What is upnup?

Upnup is described as Africa’s first passive micro-investing app that allows users to accumulate Bitcoin on autopilot. The app claims to be the first fintech platform in South Africa to make it possible for users to accumulate funds through an add-up or roundup feature. Essentially, upnup is responsible for facilitating micro-savings in crypto by adding funds to a user’s fiat savings wallet using automatic rounding. It also enables the purchase of cryptos from the available funds in a user’s fiat wallet.

The company trading as upnup is registered in South Africa as UBU South Africa (Pty) Ltd. The upnup app is available for download on the iOS App Store or Google Play Store. In order to register with upnup, a user will be required to create a unique username and password and will be required provide personal information e.g. ID number, banking details, etc. Users need to KYC in order to be able to access the app functions.

How to use upnup 

Upnup rounds up each time a user spends to the nearest Rand and that saving is automatically invested. This is done by adding an add-up or roundup amount to every qualifying transaction on a user’s linked bank account.

A user needs to set up a profile and link their transactional bank account in order to micro-save directly to their upnup wallet. Upnup uses third-party service providers e.g. Stitch for data security. Other third-party providers include Ukele and Valr.

A user needs to choose their preferred saving method i.e. roundup or add-up, then they need to set a monthly maximum limit should they wish to. And just like that, they can sit back while their micro-investments accumulate, weekly, on auto-pilot.

Why use upnup?

Micro-saving with upnup is meant to make micro-investing simple, easy and convenient for new entrants into the investment space.

What makes upnup unique?

The minimum amount that a user can invest on a weekly basis for any savings mode is R13.50. This also includes the upnup fee.

Fees on upnup

Upnup currently only charges a weekly transaction fee if a user participates in the week’s saving cycle, and a small fee to withdraw funds back into a user’s personal linked account.

Conclusion 

Upnup is a clever app designed to make investing in crypto easier for people who want to invest without the complexities of going directly to crypto exchanges such as Luno, Valr, Binance, AltCoinTrader, etc. Currently upnup only supports one crypto asset i.e. Bitcoin (BTC). It’s important for users to also note that withdrawals of Bitcoin to self-custody wallets is currently not possible. However, users can convert their Bitcoin to ZAR and withdraw that directly to their linked accounts.

Users need to be mindful that there are always risks associated with any investment strategy.  It is recommended to always do your own research and manage risks accordingly.