Are PiggyVest, Cowrywise and Kuda Halal? Product by Product (2026)

PiggyVest, Cowrywise and Kuda are not halal by default, because their core savings products pay interest earned from treasury bills, commercial paper and bank placements. Two of the three publish a way out. PiggyVest has an 'Interest Enable on Savings (Riba)' toggle in account settings, and Cowrywise has a Halal switch that turns every plan non-interest and routes investments into Shariah-screened portfolios. Kuda's published savings products (Spend+Save, Save Frequently Pocket and the Locked Fixed Pocket) are all described as interest-earning, and we found no opt-out on its site. If you want money that earns without riba, the routes are Cowrywise's Halal portfolios, the Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund, the Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund, or a Mudarabah account at a non-interest bank.

What makes a savings app halal or not

The test is simple even if the apps are not. Riba is a guaranteed return on money lent, and a savings app that promises 'X% per annum' on your balance is lending your money on and paying you a fixed slice of the interest. Where that interest comes from matters less than the fact that it is interest. PiggyVest and Cowrywise both say in their own FAQs that the returns come from treasury bills, commercial paper and government bonds, which is exactly the instrument set our treasury bills article explains is interest-bearing by construction.

An opt-out changes the character of the account. Once interest is switched off, your money is simply being held and returned, which is a qard (loan) arrangement with no return, and that is permissible. It is also unproductive: inflation reported by the CBN on 21 September 2026 was 15.39%, so a zero-return balance loses purchasing power every month. The practical question for a Nigerian Muslim is therefore not only 'can I use this app' but 'where does my money earn halal'. The is-it-halal hub covers the principles; the rest of this piece applies them product by product.

PiggyVest product by product

PiggyVest's FAQ, fetched on 21 September 2026, lists interest for every wallet and is unusually candid about the mechanics. Funds are 'warehoused and managed by PV Capital Limited', which the FAQ describes as a fund and portfolio manager registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The rates below are the ones PiggyVest publishes; the FAQ also says they are 'subject to change at any time based on market conditions', and in two places it quotes slightly different figures for the same product (SafeLock is 'up to 18.5%' in one answer and a tiered 14% to 21% schedule in another), so treat them as indicative.

Two details deserve emphasis. First, SafeLock pays interest upfront for tenors up to 365 days, which means you receive the riba before your money has done anything at all. Second, the FAQ states that Investify fixed-income returns are calculated 'using the simple interest formula', which removes any ambiguity about what those listings are. The equity listings on Investify are a different animal: they are shares in real businesses and could be halal, but PiggyVest does not publish a Shariah screen, so each would need checking against the AAOIFI ratios.

The PiggyVest riba toggle and what it leaves you with

PiggyVest answers the question 'What if I don't want interest?' directly: go to Account and toggle 'Interest Enable on Savings (Riba)'. The wording is a tell. PiggyVest knows a share of its six million customers are Muslims who want the discipline tools without the interest, and it has labelled the switch with the word they use. With the toggle off, Piggybank, Flex, SafeLock and Target become pure commitment devices: you still get autosave, the locked dates and the quarterly free-withdrawal calendar, and you give up the return.

What the toggle does not do is make your money productive. PiggyVest has no published Shariah-compliant investment product, and its dollar wallet remains interest-based regardless of the toggle. If you are using PiggyVest purely to stop yourself spending, with the toggle off, that is a defensible choice. If you expect your savings to keep pace with 15% inflation, PiggyVest with riba off cannot do that for you.

Cowrywise: Halal Savings plans and the Halal switch

Cowrywise goes further than any other mainstream Nigerian savings app. Its FAQ lists Halal Savings as a product line ('for Muslims who don't want to earn interest on their savings'), available as periodic plans, life goals, save-as-you-earn plans or fixed plans, none of which attract interest. Its dedicated Halal page, fetched on 21 September 2026, says more than 33,000 Muslims use the halal account and explains the switch: existing customers go to profile settings, open the Behaviour tab and turn on Halal. On switching, you can forfeit the interest already accrued or keep it; Cowrywise leaves that to you, and the majority scholarly position is that it should be given away.

The regulatory footing is published on every page: Cowrywise Financial Technology Limited is a fund and portfolio manager licensed by the SEC (licence number 1940), with its sister company CFTL Digital Services Limited licensed as a digital sub-broker (licence 3005). Savings plans start at N1,000, locked plans run a minimum of 90 days, and Cowrywise says it is 'completely free for locked savings', with processing charges only on mutual fund and emergency fund payments. Transfers out of the Stash wallet to your bank start at N25.

Cowrywise Halal portfolios: what is inside

Where Cowrywise earns its place is the Halal tab on its mutual funds page. Rather than a single fund, it offers managed portfolios that bundle third-party Shariah funds. The composition page for the Halal Fixed Income Portfolio names the underlying funds, which is more disclosure than most Nigerian platforms give. The year-to-date figures below are what the site displayed on 21 September 2026; Cowrywise states that historical and expected returns are hypothetical and may not reflect future performance.

Note what is absent: the Stanbic IBTC Imaan Fund and Shariah Fixed Income Fund are not in the Cowrywise portfolios, so a saver who wants Nigeria's largest Shariah equity fund must go to Stanbic directly, which our Stanbic IBTC Shariah funds review walks through. Also note that the halal portfolios are investments, not savings: unit prices can fall, and the 41% balanced return shown in a strong equity year will not repeat on schedule.

