Budgeting app 22seven has collaborated with messaging app Moya to launch 22seven lite, a data-free version that offers users tools to manage their finances.
22seven was launched in 2012 with the ambition of empowering people to take control of their finances.
With the app, users can see all their money in one place and the transaction categorisation engine generates a personalised budget based on actual spending.
“More than 400 000 people currently use 22seven,” says MD Jikku Joseph. “But the app requires WiFi or mobile data. Research showed millions of South Africans don’t want to download another app or spend more money on data, which makes them reluctant to use 22seven. That’s why we built 22seven lite.
“Our goal has always been to offer financial tools to all South Africans and we believe our new, data-free platform will help us achieve that goal.”
22seven lite is accessed via Moya, a data-free messaging super app, and is free to download from the Android app store. Users can look for 22seven lite in the “Discover > Money & Services” section of the app.
Users need an e-mail address to sign up for 22seven lite. Once signed up, they can link bank accounts, store cards, investment and loan accounts. 22seven lite then uses this information to help users to track their spending and budget.
Security considerations
“We are very pleased to partner with Moya. They share our vision of making our life-changing service widely accessible, and they are committed to help us grow a financially-confident South Africa,” says Joseph.
22seven says it has stringent data privacy controls, which are shared by 22seven lite. The same bank-level encryption is used to protect users’ private information, says the company. “The user connects accounts by entering their account login details, but those details are never seen by human eyes.
“It’s read-only; nobody can transact on the accounts in 22seven lite,” says Joseph.
22seven is backed by Old Mutual and is insured like a bank, so your money is safe, says the company, adding that since launch in 2012, South Africans have linked more than 1.3 million accounts to 22seven.
“By offering more people the tools to take control of their finances, we hope to grow a money management culture in South Africa – and hopefully in other African countries one day,” says Joseph.
“We want to help more people make better financial decisions through knowledge and awareness.”
Meanwhile, technology business Datafree, the company behind Moya, announced the official launch of its MoyaPayD digital payment platform, with 100 000 registered users already subscribed to this service since its soft launch in July.
MoyaPayD offers users an application for financial transactions, catering for the underserved and underbanked in SA.
Moya is designed to cater for the mainstream South African consumer who faces significant constraints on disposable income, says Datafree.
Offered as a messaging or chat alternative to services like WhatsApp – without requiring users to pay for mobile data – Moya has evolved into a multifaceted application, which includes a marketplace, access to news and sports services.
Side-stepping cash
With over three million daily active users and around 6.5 million monthly active users, Moya has a captive audience within the platform, says the company.
“MoyaPayD is the next step in the evolution of services to this vital market and opens opportunities for users to engage with services they would have traditionally had to pay cash for,” says Datafree CEO Gour Lentell.
He notes an e-wallet payment platform is an essential part of Moya’s vision, which looks to bring a wider marketplace to the mainstream South African consumer, while offering businesses an established distribution platform to offer those services to Moya’s rapidly-growing user base.
“Similar to the WeChat model in China, MoyaPayD brings a new dimension to Moya, giving users a fully-integrated and digitally-inclusive way to interact with the services they need, without having to leave the application,” says Lentell.
Anyone with an ID document, or passport and work permit is able to register for MoyaPayD and there are no transaction fees to spend money.
Once a customer has registered and received confirmation, they receive a personal QR code, which can be used with a variety of financial services to transfer money into the wallet. Supported services include MoyaPayD, Capitec, Standard Bank, Absa, FNB, Nedbank, RMB, Zapper and SPOT Money.
EFT transfers are also available, and users can have their wages paid into their MoyaPayD account.
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