SquadSave is a group savings app designed for friends and family who want to save toward a shared goal, like a trip or an event, and pay for it directly from a shared wallet.
The premise is simple: these are not strangers. They are people who already trust each other. The app gives them a structure to co-save, plan, and a shared way to spend.
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The Problem
Group saving in Nigeria is currently a manual,one-sided burden. When friends save together for a goal, the money usually sits in one person's bank account.
This turns a collective goal into a stresful management task for a single individual
The Pain Points
The "Treasurer" Burden
One person is forced to act as an unofficial accountant; chasing friends for late payments and tracking balances manually
Lack of Transparency
Group members have no direct visibility into the total savings or who has paid, leading to constant "how much do we have now?" questions.
The Access Bottleneck
Spending the money is slow because the group must wait for that one person to be available to make transfers or withdrawals.
The Opportunity
While many fintech apps exist, none allows a group to own and spend from a single wallet together. There was a clear need for a tool that makes group finances truly collaboarative
Research and Insights
Before designing, I survey 26 young Nigerians (ages 22-28) (Gen-Z) across Benin cIty, Lagos and Abuja. The goal was to understand their saving habits, pain points, and what it would take for them to trust a shared digital wallet.
83%
identified "chasing people for money" as their #1 frustration
75%
saw immediate value in paying directly from a shared wallet.
4.3 / 5
average score for wanting full transaction transparency in real time.
42%
demanded a voting system (majority approval) before any money is spent.
83%
had never group-saved digitally before but still wanted the product
Product Decisions
Several decisions that shaped the product
No contribution schedule
SquadSave is for people who have a form of relationship with each other. Anyone can contribute whenever they want until they hits their target. The progress bar creates accountability. The relationship does the rest.
A spending plan, not per-transaction votes
Research showed 44% want majority approval for payments. Real-time voting on every transaction would kill the product , imagine needing 3 people to approve a payment at the airport.
Instead, once the group hits their goal, the admin proposes a full spending plan. Members vote once on the whole plan. Payments then execute automatically on their scheduled dates. One moment of friction covers everything.
Flexible Goal Plan
Planning for an event can come with budget and schedule change.
The admin can propose changes to the goal amount or target date, but members would choose to remain after. This keeps the admin accountable without removing their ability to manage the group.
Money belongs to the individual
Even as the money is kept for the group, it wholly belongs to individuals and they can withdraw. Albeit with a breaking fee if group had already reach target.
Hi-FI Designs
Onboarding
The onboarding carousel sells a new behaviour to an audience that has never done this digitally, it leads with the goal, not just the features, and aims to reassure the users
Dashboard
Home and Group dashboard. 83% of users said visibility is their primary trust signal, so it was important that the designs showed progress of transactions.
Schedule payment approval
Group members get to approve payment plans and schedule them into the future
Create group
Add money
Recent activity
Website Design
Learnings