Finance management: Sav is building an ecosystem that empowers communities across the MEA region to achieve financial freedom

Present expenses, however, bring the planning to a halt: you just got back from visiting friends and family in another country; your children need uniforms and books for the new school year; both you and your spouse’s cars need new tires; and you must renew your tenancy contract soon.

Considering all this, will it even be possible to put together the funds necessary for your family to go on another vacation in time for the winter break? Having a goal-based, money management app like Sav by your side can be the key to making it happen.

The brainchild of Purvi Munot and Mithil Ajmera, the inspiration for Sav came from a deep understanding of the challenges that people face in managing their finances. Mithil Ajmera, co-founder and COO at Sav, noted that while there are plenty of options for spending and investing money, there were very few tools that genuinely helped people save in a smart, sustainable, and engaging way.

“Sav was born out of a desire to fill this gap, especially in regions like the Middle East and Africa (MEA), where financial education and resources for financial management are still evolving.”

During the app’s development, Ajmera said that they looked at everything from existing offerings by banks and financial institutions to the spending habits of consumers, their reasons for overspending, and barriers to budgeting. “With these insights, we developed Sav as a platform that makes money fun and rewarding.”

The app offers several features that are designed to help users manage their finances without the process feeling like a chore. The ‘Salary Sorter’, for instance, automatically allocates a portion of the user’s paycheck towards various predetermined goals such as flight tickets or a down payment for a new car. Users can also activate the ‘Round Up Spare Change’ feature which will help them to set aside some spare change every time they make a purchase.

Another recent addition to the Sav app is the ‘MyMoney’ feature that consolidates a user’s spending data from all their connected bank accounts and presents it in one easy to navigate dashboard. This empowers users to keep track of their spending and make informed decisions that fit their lifestyle. The feature is supported by the multimodal capabilities of Google’s Gemini AI, allowing it to generate and process text and images seamlessly.

Sav app caters to demographics

New features on the Sav app are carefully designed to meet the needs of various demographics in the region. In the UAE, for example, a recent study found that savings culture is on the rise, especially among Generation Z. Nearly 90 percent of respondents in the study revealed that they had set financial goals for this year, while 63 percent indicated that they were willing to work with a professional financial advisor to achieve their financial goals.

The ‘Save Now, Buy Later’ (SNBL) feature on the app perfectly responds to these trends by empowering individuals to set money aside for big ticket items like a dream vacation by helping them to set specific targets and timelines, and then automating their contributions. Sav has also partnered with popular brands that chip in towards a user’s financial goals, offering them a discount simply for being diligent with their finances. This makes reaching their financial goals not only faster, but also more satisfying.

Features such as these make Sav “the ultimate tool for money management”, says Ajmera. “Our mission is to help everyone live beyond the next paycheck, implementing AI effectively to help our users feel less stressed about their money. And the Sav App was designed to be comprehensive and intuitive, making tasks like spending and budgeting feel seamless.”