Kollo Savings Hub

Overview

Kollo is a mobile savings and investment app designed around a familiar behaviour: people do not only save alone, they save with others.

Across Nigeria and many African communities, people already save through Ajo, Esusu, family contribution groups, and shared financial goals. These systems are built on trust, but they are often managed manually through WhatsApp groups, bank transfers, spreadsheets, reminders, and verbal agreements.

Kollo brings that behaviour into a structured digital product. It helps users save personally, create or join group savings plans, manage contributions, and explore investment opportunities from one mobile experience.

The Problem

Traditional savings groups work, but they become harder to manage as they grow.

People need clarity on who has paid, who collects next, what slot each member owns, when the next contribution is due, and how close the group is to its target. At the same time, individual savers need different levels of control, from locked savings to automated deposits and flexible withdrawals.

The challenge was to design one product that could support:

• Group savings with clear rules and roles

• Personal savings with different levels of discipline

• Wallet actions and investment discovery

• A simple experience that still feels secure and trustworthy

Product Direction

I structured Kollo around three core behaviours: manage money, save money, and grow money.

The Home dashboard handles wallet visibility and quick actions. My Kollo becomes the centre of the savings experience. Investments gives users a path to grow their money after saving.

The biggest design decision was splitting savings into two clear paths:

1. Group Kollo for communal savings, Ajo, Esusu, and shared goals

2. Personal Kollo for fixed, automated, and flexible individual savings

This gave users a simple mental model: save with others, save alone, or invest.

Onboarding and Trust Setup

Kollo starts by building trust before users move money.

The onboarding flow takes users through account creation, email verification, app password setup, Face ID, and document verification. Each step is focused, so the experience feels secure without becoming heavy.

This was important because users need confidence before they create savings plans, join financial groups, or invest.

Home Dashboard and Wallet

The dashboard gives users a clear financial starting point.

It shows wallet balance, supports Naira and Dollar wallets, and gives quick access to funding, withdrawing, switching wallets, and viewing transactions.

For new users, the dashboard also introduces helpful prompts like enabling Face ID, setting up auto-save, or creating a group Kollo. This makes it more than a balance screen. It becomes a launchpad for action.

My Kollo Savings Hub

My Kollo is the heart of the savings experience.

A new user starts with an empty state that clearly invites them to create or join a Kollo. From there, users can switch between Group Kollo and Personal Kollo.

This small structure does a lot of work. It helps users first answer one simple question: am I saving with others or saving on my own?

Kollo Together

Kollo Together digitises rotating savings systems like Ajo and Esusu.

A group contributes a fixed amount at a set frequency, and members take turns collecting the pooled money. For example, 12 people can contribute ₦50,000 monthly, creating a ₦600,000 pool that each member receives based on their slot.

The admin sets the contribution amount, frequency, number of members, slot, start date, and payment method. After creation, Kollo generates a group code, invite link, and QR code.

The details page then shows contribution progress, next payment date, member slots, group details, and member requests.

Key decision: Admins manage the group. Members only see the details and actions they need.

Kollo Unity Pot

Kollo Unity Pot supports shared goal savings.

Unlike Kollo Together, there are no rotating payouts or slots. Members contribute toward one target, such as a vacation, charity, community project, or family goal.

The admin sets the group name, target amount, and end date. Members can join, contribute, and track progress.

The experience focuses on transparency: how much has been raised, how close the group is to the target, and who has contributed.

Personal Kollo

Personal Kollo supports users who want to save alone, but with different levels of control.

• Fixed Kollo: lock money until maturity

• Automated Kollo: save automatically on a schedule

• Flex Kollo: save and withdraw anytime

Each plan has different rules, but the flow stays consistent: create, review, confirm, view details, and track activity.

This made the product easier to learn because users did not have to understand a new pattern for every savings type.

Investments

The Investments section extends Kollo from saving into wealth-building.

Users can view their investment wallet, switch between Naira and Dollar investments, explore opportunities, review investment details, invest, and track active or matured investments.

The goal was to make investing feel like a natural next step after saving, not a separate product inside the app.

Outcome

The final design presents Kollo as a complete savings and investment platform built around real financial behaviour.

It supports users who save alone, users who save with groups, users who need flexibility, users who want stronger discipline, and users who are ready to invest.

The strongest part of Kollo is that it does not force users into a new way of thinking about money. It builds around behaviours they already understand, then gives those behaviours structure, clarity, and trust.

Final takeaway: Kollo turns communal savings, personal savings, and investments into one simple mobile experience.