What is Chumz?

Chumz is a mobile-based saving and investment application that utilizes behavioural psychology and gamification to enable users to save via mobile money.

Why should I use Chumz?

Chumz helps you turn your intent to save into action. It allows you to save both as an individual and as a group to achieve both short and long-term financial goals and objectives.

It is personalized to your day-to-day experiences to find your saving sweet spot and accelerate savings habits through goals, saving rules & challenges and a great user experience.

How do I get started?

Download Chumz app from Google Play Store or App Store here.

Create an account and start saving

How much can I save?

You can save from as low as Kes 5. There is no maximum limit. You can also do subsequent top-ups of any amount at any time to your saving goals.

Do you give out loans?

We do not give loans. Chumz is a savings and investment product.

How secure is my personal information?

Information collected is a KYC (Know your customer) requirement by Capital Markets Authority (CMA) the state regulator.

Your personal information is encrypted using bank-level encryption in transit and storage.

Your personal information is not shared with any third parties, with exceptions such as in the case of the need to comply with a court order.

How safe is my money?

Chumz is authorized by the Capital Markets Authority. See the press release here

Funds deposited through Chumz are invested in the Nabo Money Market KES Unit Trust, which is managed by Nabo Capital as its fund manager. The Unit trust is audited by Grant Thornton, has KCB as the approved Trustee and Stanbic Bank as Custodian.

How do you start saving?

Chumz helps you adopt saving habits designed to fit your lifestyle. This is achieved through rules, reminders, challengesand goals that you can customise to help you start saving.

Rules on the app are Quick Save, Round down & Save on Spend

Challenges on the app are the 52-week Savings Challenge

Goals on the app can be personal or group and they can be further customised and specific in categories available on the app as well as have reminders to alert you to save.

What saving categories are available on Chumz?

We have most of the saving categories preset, so you can easily select one when creating a goal.

However, if you have a category that is not in the preset options available, you can create a custom category.

Some of the already preset categories include:-

• Rent
• Insurance
• Education
• Business
• Emergency
• Clear Debt
• Eat Out
• Furniture
• House
• Kitchen Ware
• Electronics
• Life Event
• Movies
• Shoes
• Shopping
• Land
• Tech Gadgets
• Travel
• Vacation

What are normal goals vs locked goals?

Once you identify a category of choice, you proceed to create a personal goal for that category.

The goal can be a normal goal i.e you save and have the liberty to withdraw the money during the saving period. It currently earns an interest of 6% pa and it is distributed daily.

The goal can also be a locked goal i.e you save and lock your money for a given period. It currently earns interest at 8% pa and it is distributed daily.

What are personal goals vs group goals?

Personal goals are created and customised to your liking i.e you pick a preferred category, and a preferred name and even schedule reminders as to when you want to contribute to them.

Watch a step-by-step guide on how to create a personal goal here.

Group goals are created and customised to the group's liking i.e you pick a preferred category, a preferred name & a target. Once done, you have the option to invite members you'd like to save with.

How many personal goals can I have?

There is no limit to the number of goals that you can create. Chumz seeks to empower you to achieve as much as possible.

Can I monitor my savings?

Chumz is designed with monitoring in mind. There is a progress bar on your savings goals against your target goal amount.

You can also go to your profile and click on the arrow next to the "Your savings" button to see all your savings history.

What is Chumz group savings?

Chumz Groups is a saving feature designed and optimised for group savings. You simply create a goal, invite other members and start saving.

How many people can a group have?

A saving group can have a minimum of 2 members and a maximum of 15 members.

How many group goals can I create?

There is no limit to the number of group goals you can create.

How do group withdrawals work?

The person who creates a group goal is by default the group admin. They can thereafter add 2 more people to be admins.

Any of the group admins initiates a withdrawal request.

Each group member receives the withdrawal request and approves or rejects the withdrawal.

Once everyone approves, the withdrawal is submitted for processing and the person designated to receive the money will receive it.

What is a group chat feature?

Group chat is a feature that enables group members to easily communicate with each other through chat messaging.

What is Quick Save and how does it work?

It's a savings account that is automatically created on registration and enables you to make immediate savings that you are yet to assign to a goal.

Deposits in this account earn interest at 6% pa.

You can’t withdraw funds from Quick Save, however, you can transfer funds to an existing goal and thereafter withdraw the funds.

Funds that you save from other saving rules i.e Round Down and Save on Spend are directed to this account.

What is the 52-week challenge?

It's a saving challenge where you save a certain amount weekly for 52 weeks, and thus a year.

How does it work?

You select a base amount you want to start saving for week 1. The following week you save a factor of the base amount you started with, and increase the amount each week, with the initial amount.

What amount do I start with for week 1?

You choose the amount to start with. The most common ones are Kes.50 and Kes.100. If you select Kes.50, the following week you will save Kes.100, then Kes.150 on the next, and so on.

You will have saved Kes.68,900 at the end of the challenge. If you select Kes.100, you will have saved Kes. 137,800 at the end of the challenge/year.

Must I start with a low amount?

Our 52 weeks savings challenge is flexible and lets you choose whether to start with a low amount or a high amount at the start of a challenge.

If you choose to start low you will start with a low amount and the amount to be saved will increase weekly as you near week 52. If you choose to start high, you will start with the highest amount and the figure to save will decrease weekly as you near week 52.

When can I start my challenge?

With Chumz, you can start your 52 weeks at any week of the year, which will be used as your week 1. Most people prefer to start with the first week of January as week 1.

Does money in the 52-week challenge goal earn interest?

By default, all deposits made via Chumz earn interest. The 52 weeks challenge earns interest at a rate of 8% pa and the earned interest is distributed daily.

Does my money earn interest?

Your funds earn interest the following day after you make a deposit and daily thereafter. Interest is credited daily to your respective goals.

Deposits in Quick Save and Normal goals earn interest at 6% pa. Deposits in the 52-week Challenge & Locked goals earn interest at 8% pa.

How do I withdraw?

For normal goals, you can withdraw your funds at any time, this can be a partial or the full amount of that goal.

For locked goals, you can only withdraw your funds after the lock duration. This can be a partial or the full amount of that goal.

Upon a successful withdrawal request for both personal and group goals; you will receive funds within 48 hours or less, excluding weekends and public holidays.

You will incur the standard Mpesa paybill transaction fees when withdrawing funds.

Here is a step-by-step guide:

• Tap on a goal.
• Click on the View more details icon.
• Click on the withdraw icon.
• Withdraw a partial or the full amount of that goal.
• You will get the funds in your MPesa within 48 hours, excluding weekends and public holidays.

Can I withdraw from the Quick Save?

To withdraw money from Quick Save:

• Create a personal goal
• Transfer the money from Quick Save to the personal goal.
• Withdraw from the goal.

How long does it take to get money after withdrawal?

Once we get your withdrawal request, you will get the funds within 48 hours, excluding weekends and public holidays.

Why does it take 48 hours to get withdrawals?

We offer interest, thus we need to invest the funds. 48hrs allows us to uplift funds from investments and complete the withdrawal.

How much does it cost?

Chumz is free to use. No monthly charge, no maintenance cost, no other charges.

The only cost you will incur is standard Mpesa paybill transaction fees when depositing to and withdrawing from your goals.

Who is behind Chumz?

Our team is made up of people from diverse professional and academic fields.

From computer science, finance, actuarial science and partners who have business reach in several African countries.

Read more here Our Team

Does Chumz have an office?

Our offices are in Garden Estate, 68 Mukima Drive, Nairobi, Kenya.

If you have more questions, email us [email protected] or call 0717 134 114