If you survived the ‘6 months’ of January, then kudos to you. April has just ended and May is here in spotlight.

Do you feel like you’re yet to meet your financial goals in 2022? You’re not alone. Don’t feel discouraged. It’s never too late to make smart financial decisions.

If you can’t seem to get your finances right on your own, then you may need to get some technological help.
Check out the list of financial apps we put together to help you make smart money decisions for the rest of the year:

1. ALAT

ALAT happens to be Nigeria’s first ever fully digital bank. It’s the first app on our list for some very obvious reasons.

An innovation of WEMA Bank, Nigeria, ALAT gives you the opportunity to perform all your transactions on your electronic devices and from the comfort of your home. You do not have to go to a physical branch, or deal with cash.

This app is simple, convenient and reliable, with an interest rate of up to 8.75% on the amount that you save annually. Just in case you didn’t know, this is three times the standard bank rate!

You can open an account with ALAT in minutes. First, you have to download the app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. Then upload all the details needed to create the account, and you are good to go.

With ALAT, you can set your savings goal and determine how much you want to save and for how long. You can also automate your savings or choose to save at your own pace. The app even goes a step further by providing an opportunity to save with friends via the Group Savings option. The Interest Rate on your savings is up to 4.2%, provided you do not withdraw more than 3 times in a month.

2. Kuda App

Kuda Bank is a free, digital-only bank. It has a microfinance banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Kuda bank makes saving easy because it gives you the opportunity to open a bank account without any paperwork. In minutes, you can be done with the entire process of opening an account. All you need is your smartphone and of course, data.

Kuda provides you with tools you can use to track your spending habits, save more, and make the right financial decisions. As a Kuda customer, you get 25 free transfers to other banks monthly. However, extra transfers to other banks cost ₦10 each.

Kuda has some exciting features;

A Spend+Save option that helps you save by automatically saving money every time you spend money from your Kuda account. All you need to do to benefit from this feature is to set a percentage to save when you spend. You can withdraw money from your Spend+Save savings.

With Kuda, you can save towards a goal and earn up to 10% interest. Kuda also has a Fixed Savings function that helps you save a lump sum for a fixed time. Using this feature, you can earn up to 15% interest on your savings.

Kuda is flexible, and will help you save effortlessly while earning interests on your money.

3. Cowrywise

Cowrywise was launched in 2017. It is a finance management system that helps you with saving and investment. With this automated and easy-to-use platform, you can save money and have your savings generate interests until a set maturity date.

With Cowrywise, you can plan towards buying your dream home, your kids’ education, starting a business, and a vacation. You never have to miss your saving and investment goals again. It helps you with the discipline of keeping your savings and investments for a long period, without touching the cash.

Cowrywise is easy to use. It is just the app to get if you want to commit to long term financial goals. There are various savings and investment plans available on Cowrywise. They include:

Regular Savings, and a very helpful payment plan.

Life Goals, for those long term commitments.

Halal Savings for Muslims who don’t want to earn interest on their savings.

Cowrywise offers savings with interest rates that could be periodic or fixed. It comes with fascinating features like an interest rate calculator that determines how much interest you get per time, and a ‘Savings Challenge’, which motivates you to engage in strict savings plans in order to build emergency funds or have a wad of money at the end of a fixed period.

4. PiggyVest

PiggyVest was formerly known as Piggybank. It was launched in 2016, and it has over 2 million users. It is the first online “Savings and Investment” app in West Africa. Affiliated with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), PiggyVest aims to empower people and make them able to grow and manage their finances better.

PiggyVest has a ‘Safe Lock’ feature that enables you to lock up parts of your money for a specific period of time. For funds that are ‘unlocked’, PiggyVest provides 4 withdrawal dates (one every quarter). If you withdraw outside of these dates, your withdrawal will attract a penalty fee of 5% of the withdrawn amount.

