Jar is an application that allows users to save money on a regular basis. When a Jar user spends, they save as well. The app rounds up their purchases to the closest ten and invests the difference in gold.
When it comes to savings, Indians have always preferred the yellow metal, making the nation one of the world’s largest buyers of gold. In an age when investments can be made with the press of a button, Nishchay AG and Misbah Ashraf are capitalising on India’s penchant for gold with Jar, an app that allows consumers to invest in digital gold.
The Bengaluru-based application which was created in 2021, allows users to earn daily savings by automatically depositing leftover change from internet purchases in digital gold. Jar was inspired by both creators’ personal adventures, who are from Tier II towns.
Nishchay describes how the notion of saving was entrenched in their minds. However, due to the increase of materialism, the younger generation is moving away from this way of thinking. To make matters worse, savings and investment opportunities are few, resulting in a double-edged sword.
Nishchay explains, “We wanted to encourage the habit of saving money, especially in young Indians, without necessarily making it appear like an onerous chore. And this is where our first feature, the rounding-off feature, was born.”
When a Jar user spends, they save as well. The programme rounds up their purchases to the closest ten and invests the difference in gold. Users may also choose a specific amount that Jar will invest in gold on a daily basis.
Jar began with gold as an asset class since Indians typically prefer to save in gold and it has the fewest access hurdles. The first investment can be as modest as Re1 and is, above all, liquid.
Digital gold investments are guaranteed by actual gold in the same quantity, and investors can withdraw or liquidate their gold at any moment.
“There was no eureka moment here,” adds Nishchay. He says, they spent weeks talking to the target population and discovered two things. The first is that today’s financial systems are constructed by and for the financially literate. Second, altering behaviours is difficult.
He says, “You can’t just make a nice product and expect people to start saving right now.” As a result, the duo decided to create a one-stop financial solutions portal for Middle India.
“We wanted to reduce the friction and make saving/investing as seamless as possible. We began solving for clarity, speed, and financial literacy with straightforward onboarding, a clear UI, and a familiar asset.”
According to Nischay, Jar has now delved further into the issues confronting Middle India and is attempting to better serve people via thorough user research. Middle India, for example, does not have access to finance. This is the fundamental reason most of customers break their savings, “similar to selling gold on our platform”.
Access to credit functions as a spur for savings for this sector, allowing them to stay invested for a long time and gain advantages while making ends meet through a credit line. This realisation resulted in a natural progression: the establishment of Jar ReadyCash microloans.
Jar wants to expand beyond gold and provide securities such as exchange traded funds (ETFs) and sovereign gold bonds (SGBs) through its platform, according to media reports last year, through a newly established subsidiary Safejar Advisors Private Limited.
Nishchay believes that month on month the fintech business is expanding at a good clip and on average, a customer ends up “saving 15-20% more each month during the first six months of their voyage with Jar.
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