a specific plan or goal with an interest of 5% per annum to ensure you meet your goal quickly.

You can either create a personal target plan or save together with friends and other Piggyvest users through the Private or Public plan.

With this service, withdrawals could be made before the set date.

Investify

This allows users to invest in pre-vetted low-medium risk primary and secondary investment opportunities, starting from as low as ₦5000.

There is a wide range of investment opportunities for users such as fixed-income instruments, agriculture, real estate, and transportation.

Investors can earn up to 24% interest per annum using this service, depending on the industry and duration of the investment.

Other benefits from Piggyvest

Piggyvest is currently rewarding both new users and the person who referred them with a sum of ₦1000.

The redemption of this bonus depends solely on the completion of a given task by the new user.

The task comprises two mandatory activities which are to be done by the new user.

1. Transfer a sum of ₦100 to your Flex Wallet (Flex Naira account) using your Flex account number.
2. Have a minimum of ₦1000 in at least two of Piggyvest core savings (PiggyBank, Safelock, or Target) or investment feature i.e Investify.

In short, you can deposit a sum of ₦1000 in your PiggyBank and  Safelock or any other two of the plans mentioned above to redeem your reward.

That is a pretty good way to save and earn money in Nigeria using the Piggyvest Fintech app.

So, what are you waiting for?

If you want to join Piggyvest, click here or visit https://www.piggyvest.com in your browser. The mobile app is available for Android and iOS users.

2. CowryWise

CowryWise is a close rival of PiggyVest and a major platform driving the Nigerian FinTechs.

It was founded in July 2017 and owned by a group of financial technology experts with Edward Popoola and Razaq Ahmed as the co-founders.

The mobile application is very reliable and efficient with 100 000+  downloads on the Google Play store and a 4.5 star rating.

It aims at enabling users to manage their personal finances and promote good saving habits.

CowryWise savings plans

CowryWise offers 4 methods of savings to its users and pays up to a 15% per annum rate as interest and these are as follows:

• Regular savings
• Life goals
• Halal savings
• Saving circle

Let’s discuss each of the savings plans you find on CowryWise one after the other.

Regular savings: This plan allows users to save money for a minimum of 3 months either on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

Your preferred savings plan can be set up immediately after signing up on the app and you can add the amount you wish to save using your debit card (ATM card).

Life goals: As the name implies, this plan is concerned with long-term savings of one-year minimum.

It helps users to meet up with their long-term financial needs.

Halal savings: Halal is the Arabic word for “permissible” which gives one an idea about the set of people this plan targets.

Muslims who are not interested in earning interest on their savings are solely the focus here.

You can set up other savings plans such as life goals, regular savings, fixed plans or save as you earn within the Halal savings. Just call it “Islamic all in one“.

Saving circle: This is like the Target Savings in PiggyVest.

You can set targets and save together with other users to meet your needs.

CowryWise investment plans

The investment plan offered by CowryWise is a mutual funds plan whereby investors can invest any amount and get returns based on the interest rate determined by the investment company.

These investment companies include:

Afrinvest Plutus Funds at a 6.65% annual return rate

Meristem Money Market Funds at 4.11% annual returns rate and so on.

The investment plan is automated with a Systematic Investment Plan to enable you to invest a certain amount of your income on a periodic basis.

You can also earn interest on the interest from your investments and savings through Compound Returns.

This simply means rolling over accumulated funds from savings and investments to another period instead of withdrawing them.

To join Cowrywise, click here or visit https://cowrywise.com on your browser or download CowryWise mobile apps on Google PlayStore or Apple AppStore to get started.

3. Carbon

 

Carbon used to be “Paylater“. This FinTech app was launched in 2016 and rebranded in 2019.

It provides fully-fledged digital financial services which include bill payments, funds transfer, investment, savings products, and loans.

Upon re-branding to Carbon, the mobile application also includes new features like free credit reports and a wallet for discounted transactions.

Carbon investment plan (PayVest)

The investment plan on Carbon is known as the “PayVest”.

PayVest allows you to choose an investment plan of choice i.e. fixed deposit, one-time or periodic investment.

With PayVest, you can create up to 5 investment plans at a time on Carbon.

Funding of the investment plan can be done via your bank account or wallet.

• Fixed investment plan
• One time investment
• Periodic investment

Fixed investment: You can invest under this plan with the sum of ₦50,000 to ₦10,000,000 with an interest rate ranging from 1-15.5% per annum.

The investment period can be 3, 6, 9, or 12 months, depending on you.

