Zaveapp, the virtual piggy bank encouraging users to save money

Contxto – Whoever said that adults were too old to keep piggy banks was wrong. Whether you’re a toddler placing pennies into a ceramic pink jar or a grown-up saving dollar bills under your mattress, being financially responsible is an under-appreciated art if you ask me.

Supporting my theory is the Mexican fintech startup Zaveapp that provides users with a virtual piggy bank over their smartphones. With it, people can save money towards accomplishing their goals.

From my experience, the great thing about Zaveapp is that you don’t even realize that you’re putting money away. That’s to say, it doesn’t feel like you’re sacrificing one thing for another. Add as little as US$2 a week into your piggy bank and gradually work towards your goal.  

What is Zaveapp?

Like other fintechs, the whole purpose of the app is to save money without it being too much of a hassle. In just one click, Zaveapp delivers its promise.

For the service to function, it’s necessary to connect a debit card and/or bank account. Great for people living abroad, one of the best parts about Zaveapp is that it allows subscribers to add a national bank account as well as an international one.

Fortunately, for those in the European Union, the United States or Mexico, the platform allows people to save money with these regional currencies.

Like plopping a shiny coin into a piggy bank, the process is very simple. Zaveapp will make a charge to your card or account whenever you want to add save money. Then, it will be stored in your Zaveapp e-wallet.

Rather than breaking the piggy bank with a heavy object to spend the funds, though, all you need to do is transfer your Zaveapp funds to one of your connected accounts. Access your money whenever its most convenient.

However, there’s a slight catch – you have to withdraw all of your money once you decide to spend it. After all, the purpose of the app is to assist users in saving money to achieve their goals. Therefore, it’s an all or nothing kind of deal.

To test out the app, I linked my debit card to Zaveapp and have been sitting pretty ever since. At first, though, I couldn’t quite figure out how it worked. It wasn’t until I researched a bit online that I got the hang of it. 

Based on my experience, here’s what I thought about Zaveapp. 

Set your goals

Zaveapp encourages users to save money by establishing tangible goals. After creating your account and adding a card, click on the “goals” tab on the app. Then, set as many objectives as you desire.

Whether saving up to purchase a new iPhone or designating money every month to pay for your mortgage, the possibilities are pretty endless when it comes to what you can accomplish with Zaveapp. That is, if you put your mind to it. Be as ambitious with your objectives as your heart desires. As the saying goes, “the sky is the limit.”

To increase the likelihood of achieving your goals, you can also set deadlines for your savings plan. I don’t know about you, but I think that establishing a target date is an effective way for users to keep their eyes on the prize. In other words, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.

From there, you can establish the amount of credit deposited into Zaveapp piggy bank, not to mention specifying the frequency of your transactions. There’s no need to worry about this since Zaveapp will remind you to do it. Choose to receive notifications on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

You can even designate your preferred currency. Pretty easy, eh?

For example, I set my “Birthday Trip” goal to MXN$10,000 for March 22 of next year. I also programmed Zaveapp to remind me every week to feed my piggy bank. Hopefully, I’ll make it! 

As for the reminders, I did get one every week. Plus, adding money to my e-wallet was super straight-forward. Honestly, I haven’t had any problems with it since I signed up.

Join money-saving teams

One of the coolest features that Zaveapp has is the possibility to create money-saving teams. This is especially relevant to me since I love traveling with friends as often as possible. With group trips, though, there’s always bound to be some sort of money complication. Thankfully, this fintech makes them easier.

To create a team, just set a goal as usual. After you’ve specified this, go to the overview. From there, you can switch from individual to teamwork saving plans.

Following that, click on the “share” button and Zaveapp will automatically create a shareable link. Leveraging the power of social media, this gives you the option to share the URL via e-mail, text messages, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, etc.

In the end, that link will provide whoever you send it to with a code to join the team. This way, everyone can cooperate towards achieving the collective goal. Even better, users can keep track of individual contributions to the piggy bank. 

Due to this convenience, there’s no excuse for your travel plans with friends to fall through the cracks. Maybe it’s just me, but I also think that this feature could be quite effective as a crowdfunding platform. 

Break your piggy bank

While it’s recommended to fulfill your mission, users can nonetheless withdraw their savings whenever they feel inclined. Simply choose to break the piggy bank and the money will be transferred to your bank account in less than 72 hours. 

As far as the app goes, Zaveapp is free. There’s a catch, though. When users decide to break their piggy bank, they will be charged a small fee to deposit funds into their bank accounts.

Fees also vary on the type of currency chosen for savings. Since I did it with Mexican pesos, I had to pay a fee of MXN$5 to break my piggy bank. When it comes to euros and dollars, though, these are the commission fees: 

Keeping track

Another thing I enjoyed about Zaveapp was the layout of the goals. The app lets users visualize and track their progress by providing a type of “summary” for each objective. 

Wonderful for visual learners, these overviews show the amount saved towards any given goal. Besides this, the deadlines and remaining days to save are visible, too.

Rest assured that users don’t have to bother with any calculations, big numbers, or anything complicated whatsoever. For guaranteed success, Zaveapp also suggests the amount of money customers should be putting aside every day, depending on their goals of course.

Transparency is another one of Zaveapp’s great qualities. Every single transaction it makes is stored through the app.

For me, this is very important. Clarity and no surprises in any money-related service is crucial, so I’m glad to say that Zaveapp does an exceptional job in this regard.

Final thoughts

Overall, I approved of what Zaveapp can do, even though at first I didn’t exactly understand how it ran. I think that adding a quick tour of the app when downloading it could be handy. To be clear, I’m not talking about UX/UI.

Yes, the layout is simple, but I had doubts as to where my money was going. On top of this, I wasn’t sure of the exact number of fees that’ll be charged. When I clicked the FAQ button on the app, I got a message saying that the page didn’t exist. Needless to say, this wasn’t very reassuring.

Additionally, I tried getting in contact through support and never got an answer. Luckily, in the end, I found the answers that I needed on the website. 

My primary recommendation for Zaveapp is to add supplemental information to users. This way, they can better understand how the service operates.

For added convenience, this should be directly in the app. Having the assurance that your money is in safe hands and knowing about any commission fees is essential for a service like this.

Aside from that, I really enjoyed using Zaveapp and will continue working towards my goals through the platform. 

UPDATE: Unfortunately Zaveapp is no longer available in Mexico. Recently I stopped being able to add credit to my piggy bank even though the app was still reminding me to do so. My goal was deleted and I received no notice whatsoever from the app.

-CZ