You can download from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store

With PiggyVest, you can manage your money better. PiggyVest will help you avoid overspending. It is simple, flexible and convenient. There are no bank charges when money is transferred into your PiggyVest account.

5. Prism

If you want to automate your bills, then Prism is the go-to app. Prism is a free app that helps you to track and schedule your bill payments. It also sends you helpful reminders before each due date.

The aim of this app is to help people have a fair idea of their financial situation. As a Prism user, you can view and pay all your bills in one location. All you need to do is to set up your prism account and add all your bills and payments to the app.

Prism is your go-to app for bill tracking and payment management. It will help you stay ahead and focused, because when those bills are constantly in your face, you will think twice about unwise spending.

6. Digit

Digit is a financial app that makes saving a lot easier. It provides you with a savings platform, a ‘Savings Pot’ that automatically works out how much money you should save. It also works out the best time to put the savings in the Savings Pot.

What it does is this; it transfers money to your savings pot in small, steady, amounts, once every few days. You won’t even notice the money’s gone. But at the end of a specific period, you will find out that you have saved a tidy sum of money for the rainy day without your knowledge.

7. Mobills

Mobills is a good app to have when it comes to tracking all your expenses in one easy to read interface. It works on both mobile and desktop.

To use Mobills, first you have to import your bank accounts and credit card information into the app. Then Mobills gives you the opportunity to determine a budget. It then collates all that data and presents them to you under one canopy.

Mobills helps you to identify your spending habits by creating categories that show you how much you have been spending. You’ll be able to make better financial decisions when you identify your most expensive habits.

One good thing about Mobills is that it is visual when it presents the data. It is user friendly. There is a free version for all who want a trial, and a premium version for those who want more.

8. You Need A Budget (YNAB)

YNAB is an app that helps you with your budget. In fact, creating a budget goal is the first thing that the app requires from you.

When you’ve created a budget, you then have to link your accounts. YNAB will import all your transactions and give you the option to assign a specific category to each of them.

The YNAB app takes your account balance into the debt manager so that you can have an idea of where you stand. The app keeps giving you updates and reports to help you track your spending and check for potential issues.

Here is one thing to note though; YNAB provides a great saving service, and they don’t come free. So, after an initial trial period of 34 days, you will have to pay a monthly subscription fee of $6.99, which is billed annually at $83.99.

9. Mint

Mint is a popular personal finance app in the marketplace. It was created by Intuit. Its major aim is to help you understand your finances. It has several features and tools;

It uses your personal information to suggest the most appropriate budgeting options for you.

It has access to your credit score; it also gives you a breakdown of what contributed to your getting that score. It further suggests ways through which you can improve on that score.

It has a ‘MintInsights’ feature that uses your data to calculate your individual personal recommendations.

Mint gives ideas on how to consolidate debt, create budgets, and grow your investments.

Using Mint is completely free. It makes money by the offers and deals for credit cards and loans that it suggests to its users.

10. Binance

One thing is true about Binance – it is popular!
It is one of the world’s largest exchange platforms, having over 6 million users from over 180 countries. And why is this? Because of crypto.

Cryptocurrency is an in-thing now, and this trusted financial app allows you to buy, sell, save and invest in various cryptocurrencies. It gives you the option to do it daily, weekly or monthly.

Binance provides its users with the option to use its services in multiple languages. So if you’re tired of dealing with Naira, with Binance you can easily convert your Naira into dollars using stable coins. And what’s more? You can withdraw your cash whenever you want.

When it comes to crypto exchanges, Binance charges a low trading fee. It allows you use your credit/debit cards, bank transfers and peer-to-peer exchange to trade in crypto.

Binance also has one more amazing feature; you can use it even if you have no knowledge of cryptocurrency.
The app provides free quality materials, tutorial videos and 24/7 support which will enable you to trade in crypto and benefit from the platform.

So what do you think?

Ready to start on a great footing with your finances? Get any of the apps that best suit your needs and work your way to financial freedom.