One time investment: Under this plan, you can invest between ₦100 and ₦10,000,000 with an interest rate of 10% for unblocked investments (withdrawal at any time ) and 11.5% for locked investments.

The tenor for this plan ranges from 28 days to 366 days.

Periodic investment: This allows scheduled investments which could be either daily, weekly or monthly.

The investment amount ranges from as low as ₦100 to ₦10,000,000 at 12% for unlocked and 13% for locked investments per annum.

Note: there is a 10% withholding tax on all interest accrued on every investment such as the tax charged on the amount of interest earned by an investor on Carbon.

Also, liquidating (withdrawing) investments before the set time might lead to a user losing all accrued interest.

Savings plan on Carbon (Carbon wallet)

This service allows you to save money and earn interest using the Carbon wallet.

You’ll be given a unique account number (wallet ID) which allows you to fund your account via a mobile banking app.

To view your wallet ID after signing up on Carbon, follow the instructions below:

Click fund wallet > Fund with bank transfer > Then your ID will be displayed.

You’ll be given an interest rate of 4% per annum on the total funds saved in your wallet.

This is paid out on the 1st of every month.

Carbon loan facilities

Carbon also offers loan facilities to help small business owners grow their businesses when they’re out of cash. These facilities include:

• Starter credit loan
• Payroll loan
• SME loan

Starter credit loan: This is a 7-day ₦2000 loan that allows users to get 100% cashback on interest when the loan is repaid on time.

The loan benefit is the cashback only and doesn’t include loan progression i.e. increase in your current loan limit.

For instance, if the interest you are to pay on a ₦2000 loan is ₦100, you’ll be given back the ₦100 (100%) when you repay the loan (₦2100) within 7 days.

Other cashback varies from 25% to 75% on all 15 to 30-day loans.

Cashback will be paid to your wallet once the loan is repaid within the stipulated time.

Payroll loan: This platform is available for you only if you’re a salary earner and your salary is paid through REMITA.

Beneficiaries are expected to complete an application using their REMITA information. When you apply, state how much you would like to borrow.

Available loan offers would be displayed on the page alongside the modalities for repayment.

Once the terms are accepted, a loan decision will be provided by Carbon.

Note that Payroll users aren’t entitled to cashback.

SME loan: Carbon also provides an SME loan program, however, with strict criteria.

The criteria are as follows:

• The applicant must be a Nigerian.
• Applicant must be in the currently applicable sectors, which are retail, agent banking, food services, and health services.
• Business must be up to a year of existence.
• Businesses must generate monthly sales/revenue of at least ₦1,000,000.

If you meet up with the eligibility criteria, you can visit their site to apply for the SME loan.

Successful applicants are open to a loan that ranges from ₦300,000 to ₦1,000,000 as a starter.

Higher amounts will be made available as you become a repeat client and apply for more loans.

The interest rate is 5% of the loan amount.

SME customers are also eligible for free training organized in collaboration with Bigspring in the following areas:

• Financial services
• Sales
• Service Excellence
• Design thinking and lots more

You can visit Carbon to check out their website or go to Playstore or Appstore to download their app.

4. PayDay investor

This mobile financial application is solely concerned with investment and group savings. It gives room for friends to come together and save towards achieving the same goal.

Users can invest with as low as ₦1000 at a 2.3826% interest rate (7-day rolling average).

Investments on this app are automated once you fund your account using your debit card. Withdrawal can also be made at any time without restrictions.

Features of PayDay investment application

The following are the features of the PayDay investment mobile app.

Goal-based investment: This feature allows users to invest towards a specific financial goal.

Interestingly, users of this savings and investment app can program their activities.

The app lets you name your goal, and set your investment target, start-up date, and frequency of investment.

Recall, that this app makes use of an automated investment policy.

One-time investment: Unlike the goal-based investment, the one-time investment permits investors to invest whatever amount they wish to invest at once and watch it generate more income through interest.

Just invest any amount of your choice, indicate funding options, and watch the money grow.

Group goal: This feature allows you to save or invest money with your friends towards a specific goal you aim to achieve together.

5. Alat by Wema Bank

One of the top investment apps in Nigeria to consider in this guide is Alat.

Alat is a mobile financial platform designed by Wema Bank of Nigeria.

The app is known to be a rare gem among investment apps to make money as it claimed to be the first fully digital functional bank in Nigeria.

Probably the features below assert the claim.

Features of Atlas

The following services are what you get when you use Atlas for saving and investing your money.

• Personal savings plan
• Group savings plan
• Loans
• Free debit and virtual card
• Bill payments

Personal savings

There are three plans under personal savings on Atlas and these include:

Flexi Goal: This plan is mainly for those who want to save daily, weekly, or monthly in order to meet a target.

