Savings

How Viscount helps you save

Mobilising savings is the reason microfinance banks exist. Viscount's job is to make putting money aside automatic, to keep it separate from the money you spend, to pay interest on it, and to protect it. This page explains how we do each of those things and how the Central Bank and the NDIC stand behind them.

Start saving with Viscount How savings are protected

Automatic contributions Interest disclosed before you commit Insured by the NDIC up to ₦2,000,000

A Viscount customer checking his savings on his phone

AutomaticContributions on a schedule you set once

SeparateSaved money kept apart from spending money

₦2mNDIC cover per depositor

₦0Fees to open or hold a savings balance

How we help

Saving is a behaviour before it is a balance

Most people do not fail to save for lack of a product. They fail because the money is visible, available and easy to spend. Everything we build for savers addresses one of those three problems.

Make it automatic

A contribution that moves on payday, every week, or as a share of every credit that lands, without you having to remember or decide.

Keep it separate

Saved money does not appear in your spending balance. Out of sight is out of reach, which is most of the battle.

Lock it when you choose to

For money with a date and a purpose, a commitment for a period earns more and removes the temptation. The terms of the lock are shown before you accept it.

Pay interest on it

Savings balances earn interest, computed daily and disclosed before you commit. Committed money earns more than money that can be withdrawn at any time.

Show progress

A goal, a target, a date and a bar that fills. Seeing the distance close is what keeps the contribution going in the months when it is hardest.

Save for someone else

Money set aside for a child or a dependant, held by you, kept apart from your own, and handed over when the time comes.

Different money, different treatment

Not all savings want the same thing

Money you might need next week and money for a child's university in twelve years should not be treated the same way. Viscount separates savings by how long you can leave them, and pays accordingly.

Money you may need at short noticeSet aside from spending money but available instantly, with no lock and no penalty. Flexibility is the point, so the return is modest.
Money idle for days or weeksA short commitment that puts the balance sitting between a credit and the next bill to work, and returns it before it is needed.
Money for a goal with a dateRent, fees, a trip, a purchase. Automatic contributions, locked until the date, with interest for the whole period and progress you can see.
Money for years awayLong-horizon savings, for a child or a future you have decided on, where compounding over years does most of the work and the discipline is in not touching it.

For a single lump sum placed for a fixed period, see how Viscount takes deposits on the Investment page.

What we tell you first

The terms of a savings commitment, before you make it

Whenever you commit money for a period, the CBN's consumer protection rules require the bank to disclose the terms before you agree. We show them on the screen where you confirm, and again in writing.

The interest rate and how it is appliedPer annum or per period, computed daily, paid at maturity or credited annually.
The period and the date it endsAnd what happens on that date if you do nothing.
The contribution scheduleAmount, frequency and the account it is collected from, and what happens if a contribution cannot be collected.
Exactly what breaking it costsInterest forfeited, any fee, and any notice period, shown as an amount before you confirm a withdrawal, with a deliberate confirmation step so it cannot happen by accident.
Withholding taxWhere it applies to interest, the statutory 10% is shown as a line and the net figure is the one you see.

Regulation and protection

How your savings are protected

Savings with Viscount are deposits with a bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria and insured by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation. These are the rules that protect them.

The microfinance mandate: The CBN licenses microfinance banks specifically to mobilise savings from, and lend to, individuals and small businesses that larger banks under-serve. Making saving accessible is not a product line for us; it is the licence.
Anyone can start: Under the CBN's tiered KYC framework, a savings relationship can begin with a phone number and a BVN or NIN, with limits that rise as more identification is provided. Nobody is turned away for lacking a utility bill.
NDIC insurance: Every savings balance, committed or flexible, is a deposit insured by the NDIC up to ₦2,000,000 per depositor per bank. The cover is paid for by the bank, not the saver.
Charges and interest: The CBN's Guide to Charges governs what a bank may charge on a savings account and sets a floor on the interest paid on savings deposits. We charge nothing to open or hold a savings balance.
Disclosure: The Consumer Protection Framework requires the terms of any savings commitment to be disclosed before the customer agrees. We show them on screen and confirm them in writing.
Prudential supervision: The CBN sets liquidity requirements so that a bank can always meet withdrawals, and examines microfinance banks against them. Your ability to withdraw does not depend on anyone else's decision to deposit.
Dormant balances: A savings balance you stop touching is not forgotten. The CBN's rules on dormant accounts govern how it is held, how you are contacted, and how it is returned to you or your estate.
Complaints: Any dispute about a savings balance, its interest or a withdrawal can be raised with us for a reference number, and escalated to the CBN's Consumer Protection Department if unresolved after fourteen working days.

In the app

Saved money, one tap from the home screen

Savings live alongside your current account in the same app, funded from it and paid back into it. You see what is set aside, what it has earned and when it is due, without it ever getting mixed up with the money you spend.

Set the schedule onceChoose an amount and a rhythm and the contributions run themselves. Change or pause them any time.
Watch it growBalance, interest earned so far and days to go, updated daily.
Statements for every balanceA stamped statement for any savings balance and any period, on request.

Get the app

Questions

About saving with a microfinance bank

Are savings with a microfinance bank insured?

Yes. Every licensed microfinance bank must insure its deposits with the NDIC, and savings balances are deposits. The cover for microfinance bank depositors is ₦2,000,000 per depositor per bank, across all the accounts and balances you hold with that bank.

Do I need a utility bill to start saving?

No. Under the CBN's tiered KYC framework a savings relationship can start with a phone number and your BVN or NIN. Limits on balances and single deposits apply at that tier and rise as you add identification, which you can do in the app.

Why does committed money earn more than flexible money?

Because a bank lends what it holds. Money you have committed for a period can be lent with confidence for that period; money you can withdraw at any moment cannot. The higher rate on committed savings is the price of that certainty, and the terms of the commitment are shown before you make it.

What if I need committed money before the date?

You can withdraw it. The cost of doing so, in forfeited interest and any fee or notice period, is stated before you commit and shown again as an amount before you confirm the withdrawal. Your principal is always yours.

Is interest on savings taxed?

Nigerian law requires banks to deduct 10% withholding tax on interest paid to customers and remit it to the tax authority. Where it applies, we show the gross interest, the tax and the net figure so the number on screen is the number you receive.

Can a business or a group save with Viscount?

Yes. Businesses, cooperatives and associations hold savings under the same roles and approvals that govern their payments, so that setting money aside or releasing it is an approved and recorded action. See Business Banking for how accounts of that kind are opened.

Get started

Start with whatever you can put aside

Open an account, set an amount and a rhythm, and let it run. Funded from your current account, kept apart from it, and insured by the NDIC.

Automatic contributions on your schedule
Terms and interest shown before you commit
NDIC insured up to ₦2,000,000 per depositor

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play