What is the name of your solution?
myStash
Provide a one-line summary of your solution.
myStash is a digital tool that extends social security coverage to the informal sector.
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
The ILO estimates that over 80% of all employment in Nigeria is informal. These informal workers are not enrolled in the National Pension scheme, hence, they have no pension benefits and are unable to build financial safety nets for times of emergency and towards retirement.
In addition, 41% of these informal workers are women, many of whom are unable to access loans because they do not have collateral like land or other expensive assets.
What is your solution?
myStash is a digital tool that enables informal economy workers to autosave a percentage of whatever they earn. Hence, they can build financial safety nets for times of emergency, and save towards retirement. They also earn interest on their savings.
In addition, their saving habit is used to credit score them, and enables them to have easier access to loan services. This is a great additional benefit given that 41% of these informal workers are women, many of whom are unable to access loans because they do not have collateral like land or other expensive assets.
The myStash app also includes a budget, spending tracker, and payment tool for businesses. Hence, it is a holistic financial management app built for informal workers for their personal and business finance management.
See Product Demo.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
We serve informal workers who are not enrolled in the National Pension scheme, and hence, they have no pension benefits and are unable to build financial safety nets for times of emergency and towards retirement. Our solution (myStash) enables these otherwise excluded informal workers to plug into a micro-pension scheme and be able to build financial safety nets.
Our technology makes the saving process a subconscious activity by plugging savings into their business process, so that they are able to save a portion of every sale they make. In addition, their saving habit is used to credit score them, and enables them to have easier access to loan services.
How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
All of the myStash founders have direct experience with informal economy workers. So, we understand the struggles they endure due to lack of a financial safety net. I was personally inspired to build myStash while working at a company where we helped thousands of drivers access commercial bike assets on credit, which they paid back in bits as they earned daily. I discovered the power of “saving in trickles” when drivers struggled financially during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Many had no savings to fall back on. I realized that proactive savings that accrued via unnoticeable “trickles” could’ve helped drivers better prepare for and survive the realities of the lockdown and other future emergencies. With myStash, these informal economy workers can now save a percentage of every amount they earn.
As we continue to build, we organize focus group meetings with a sample population of informal workers. They test our product, provide feedback, and suggest improvements.
Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Other
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Lagos, Nigeria
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
What is your solution’s stage of development?
Growth: An organization with an established product, service, or business model that is rolled out in one or more communities
How many people does your solution currently serve?
3000
Why are you applying to Solve?
The myStash app for informal workers is currently a web app with slightly over 3000 users. Our next goal is to scale that growth to over 300,000 users in Nigeria, and expand to other parts of sub-saharan Africa through relevant partnerships and by building a mobile app.
Thus, this programme is an opportunity to collaborate, tap into, and leverage both public and private partners in order to accelerate the growth and impact of our startup.
Through the mentorship, networking sessions, and workshops, I hope/expect to learn from, meet, and interact with people who have expertise in growing and scaling Fintech startups.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Christiana Okere
What makes your solution innovative?
Our solution is innovative in that it's a new way of adapting an existing technology to enable these otherwise excluded informal workers to plug into a micro-pension scheme and be able to build financial safety nets.
Our technology makes the saving process a subconscious activity by plugging savings into their business process, so that they are able to save a portion of every sale they make. The myStash app also includes a budget, spending tracker, and payment tool for businesses. Hence, it is a holistic financial management app built for informal workers and their businesses.
What are your impact goals for the next year and the next five years, and how will you achieve them?
So far, we’ve helped over 3000 informal workers save over $500,000. On average, this is at least 20% more money than they ordinarily would have saved, simply by leveraging myStash’s automation tool.
For a lot of people, these little extra pockets of money protect them in cases of financial emergencies (instead of taking a loan), and they are also able to unlock new opportunities to invest in key career and income growth activities.
By 2024, we will stabilize our technology, and grow our user base to over 50,000. Our plan for the next 5 years is to grow our user base to over 3 million by serving informal workers in other parts of sub-saharan Africa.
In 5 years, we plan to make over $100 million in revenue by achieving $5 Billion in savings.
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?
We measure our impact by how well these informal workers are able to bounce back or recover from economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters. For a lot of people, these savings protect them in cases of financial emergencies, instead of taking a high-interest loan.
Also, women who do not have collateral like land or other expensive assets, are able to access loan services more easily by using their savings history on myStash as proof of credit-worthiness.
What is your theory of change?
Our theory of change is this:
By providing a tool that digitises and automates saving for informal workers, they are able to save towards emergencies and retirement.They can use those savings to support themselves and their families during times of economic shock, as well as invest in growth activities.
Women are also better able to access loans using their savings history as evidence of credit worthiness.
Describe the core technology that powers your solution.
Our technology is a web-based app.
We plan to build it into a mobile app soon.
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new application of an existing technology
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
If your solution has a website or an app, provide the links here:
https://profits.mystash.ng/auth/register & https://www.instagram.com/mystashhq/
In which countries do you currently operate?
In which countries will you be operating within the next year?
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
How many people work on your solution team?
5, all full-time
How long have you been working on your solution?
2 years
What is your approach to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into your work?
We believe in diversity and equal opportunity. Currently 60% of our team are women.
What is your business model?
myStash is a holistic financial management app built for informal workers for their personal and business finance management.
Our products/services include: savings, credit-scoring, budgeting, spending tracker, and payment for businesses.
Informal workers can access these products/services for free by signing up on our web app.
At the moment, customers use the app for free. Eventually, once we hit a certain threshold of customers and savings volume, we’ll begin to charge a subscription fee.
At the moment, we make money by taking a portion of the interest accrued on customers' savings.
Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, to other organizations, or to the government?
Individual consumers or stakeholders (B2C)What is your plan for becoming financially sustainable?
At the moment, customers use the app for free. So we make money by taking a portion of the interest accrued on customers' savings.
Eventually, once we hit a certain threshold of customers and savings volume, we’ll begin to charge a subscription fee.
Solution Team
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Our Organization
MyStash Technologies Limited