Across the MENA region, the younger generation constitutes the majority and fastest growing segment of the population. Set apart by their passion for digital innovation, their comfort with new tools and new ways of working, they are also gradually reshaping the financial sector.
Despite this, millennials and Gen Z in the Gulf are struggling to manage their own personal finances, an issue greatly prompted by the region’s lack of financial literacy and education. They also tend to be higher spenders than their global peers, particularly in high-value segments such as travel.
Riddled by the Covid-19 pandemic, the generation is now entering its peak earning years during an economic upheaval and has no understanding of how to manage its finances.
Having experienced the struggles of managing money first-hand, Alexandre Soued and Helal Lootah launched Lune, a digital platform that empowers the younger generation to take care of their finances.
Registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), UAE-based Lune is an app that aims to simplify money management and increase financial literacy among youth in the MENA region.
Personal experience
Inspired by their own financial difficulties as young adults fresh out of university, Soued and Lootah say that the lack of financial education they received in their earlier years left them blindsided to the harsh realities of money management.
“The issue that really prompted us to start Lune was a personal one. Both Alexandre and I were young professionals who wanted to get our finances together after working for several months,” shares Lootah. “As we started to consider bigger spends and life decisions, we wanted to have an accurate overview of where our money was going and how to better save and optimise our spending.”
In an attempt to stay on top of budget, they resorted to utilising various mobile applications while also keeping tabs on their spending via excel sheets and even mental notes. However, their efforts were unsuccessful.
They say that when looking for platforms to help them save, they realised that mobile banking apps do not provide the sufficient solutions or features they needed to help them reach their goals.
Soon, the founders noticed that there was nothing on the market to help them continue managing their finances. Hence the idea for Lune.
What then became clear to them was that their inability to manage their finances was a widespread issue amongst the younger generation – and consistent across all income levels. “We realised that it wasn’t just us, it was also all our friends, colleagues, and people in the same age bracket as us,” adds Lootah.
As a former case manager in the Dubai Courts, Lootah also witnessed the damaging repercussions that a lack of financial literacy can have on the younger generation’s lives.
“I witnessed many cases of young people going through legal issues due to multiple loans and overdue credit card payments. Unfortunately, it was a recurring pattern.
“In essence, what I realised was that most of these individuals just didn’t have the right financial tools to help them manage their situation properly from the beginning,” he adds.
Lune aims to increase financial literacy among the youth
Filling the gap
Looking back to the onset of the pandemic, Soued and Lootah says that it has been an eye-opening period for many young professionals who have now shifted their priorities from simply beginning to worry about their finances to actively looking for long-term solutions.
With pandemic-induced pay cuts and unexpected job losses, many millennials continue to suffer unanticipated financial adversities and complications. With many dissatisfied with their financial situation, the childhood friends saw a gap and opportunity to fill with the launch of Lune.
“One thing we noticed, especially because of Covid-19, is the huge shift into financial awareness on a personal and societal level,” Lootah says.
Soued and Lootah now hope that the growing interest in personal finances and financial literacy during this period will continue to cultivate and further Lune’s momentum.
The mobile app, which was launched in the beginning of June, sets out to simplify money management and increase financial literacy among the MENA region’s youth. The interactive platform allows users to link several bank accounts and credit cards through one platform to track spending, set budgets, as well as saving goals.
Describing the philosophy behind Lune, Soued says: “The ethos of Lune is not ‘don’t spend your money’, but rather make sure you optimise your spending.”
“Initially, we were focussed on social saving, but soon realised that we also need to help people manage their money efficiently. Therefore, we shifted to another focus for Lune, which involves facilitating the financial value chain, in which you begin by managing your money, then saving your money, then looking at ways to invest it,” he adds.
The holistic three-step value chain that helps users manage, save and invest their money, sets Lune apart from its counterparts in the market. Three months after its launch, Lune continues to gain traction regionally, having been downloaded more than 700 times.
Follow us on