Kuda: every published savings product pays interest

Kuda is a different kind of institution. It describes itself as fully licensed by the CBN with deposits insured by the NDIC, and it operates as a microfinance bank rather than an SEC fund manager. Its savings page, fetched on 21 September 2026, headlines 'Earn interest on your savings' and lists three products: Spend+Save (a percentage of every payment is saved automatically), the Save Frequently Pocket (daily, weekly or monthly), and the Locked Fixed Pocket, which pays 'up to 20% annual interest' on lump sums. The homepage adds an overdraft, loans and US stock investing from N20,000.

We looked for a halal mode, an interest opt-out or a non-interest pocket on Kuda's public pages and found none. That does not mean the app lacks one, but it does mean Kuda has not published it, which is itself a signal about priorities. A Muslim can still hold a Kuda account as a zero-balance spending card and transfer rail, keep money out of the Pockets, and decline the overdraft (which is an interest-bearing loan). The published 'up to 20%' is the number to walk away from, not toward.

Halal alternatives that actually pay

Switching interest off solves the fiqh problem and creates a returns problem. These are the products, all with published structures, that solve both. None of them promises a fixed rate, which is precisely why they are permissible.

• The Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund from Lotus Capital invests in sukuk, ijarah and murabaha contracts, explicitly excludes treasury bills and conventional deposits, aims to distribute 80% of profit quarterly, allows entry and exit every business day, and is certified annually for Shariah compliance.
• The Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund from Stanbic IBTC Asset Management holds a minimum of 70% sukuk, has a N5,000 minimum, no minimum holding period and a 1.5% annual management fee.
• Cowrywise's own Halal Fixed Income Portfolio gives you the Lotus fund plus the United Capital Sukuk Fund and Marble Halal Fixed Income Fund in one plan from N1,000, with daily visibility in the app.
• A Mudarabah savings account at Jaiz Bank, TAJBank or Lotus Bank shares actual bank profit with you rather than paying a rate; our Mudarabah savings explainer sets out the ratios and the catches.
• For locked, goal-based discipline without any return, PiggyVest with the riba toggle off or Cowrywise Halal Savings both work; Cowrywise is the one that also lets you invest halal in the same app.

Zakat and tax on app balances

Money in PiggyVest, Cowrywise or Kuda is yours and is fully zakatable at your hawl date, including locked balances you cannot currently withdraw. Units in a halal portfolio are zakatable at their value on that day. Interest you have accrued but intend to give away is not yours and should not be counted. The zakat hub has the calculator; it works in naira.

On tax, PiggyVest's FAQ says some Investify returns carry 10% withholding tax, and Stanbic's fund pages say the underlying assets of its Shariah funds are subject to withholding tax. Fund managers deduct this before distribution, so the figure you see in the app is net. Keep the statement; PiggyVest confirms it will generate a signed statement of account from the app at no charge.

Our view: who should use which app

If you are a Muslim who wants one app for both saving and halal investing, Cowrywise is the clear pick of the three: a published Halal switch, named underlying Shariah funds, SEC licence numbers on every page and a N1,000 entry point. If you already use PiggyVest for its discipline tools, keep it, turn the riba toggle off today, give away any interest already paid, and move your investable money to a halal fund elsewhere. If you use Kuda, treat it as a payments card and nothing more until Kuda publishes a non-interest pocket.

For money you want to grow rather than park, go past the apps to the fund managers listed in the investing hub, starting with the Lotus and Stanbic fixed income funds for the low-risk layer and the Imaan Fund or the Cowrywise Halal Balanced Portfolio for the growth layer. Facts checked against piggyvest.com, cowrywise.com, kuda.com, lotuscapitallimited.com, stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com, cbn.gov.ng on 21 September 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Is PiggyVest halal if I turn off interest?

Yes, with the 'Interest Enable on Savings (Riba)' toggle off, PiggyVest holds your money without paying or charging anything, which is a permissible qard arrangement. Your balance will not grow, and the dollar wallet and Investify fixed-income listings remain interest-based regardless of the toggle, so keep investable money elsewhere.

Does Cowrywise have a halal option?

Yes. Cowrywise publishes Halal Savings plans that earn no interest and a Halal switch under profile settings, Behaviour tab, that converts an existing account. It also offers three Halal portfolios built from third-party Shariah funds, including the Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund and the United Capital Sukuk Fund.

Is Kuda Bank halal?

Kuda's published savings products all pay interest, up to 20% a year on the Locked Fixed Pocket, and we found no interest opt-out on its site. Using Kuda purely as a card and transfer account, with no money in Pockets and no overdraft, avoids riba; using its savings features does not.

Is SafeLock on PiggyVest halal?

No, not with interest on. SafeLock pays a tiered annual interest rate, usually upfront, on money you lock for 10 days or more. With the riba toggle off it becomes a locked no-return deposit, which is permissible but earns nothing.

What should I do with interest already earned on these apps?

The widely held scholarly view is that interest you have received should not be kept or used for your own benefit; it should be given to the poor or to public benefit without expecting reward. Cowrywise explicitly offers to let you forfeit accrued interest when you switch to Halal, which is the cleaner route.

Which halal app actually pays a return?

Cowrywise's Halal portfolios are the only in-app halal return among the three. Outside the apps, the Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund and the Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund are sukuk-based funds with published structures, and Mudarabah accounts at non-interest banks share actual profit with depositors.