Thrifto Goes Public: Nigeria’s trusted digital platform for group savings launches nationwide - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

Thrifto, a Nigerian financial technology platform reinventing traditional group savings, has officially launched to the public, offering safeguarded group savings with guaranteed payouts for salary earners and traders.

After a successful soft launch to family and friends, Thrifto is now opening access to the wider public, providing a secure, transparent, and bank-backed alternative to informal savings schemes such as ajo and esusu, built specifically to eliminate the trust failures that have plagued informal group savings for decades by combining structured savings, verified membership, and technology-driven safeguards to ensure contributors save together with confidence.

At this initial stage, Thrifto is strategically onboarding salary earners working with organizations in key sectors including financial institutions, oil and gas, telecommunications, technology, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and viable state governments, all subject to verification; traders and other individuals who do not work with the aforementioned organizations can still onboard by obtaining special Onboard Codes from Thrifto-designated Connectors, a phased approach designed to strengthen trust, accountability, and platform stability as the platform scales.

Once a user completes KYC and is verified, Thrifto automatically creates a personal virtual bank account (wallet) domiciled with a partner bank, allowing users to create savings groups of 2 to 12 members, set contribution amounts, savings cycles (daily, weekly, or monthly), and payout order, join any listed group, fund their wallet and make contributions seamlessly, and receive lump-sum payouts directly into their wallet for withdrawal to any Nigerian bank.

A core innovation is Thrifto's Trust Rating System, which assigns credibility scores to users based on KYC completion, verification status, contribution consistency, history, and participation behavior, enabling users to make informed decisions about who they save with while promoting discipline and accountability within the ecosystem.

Thrifto is purpose-built for real Nigerian needs, serving salary earners planning for major expenses and market traders saving daily or weekly from fluctuating cash flows, as noted by Sulaimon Durojaiye, Founder and CEO of Thrifto, who stated, “All over Nigeria, people lose money and relationships because informal group savings rely on blind trust,” emphasizing that Thrifto keeps the discipline of group savings but replaces blind trust with verification, transparency, and secure banking infrastructure.

Thrifto officially opens to the public from Monday, December 1, 2025, at 12:00am, allowing users to sign up, complete verification, create or join groups, and begin saving immediately, supported by a dedicated WhatsApp support community launched to assist early adopters with any onboarding challenges.

Thrifto is a Nigerian fintech platform offering safeguarded group savings with guaranteed payouts for salary earners and traders, enabling collective saving that is secure, transparent, and reliable by combining the long-standing group savings culture with modern technology and regulated banking infrastructure.

Gbemi Omotoso/Editor