Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The traditional way of using ‘kolo’ (piggybank) to develop saving culture in Yorubaland has been digitised by a group known as CreditAssist Investment Limited to reduce poverty in the country.
Executive Director of the financial body, Mr. John Alamu, disclosed this at the official launch of digitised version of ‘kolo’ that is known as ‘KoloMoni’ at Davies Hotel, Old Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State capital on Friday.
According to him, “CreditAssist believes KoloMoni will reshape the saving pattern of every Nigerian towards achieving their set goals through personal savings and also reduce dependence on excessive borrowing. KoloMoni is an innovative and modernised version of the traditional ‘Kolo’ (also known as PiggyBank) and can be thought of as a digitised ‘kolo’ for saving money.
“KoloMoni is a standard secured web and mobile application using modern and convenient technology to encourage savings and investment in order to foster saving culture among Nigerians and set users on the road to financial freedom.
“I am confident that KoloMoni is a major way to reduce over-dependence on loans, which often leads to financial disequilibrium. With a wide array of savings plans available on KoloMoni, our customers will always have more money at their disposal to finance their set goals without sourcing for loans. Achieving financial freedom for our customers without debilitating loans was the driving force behind the development of KoloMoni.
“KoloMoni is designed for every Nigerian that has access to a smartphone and enables them to save periodically (daily, weekly or monthly). KoloMoni also has a large number of benefits for users: Savings on KoloMoni can attract interest rate as high as 15 per cent interest per annum.
“In addition, these savings are insured by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commissions through Meristem Trustees. The App also provides a cash reward for every new valid user referred by existing customers. KoloMoni is available for download on Google Playstore for Android Users, or Apple Store for iPhone users.
“CreditAssist Investment Limited is a money lending organisation licensed by the Oyo State government and an affiliate of the Association of Non-Bank Microfinance Institutions of Nigeria (ANMFIN).”