Cowrywise becomes the second fintech startup in Nigeria to secure an SEC license. The license conotes a freedom to operate as a Fund/Portfolio Manager from the country’s capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Cowrywise is a personal finance platform that automates your savings and investment, taking away the stress and planning required to do such on a regular basis while helping you stay disciplined. With Cowrywise, your plans generate interests daily over the period you specify.
While it is the second fintech startup in Nigeria to secure an SEC license, it is the first fintech to get a license in the fund/portfolio management category.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THE LICENSE MAKE?
The difference is clear in the sense that with the license, Cowrywise’s operations now fall directly under the regulatory scope of the SEC and this will definitely help to improve trust with current and potential users. Prior to what it is now, now, Cowrywise deployed a trustee structure to offer investment opportunities, in partnership with regulated investment management companies like Meristem.
To reinstate an assurance of topnotch security, Cowrywise announced in a mail,
With our own license, the SEC now becomes your “guardian”. They’ll double down on our existing security structure to keep you even safer.
A CALL TO EXPECT MORE
Cowrywise intends to offer more juicy opportunities and services for its partners (fund managers) and investors on its platform. They also made it clear that they will be making its APIs public to help fund managers across the world access their services and open up more investment options to serve customers in Nigeria better.
Here’s what they had to say:
Digitizing the investment management infrastructure is an important next step in our vision to democratize access to investment products. These APIs do not just apply to fintechs; any company can embed investment features in their products as our investment API simplifies regulatory, compliance, and technical hurdles.
THE DREAM
By 2025, Cowrywise aims to introduce 10 million first-time investors to regulated investments.
