South African passive micro-investing app – Africa’s first – upnup, has launched offering users the ability to accumulate savings in either Bitcoin or South Africa’s rand as they spend. The company, based out of Cape Town, works with five major South African banks – Standard Bank, absa, NedBank, FNB and Capitec. The fintech does not store user data or banking credentials with all financial activity. The company says micro-investing is a good first step into the investment space, providing investment on autopilot and allowing users to set-up and forget as they spend and save.
Users can save without having to make drastic lifestyle changes or set up onerous savings accounts. The fintech will automatically convert users’ micro-savings into Bitcoin micro-investments which can also be converted back into local currency. Users can draw down their savings into their nominated bank account via the Stitch integration. Upnup currently doesn’t charge transaction fees but intends to start charging a weekly transaction fee soon.