A survey by WorldSalaries says the average monthly wage a Nigerian receives is less than N500,000.
More specifically, the average monthly wage in Nigeria is 339,000 Nigerian Naira, or roughly 774.75 US dollars (according to the exchange rates in October 2022).
But since inflation and other problems have been going on for a long time, the macroeconomic situation has become an even bigger problem for people who make money.
In a country where the Nigerian Central Bank says the inflation rate is a shocking 22.02%, these salary earners are always complaining about what that money can do for them.
In reality, almost half of Nigerians don’t even make that much because they live below the poverty line. Statista says that about 88.4 million people in Nigeria live in very poor conditions.
Around 44.7 million men in the United States lived on less than $1.90 a day, while the number of women in the same situation was 43.7 million. As of 2022, 12.9 percent of the world’s people living in great poverty were in Nigeria.
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The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says that 133 million Nigerians, or 63% of the population, are poor in more than one way. They can’t afford more expensive ways to cook, so they use dung, wood, or fire instead. It also said that high deprivations are a national trend, especially when it comes to cleanliness, health care, food insecurity, and housing.
These four fintech applications can help you track your spending and manage your wealth. They also provide smooth financial services to help you live comfortably in Nigeria as a Nigerian.
1. Cowrywise
Nigerians with an average income usually have a simple budget for their spending until they get paid. Most of the time, they have even spent money from a paycheck that hasn’t been paid yet, because they have unplanned or extra costs that are more than their income in the middle of the month.
This is why it’s important to save as a safety measure or have a plan for saving. With the cost of living, food, and even clothes going up, it’s natural to wonder what’s left to save for when the basics of life aren’t taken care of. Well, that’s why there are things like shocks, or things that happen out of the blue, or accidents if you want to call them that.
Apps like Cowrywise and Piggyvest, which help you save money, come in handy here. As a salary earner, if you don’t want to get into debt that will put unnecessary stress on your mind, you need to get into the habit of saving money for survival and safety and chances when they come up.
But why Cowrywise? There are a lot of other places where you can save money. Well, Cowrywise has a wider range of ways to save money, and anyone can use it. You can save every month, every week, or even every day.
It features periodic savings, life objectives savings, save as you earn savings, and fixed savings plans. So you can choose how to save.
The most interesting thing about the Cowrywise app, though, is that it can be used by people from all kinds of backgrounds. The Hilal savings plan works with the way Islamic banks do business. The rules of Islam say that no one should care about this plan.
Last but not least, the interest rates are high compared to those of its competitors. For starters, everyone who uses it gets a 10% discount on everything. They say, though, that the interest could go up to 15% if the money stays in their system for a long time.
2. Carbon
Everyone needs a loan or credit account at some point in their lives. Credit facilities are not a moral failing or a social flaw that makes people who use them look down on them.
Credit facilities are necessary for building wealth and running a business. If you don’t need loans to get by for a month when your pay runs out, you might need them for a profitable new business, a chance, or an unexpected event. In some situations, it can save your salary.
Imagine having an emergency after putting some of your pay into a fixed deposit. There’s no need to get back to setting savings. Borrow to help. You need reliable platforms that can help you get a loan quickly and easily without the trouble and stress that commercial banks often cause.
Why Carbon? Since it started, the company has grown into a full-service platform that, in addition to its original loan option, lets users pay their bills cheaply, move money for free, and save or invest in ways that give them a high return.
Carbon is licenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria and controlled by the NDIC. It also lets users enjoy cheaper transactions, no account fees, and 1% interest per year. Also, if you pay back a loan on time, you can get it right away, and the interest rate will be lower.
Also, it started giving Nigerians something that many traditional financial institutions in the country can’t: no fees when they use Carbon Zero to do financial activities or shop. So, you’ll not only get a loan quickly and have a lower interest rate if you pay on time, but you’ll also get to enjoy some other perks.
3. Mint
Managing where your money is going and how you can comfortably spend your income can be difficult. You might make money, no matter how much or how little, save some of it, or even borrow money to keep going and take advantage of good chances and projects, but if you can’t make a budget and keep track of where your money goes, you might be sitting on a kilogramme of gun powder.
This is where a good planning app can help keep you on track, especially if you live in Lagos. The best planning apps help you figure out how much money you make and how much you spend, so you have the most control over your money as possible.
Mint is a good app for planning. Mint is free to use and keeps track of your spending and puts it into budget groups. You can make these groups your own. You set limits for these groups, and Mint tells you when you’re getting close to those limits.
Mint can also help users pay off debt, save more money, and keep track of goals by giving them “Mintsights.” It is a single app that can take care of everything for you when it comes to planning and spending.
You can connect your financial accounts to the app or add activities by hand. Mint lets you see all of your accounts in one place and track how much you spend each day. The app instantly sorts your spending into categories, so you can see the totals at a glance.
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4. Palmpay
Nigerians have a lot of trouble getting to and spending their money. Some of these problems include high fees on their transfers and failed deals. Savings accounts at private banks are more expensive than they used to be, and customers have to pay fees all the time. This means that they end up with a lot less money than they put in or make.
A platform that streamlines financial services makes life simpler and prevents failed transactions. In a world where patience isn’t a virtue, you can buy almost anything easily, send and receive money, and get praise.
Nigerians might like a PalmPay account because it lets them use their money without having to pay extra taxes and fees. Why Palmpay?
Palmpay is easy to use, and its goal for the next three years is to grow into other markets and offer useful, reliable, and affordable financial services to more than 100 million people and 10 million businesses. It also gives people many ways to make money.
When you use most of its features, you get points that you can trade in for discounts or other things. Refer-to-Earn, Naira bargains, Palm coins, the Lucky Money game, Cash Spree, Palm Force, and check-in awards are some of the benefits.
Although the economy is making it harder for Nigerians to earn a living, some compensation wouldn’t hurt.
These benefits are given to people who pay their power and water bills, sign up for cable TV, buy airtime and data, pay for school and travel costs, and give money to churches and colleges that have signed up for the scheme.
The fact that you are paying with your salary should not prevent you from receiving a discount or cash back. The pay managers in Nigeria have nothing to lose and a lot to gain