Old Mutual, a South African insurance provider,  launched Moneyversity+, a “financial edutainment” platform, on Thursday. The platform was designed to equip locals with the requisite knowledge regarding their finances.

According to the website, Moneyversity+ is “your plus one for financial wisdom

where learning about money feels like an exciting adventure.”

Having initially soft-launched in June, Moneyversity+  has since attracted over 60,000 users and 8.8 million views from countries spread across the world including Netherlands, UK, USA and Namibia. 

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Entertainment meets education at Old Mutual

Moneyversity+ simplifies financial education by combining entertainment with financial education. 

AI-driven recommendation engine personalises learning, making it fun and instructive. Moneyversity +was designed for South Africa, but Old Mutual aims to expand it to other African countries due to the global need for financial education.

According to Old Mutual, the financial sector must play a pivotal role in educating citizens about the significance of their financial choices and how to safeguard their assets, particularly during difficult economic times. This is the reality in South Africa, where only 51 per cent of adults are considered to be financially literate. 

Moneyversity +provides a wide variety of training and resources that are appropriate for individuals at different stages of their lives. 

These include young children learning about money for the first time and adults navigating major financial milestones such as purchasing a home, opening their first credit card, or planning for retirement.

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New era of financial literacy in South Africa

The platform seeks to promote responsible planning and investing habits by providing users with the information and resources they need to enhance their financial stability and well-being. It simplifies difficult financial ideas, such as insurance, retirement, and savings, making it useful for schools and other organisations looking to raise students’ financial literacy.

Consumers earn Old Mutual reward points as they consume information and accomplish financial literacy tasks. These points can be redeemed for rewards at over 50 partner stores. Rewards like printable “Skip Chores” certificates are age-appropriate for younger users. Online safety, entrepreneurship, and education are covered for teens.

Apart from Moneyversity+, Old Mutual also launched a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) on Cell C to provide competitive mobile services that will improve connectivity in the lower-income market while offering customers “unrivalled value” in data packages.

Ajen Mothee, head of innovation at Old Mutual, said, “Over the past month in particular, [Moneyversity+] has grown exponentially and has received very positive user feedback. It reflects the time and effort to ensure the content and technology are aligned with multiple demographics, user needs, and the most common financial topics. The experience had to be built out perfectly, and it took us two years to refine the content and the approaches.”