You set your target and start saving a specific amount at an interest rate of 10% per annum (3x the standard bank rate).

You can withdraw 50% of your savings every month given that you meet your target. Failure to meet up with the target will involve loss of accrued interest.

Meaning that you’ll lose all the interest you might have earned during the month if you default.

Fixed goal: This is very similar to the Flexi goal aside from that you are not allowed to make any withdrawal till you meet your target.

The difference is that a fixed goal plan serves a long-term goal or target.

You’ll also lose your interest here if you fail to meet up with your targeted goal.

Stash: This plan gives room for flexibility as you are allowed to save whatever amount you like.

Going for this savings and investment plan will make you earn 10% interest on your savings and the interest will increase as you save more.

Withdrawal can only be made after the first 30 days of saving your funds here.

Group savings plan

This plan permits users to form a group of up to 12 friends and save at a time.

Other benefits you get from using Alat

There are several mouth-watering offers provided by Alat to its users.

The app allows users to carry out transactions without being physically present in the bank.

And such services include:

Alat instant loan: This platform allows users to get a loan without any paperwork, physical appearance, or collateral.

You can get up to ₦2,000,000 (two million naira) in a matter of some minutes.

However, before you request a loan, you must have completed the KYC verification by:

• Uploading a photo of a means of identification (NIN/ID, driver’s license, or voters card).
• A photo of a utility bill not more than 3 months old, with a contact address that matches the one on your profile.

With the provision of the above, a loan check will be conducted in some minutes and you’ll get your loan instantly paid into your wallet account.

The loan can be either salary based (for salary earners), goal based (to meet a  target), or device lending (to purchase a new device).

Interest on the loan and how to repay the loan will be communicated when the loan is being offered.

Free debit and virtual dollar card: Alat promises to deliver a free debit card to its users anywhere in Nigeria.

The debit card can also be locked and unlocked by the user in case you misplace the card.

Users of Alat debit cards are not charged for Web and POS payments but are charged after the third ATM withdrawal at the same rate as a normal bank.

Another card offered by Alat is the virtual dollar card.

This is to enable users to make payments in dollars and even gives room for easy conversion of naira to dollar vis-a-vis.

Payment of bills: Alat can also be used by users to make payments for recurrent bills such as DSTV, electricity, buy airtime and data, and to make transfers.

Visit www.alat.ng to check the website and download the app.

6. Ziing

This is another innovative FinTech mobile application in Nigeria.

Ziing is powered by Investment One Financial Services (formerly known as GTB Asset Management).

It was designed to relieve people of savings burden, enhance investments and some other financial services.

Ziing is a considerable savings and investment app in Nigeria, which is capable of making deductions either for savings or investments directly from your bank account.

Features of Ziing

There are two main features of Ziing and these are:

• Zsave
• Zplan

Zsave

Zsave was designed to function like a normal savings account where users can save as little as ₦100 at an interest of 4% per annum.

The interest is calculated on a daily basis but credited at the end of the month.

There are no restrictions on withdrawal and time frame on deposits.

Money saved in the Zsave account can be used to offset bills (DSTV, Electricity), purchase airtime, and for bank transfers.

However, a charge of ₦52.50 will be applied to all transfers made to a non-GTB account.

Zplan

Zplan is the investment plan on Ziing.

You can opt for this service in order to meet up with your financial goals.

The minimum amount investible is ₦100 and all withdrawals and deposits are completely free.

A goal must be at least for a 30-day duration and the interest ranges from 4% to 10% per annum.

The interest rate primarily depends on the duration of the goal. So, the longer the goal, the higher the interest. The locked goal on this platform offers a higher interest rate than the unlocked goal.

For example, the interest rates for unlocked goals are:

• 0-60 days – 4%
• 61-180 days – 6%
• 181-365 days – 7.5%
• Above 365 days – 9%

The interest rates for locked goals are:

• 0-60 days – 4.5%
• 61-180 days – 6.5%
• 181-365 days – 8%
• Above 365 days – 10%

Goals can also be paused during which all automated deductions and accrued interest are put on hold.

On the expiration of the stipulated time for a goal, the accumulated funds will be credited into your Zsave account

 Zclub

The Zclub is a savings club that aims at encouraging good saving habits, incentivizing users, and rewarding users who save consistently.

A block-based system is used to determine consistent savers.

Savers with more blocks indicate good saving habits.

The interest rate on funds is 5.2% per annum and is paid bi-weekly (every two weeks) on the 15th and last day of every month into your Zclub account.

