Cape Town - Money management program 22seven announced on Tuesday that it would no longer charge for subscription.
"I'm writing to tell you that, as from 1 September, 22seven will be free. We’ll no longer charge a subscription fee for the current service," wrote CEO Christo Davel.
The locally built program offers users an easy way of handling money by accessing bank accounts to offer a dashboard view of where you spend cash.
When 22seven launched in 2012, the initial subscription fee was R70 per month and Davel justified this amount.
"If I become aware of how I behave; if I become aware of how I spend my money - then I will start changing my habits," he told Fin24 at the time.
Credit demand
Since then, there have been a number of financial management applications touting their ability to help you keep your spending under control.
Apps like DailyCash will track your spending on a smartphone, but you have to input all your expenses and Money Management attracted positive reviews on Google's Play Store for ease of use.
Fncalculator doesn't track expenses, but rather offers a number of easy financial calculators to manage money.
"So in future, there'll be new features and capabilities. Through them, you'll be able to act on the insight that 22seven gives you and save money in tangible ways. It won't be the same-old same-old stuff you've seen elsewhere: We want to help our customers in game-changing ways. If we succeed - and only if we succeed - then this is how we will make our money," said Davel.
Credit demand in SA is on an upward trend despite an increase in the repo rate to 5.75%.
According to the Reserve Bank, credit growth was at 8.69%, indicating that tough economic times are forcing many South Africans to go into debt, despite a lower repo rate from the high of around 12% in 2008.
Davel hinted that there were new plans to expand 22seven.
"I've always said that 22seven is only 25% complete, because I knew that what we currently have is just one part of our very big vision. Going free is a step closer to it. The new capabilities that we'll start introducing are bigger strides in the same direction."
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