On Tuesday Nigerian fintech startup Piggyvest announced that it had acquired Savi.ng, another fintech startup, via its social media platforms. Piggyvest is one of the top platforms for savings and investment platforms in Nigeria and has quite a plethora of products that ensure that savings and investments are flexible and done with a strong measure of discipline. The fintech also provides users with many varying incentives to encourage users to save and invest more.
Piggyvest was founded on the 15th of February, 2016, by Ayo Akinola, Joshua Chibueze, Nonso Eagle, Odunayo Eweniyi, and Somto Ifueze. It was initially known as Piggybank.ng but was rebranded as Piggyvest, a name that embodies what the platform is all about better. It is based in Lagos, Nigeria, and has become quite a household name since its inception five years ago in 2016. When it started, the startup ran a partnership with two Microfinance banks and used their licenses to operate but this change after it acquired Gold Microfinance bank and its license.
Savi.ng, until its acquisition by Piggyvest, was a wealth management app that was launched in 2018. The Savi.ng acquisition signals that the company is growing and that it is taking action to consolidate its position in the African space. According to its announcement via Instagram, Piggyvest saw an incredible year which can be attributed to the coronavirus pandemic. “2020 was an incredible year for Piggyvest, we saw tremendous growth even in a pandemic year – we paid back N90 billion to our users in the course of the year. We think of that as several goals achieved, several dreams coming true, several aims fulfilled”, the Instagram post read.
The company says that it has surpassed the N90 billion mark which it paid back to users on its platform, in the first quarter of this year alone. “…But even more interesting is the fact that we have surpassed this number already in the first half of 2021. We do not take being a part of your life’s journey for granted.
The company said that it had been working on the acquisition for quite some time now and that all transactions had been completed now – Savi.ng and all its assets now belong to Piggyvest.
Talking about what the acquisition meant and assuring customers that they can rest assured knowing that Piggyvest will only get better, the company said that “for you, our existing Piggyvest users, nothing changes, everything continues to work as normal. We will continue to provide you with the best savings and investment options that we can, and you will continue to be a part of a community of 3 million people (and counting) in the Piggyvest family”.
“Our Parent company, Piggytech Global Limited continues to grow with a suite of consumer-focused finance products. We will continue to announce them as the year moves along. This announcement is one in a long line of announcements, improvements, and updates that we will have for you as we continue in 2021”, it added.