The minimum amount investible is ₦5000 for starters which is equivalent to 5 blocks.

Subsequently, additional blocks can be bought in multiples of ₦1000.

Fixed income

This is an account whereby users can invest at least a sum of ₦100,000 for a minimum of one month at a predetermined interest.

The funds will be sent to either the user’s bank account or rolled over at the current market rates.

Withdrawal to a GTB account is completely free but a charge of ₦52.50 is applied for a non-GTB account.

Also, liquidating a fixed income before maturity attracts a penalty of 25% charge on your accrued interest.

Moreover, some fixed-income investments are strictly redeemable only in full.

Savers can also have multiple fixed-income investments but cannot top-up (add more funds) to an existing investment.

Other benefits

These include…

Referral bonus: A unique referral code is generated for all users and all amounts earned will be paid at the end of the month into the Zsave account.

A notification will also be sent when someone joins using your referral link.

Bonus date: This is available to Zclub savers and it’s a day whereby some savers are selected randomly to receive bonuses.

Although the selection is random it’s based on the number of blocks and frequency of contribution to the platform.

Visit www.ziingit.com or download the app on Playstore and Appstore.

7. Kudabank

Kudabank is another typical savings and investment app licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

It has features very similar to Alat.

As this savings app is nicknamed, it was designed to help users budget effectively, save, and spend smartly.

The app allows users to carry out certain transactions, such as maintenance fees, and withdrawal fees, every month without any charges.

In fact, the Kuda card is also free to use.

With all these features, Kuda is really the “bank of the free”.

However, ” nothing comes all free”

Before you can fully enjoy all the free services mentioned above, you must have completed your KYC verification.

Categories of KYC

There are 3 categories of KYC on Kudabank, namely.

• Basic users without BVN and KYC
• Users with BVN or KYC
• Users with BVN and KYC

Basic users without BVN and KYC: This set of users are entitled to two (2) free transactions per month, limited to a maximum account balance of ₦300,000, a maximum deposit of ₦50,000 at a time, and a maximum transfer of ₦10,000 at a time.

If you’re a basic user, you can’t transfer money to other bank accounts that aren’t yours.

Users with BVN or KYC: These users get 25 free transactions per month with the same limits as the basic users, but are allowed to transfer money to other banks.

Users with BVN and KYC: These users have uploaded both their BVN and a means of identification (KYC) which could be any of the NIN/ID, passport, driver’s license, or voter’s card.

These users also have full control of their accounts with no restrictions.

Using the Kuda card and withdrawing from its partner ATMs such as Access bank doesn’t attract any transaction fee.

You can visit www.kudabank.com or Playstore and Appstore to download this app and join the platform.

8. Stanbic IBTC mobile application

This platform is powered by the Stanbic IBTC Bank to enhance investment through its amazing investment plans such as mutual funds, wealth management, and pension management.

Its pension management is arguably the most popular of these plans.

Visit www.stanbicibtcbank.com or go to Playstore or Appstore to download the app and start investing your money.

9. Kolopay

The name of this app was derived from the indigenous name for the traditional saving box that is popularly called the “Piggy box” of the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria.

It offers plans such as personal savings, group savings, and targeted savings to promote good saving habits among users.

The interest rate is as high as 10%.

Visit www.kolopay.com to download the mobile app. It’s available only on Playstore.

10. Afrinvestor

This is mainly an investment app available to people interested in the stock exchange.

It offers POP, Groove, and Classic plans. Any of these plans will surely help you attain financial freedom.

The app is available on Playstore and Appstore to be downloaded. You can equally visit their website for more information.

11. Thrive

Maybe you have been thinking farmers are going to be left out.

Don’t worry, Thrive got you covered.

If you’re a farmer, this mobile investment app is for you.

It aims to ensure food production is equal to the needs of the growing population by allowing investors to fund agricultural businesses and get a 25% profit at the end of the farming season.

12. Trove

This FinTech app helps you to invest your money in Nigeria, US, and  Chinese stock exchanges.

Investment can be done with as low as ₦1000 and you’ll be provided with adequate tools to help you track your investments and succeed.

Visit www.troveapp.co to learn more about this financial opportunity or go to Playstore or Appstore to download the app.

Conclusion

There is absolutely nothing better than having your bank at your fingertip.

This made financial institutions offer their services through mobile apps and give more incentives to customers to connect with them on the go.

With any of the above savings and investment apps, you can rest assured that your savings will yield 10X interest.

After reading this guide on top investment apps in Nigeria, you won’t only improve your saving habits but also invest your money and achieve your financial goal.

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