22seven goes #datafree with a brand new financial management tool

by Jikku Joseph, Managing Director at 22seven, and Gour Lentell, CEO at Datafree

The popular budgeting app 22seven has launched 22seven lite, a datafree version that will give thousands more South Africans the tools to manage their finances so that they can plan better and save more.

• 22seven lite is released in collaboration with popular messaging super app, Moya.

• It is totally free to use, requiring no airtime or mobile data.

• It is 100% safe and secure, using bank-level encryption to protect users’ privacy.

22seven was launched in 2012, with the ambition of empowering people to take control of their finances. Users can see all their money in one place, and the advanced transaction categorisation engine generates a personalised budget based on actual spending, which allows users to manage their money with confidence.

“More than 400 000 people currently use 22seven,” says Managing Director Jikku Joseph. “But the app requires Wi-Fi or mobile data. Research showed that millions of South Africans don’t want to download another app or spend more money on data, which makes them reluctant to use 22seven. That’s why we built 22seven lite. Our goal has always been to offer financial tools to all South Africans and we believe that our new, datafree platform will help us achieve that goal.”

22seven lite is accessed via Moya, a datafree messaging super app. Moya is free to download from the Android app store; look for 22seven lite in the “Discover > Money & Services” section of the app.

Users only need an email address to sign up for 22seven lite. Once signed up, they can link bank accounts, store cards, investment and loan accounts. 22seven lite then uses this information to help users track their spend and budget much more easily.

“We are very pleased to partner with Moya. They share our vision of making our life-changing service widely accessible, and they are committed to help us grow a financially confident South Africa,” says Joseph.

22seven has stringent data privacy controls, which are shared by 22seven lite. The same bank-level encryption is used to protect users’ private information. “The user connects accounts by entering their account login details, but those details are never seen by human eyes. It’s read-only, nobody can transact on the accounts in 22seven lite,” says Joseph.

22seven is also backed by Old Mutual and is insured like a bank, so your money is safe. Since launch in 2012, South Africans have securely linked more than 1.3 million accounts to 22seven.

“By offering more people the tools to take control of their finances, we hope to grow a money management culture in South Africa — and hopefully in other African countries one day,” says Joseph in closing. “We want to help more people make better financial decisions through knowledge and awareness.”

Media enquiries

Darren Brookbanks
Head of Communications, 22seven

darren@22seven.com | 061 355 4390