A note from Leon Faust on starting MyPursePay: Economies and governments can be categorically a catastrophe, but the individual citizen’s wealth economy does not have to be.
Now, what is the question? It is a chicken on every homely table. The question is not merely an idea — it is an argument on what is truly attainable in a world economy presented with a paradox in its bother to counter lack with radical supply… one it possesses certainly.
But we are realists, and we know as things are: a chicken for every pot is a wrong ask. It is a naïve ask.
So, let us make an agenda (because we bother). Even in our educated agenda, the divide of efforts and reason, and of reason for execution, is substantial:
-
The amateurish.
-
Strong capitals of intelligence, resource, and networks, armed agendas with shareholder objectives.
Firstly, enjoin me to a definition: amateur.
The amateur engages in an activity for pleasure rather than as a profession or for financial gain. That is in no way a proclamation of a virtuous high ground — in fact, it is only circumstances that have nudged me to my position — I would not necessarily have chosen it.
How does the citizen of a failing economy survive? what do they do when they have no control over the bigger picture? I am not an economist, nor a politically literate individual, but I am an engineer who have Identified a rather non problematic fix for the individual experience, and leaving the macroeconomic schematics to those who bother. The citizens of Nigeria are in trouble. The naira (the Nigerian currency) kept losing its value each day to inflation, so much it was disorienting. Just so you understand — if you earned one naira every single day, for four years straight, you still would not make a dollar.
It would be odd for the average citizen in an economy as that to stand non-disoriented — much beyond acquainted with it. The federal minimum wage remains less than 50 dollars a month — that is largely unsubstantial. Poverty increases; the wealth divide grows larger.
There was a lot to pack in, most of it another tragedy — but one thing is understood by anyone who sleeps with the intent to wake:
-
You either make more money,
-
Or make the most of any you control.
The former certainly is most appealing, but not very reachable for most, for obvious reasons. The latter? We can work with that. The question for me was, how do I make the most out of the money I have, while I try navigating the crisis of expenditure, and the hard work of earning more. To do this, I had to get back to my priority list, but this time, with a gun to my head.
Did I really have to buy the fifth snack for the day? No.
Did I really have to cook my noodles with four eggs? No.
Did I really have to lend my roommate cash whenever he asked for it? No.
Did I really have to eat my oatmeal with that much milk? No.
As It turns out, when you are under pressure, there is a place where you could see quite clearly. Now, what do I do? It was true I did not need any more motivation to cut back on the spending, but heavens know it is all easier said than done. If I had a way of simply not having access to the money I would very much not like to waste. I am a software engineer, so getting the idea for an app was most natural, as I knew what could be done. Sadly, I could not find any existing apps doing this, so I was not getting a save. But I could do it for others. And I did ask — had a conversation with a couple of friends of mine, and they concurred on a relevance.
Get acquainted with MyPursePay, a fintech app that allows users to schedule their money into days, weeks, or months — enabling them to lock it, and only allowing them to spend the amount they set on the event of the schedule they made.
To put that into perspective, if you had 30 dollars to spend for 30 days (a month) on transportation, and it cost a dollar a day for a bus ride, to ensure you never end up running out of money for that, due to unexpected expenses or casual spontaneous purchases, you can schedule a dollar a day on the MyPurse app. Every morning, a dollar is released to you for your bus ride, while the rest of the money remains inaccessible to you until the next day.
The Nigerian citizens are widely digitally engaged, so there will be no usability or entry barriers. As for the idea, it will have to prove itself. The bureaucracies, political jargon, and unempathetic details on why the economy has fallen in ruins will elude the layman. They cannot control what they do not know, and have no power over. Words do not mean much in Nigeria, not on any level that concerns the ideals of democracy. What the citizen can do is adapt, and survive.
Now, for your considerations, I am the subject of definition : the amateur. I have come to see my enterprise find an entanglement with empathy for the well-being of the common citizen. I am Nigerian anyways, and what is any man without the will to serve his homeland? But this enterprise is young — it is inexperienced and, naturally, challenged. But it will give its best regardless. Because that is what survivors do.
Cheers,
Leon
