Fast raising African tech unicorn Chipper Cash has on Thursday unveiled a new product that for the first time ever, Ugandans of all economic backgrounds will be able to invest as little as $1 or 3,500 Uganda Shillings in the world’s largest public companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Hasan Luongo, the VP Global Marketing joined Dan Tumuramye, Country Director Chipper Cash Uganda on Thursday during the launch at Kampala Serena Hotel and on video link was Ham Serunjogi who co-founded Chipper Cash now topping African cross-border payments.
Global investment options are often big-ticket investments and require a significant cash outlay from investors. This means first-time investors—usually the younger population— can’t build wealth this way as they are either still dependent on their caretakers or simply don’t have enough disposable income to spare.
Fractional shares, the new kid on the investing block, are crucial to making investing in stocks easier and more accessible, especially for African countries with lower valued currencies.
“Today, we’re launching a revolutionary product, U.S. fractional stocks,” says Ham Serunjogi, CO-founder and CEO of Chipper Cash. “This product is probably our most impactful product since the launch of the original Chipper app just three years ago.”
With the launch of Chipper’s Global Stocks Investing product, Ugandans (both old and young) can easily invest in publicly traded global companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Tesla, Netflix, etc.
Chipper Cash is the first company to offer fractional stock investing in Uganda. And the African fintech startup is licensed and regulated by the Capital Markets Authority.
There has been an uptick in the awareness and demand for safe investments by Ugandans in recent years. And while goal-based saving has taken center stage (with many banks, insurance companies, and SACCOs offering this service), investments in equities is key to achieving financial independence and building long-term wealth.
“Wealth creation is one of the most powerful ways of driving economic and social development in any country. For too long, many tools that offer the ability to generate and store wealth have remained inaccessible for too many, for too long. This product, the Chipper fractional stocks product, fixes precisely that problem,” says Ham.
Through its partnership with DriveWealth LLC, a pioneer in fractional investing and embedded finance, Chipper Cash empowers the average Ugandan to build long-term wealth with safe and affordable access to the U.S stock markets.
What exactly does this mean?
Previously, investing in U.S equities required high minimums and was only accessible by high net-worth individuals. This effectively priced out first-time investors.
With Chipper Cash, users can invest on a dollar equivalent basis (i.e., fractional shares) in over 6,000 U.S. securities and ETFs, with little or no minimum requirements.
Yes, you heard that right; anyone can invest. The entry point is $1. And with over 1,000 global companies listed on the Chipper Stocks, you can invest in U.S./international equities and build a global portfolio that lasts through time.
The best part, watching your money grow as these businesses grow!
Chipper Cash is blazing the trail in using technology to drive financial inclusion in Uganda and the continent through its overall value proposition of local and international transfers, crypto offerings, airtime, data, and bill payments. Now, users can also take advantage of its easy-to-use and affordable investment product.
Chipper is somewhat analogous to Venmo in the United States, except that Chipper works across countries all over Africa, instead of just one country. What is most unique about Chipper is that instead of users using credit cards to credit and debit their Chipper wallets, as they do with Venmo, Chipper allows users to connect their Mobile Money accounts, the most common financial tool in sub-Saharan Africa.
Chipper is available on Android, iOS, and the Web to people in a number of countries including Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Nigeria. More countries will be added in the near future.
