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Wajve aims to become the one-stop financial app for Gen Z

Berlin-based start-up, Wajve, is striving to build a one-stop app for Gen Zers to manage their finances and learn the nuances of banking through guides and live advice.

Modern day banking is undeniably all about convenience, certainly when talking to young people.

Over the last decade, trips to physical banking branches have given way to companion apps and instant transactions. Similarly, keeping track of what we spend is split between nifty apps like Monzo and Splitwise.

This wholesale shift into mobile has benefited no demographic more than the self-proclaimed natives of the digital-first economy, Gen Z, and banking experiences are set to become even more seamless in 2021 and beyond.

Having just secured €5 million in seed funding from EQT Ventures and 468 Capital, Wajve aims to be at the forefront of that next step, and the Berlin-based start-up is catering directly to Gen Z earners.

First created back in 2018, German entrepreneurial duo Bastian Krautwald and David Meyer envisioned a single platform where young people could manage their money, be educated on the nuances of banking, and receive day-to-day advice related to changing markets.

Credit: Wajve

Recognising that Gen Z comprises 32% of the global population, the pair placed real emphasis on ensuring the app’s experience is intuitive and ‘frictionless.’ The official website today proclaims Wajve as ‘pure knowledge – no babble.’

While we’ve yet to see a demo of Wajve in action, screenshots on the website certainly look promising. Much like Monzo, users are able to see their spending habits broken down into easy-to-grasp infographics and percentages.

Whether we’re talking paid subscriptions, student living, rent, or (if you’re lucky) a holiday budget, you can map your own interactive tiles and budgets, attaching different urgency levels to each of them.

The app will keep track of your overall situation through a digital score called ‘surf score’ and will provide helpful tips to keep you ticking over in the black each month.

For those more concerned with wrapping their heads around the confusing world of finance long-term, which I’m still getting to grips with myself at 26, Wajve has simplified its main facets into slides within the app.

It bodes well for Wajve that both Krautwald and Meyer have previous experience in student centric fintech and have clearly done their market research here.

Their prior app, deineStudienfinanzierung, enables teens to find the best loans/ scholarships to finance their studies, and hugely simplifies the process of applying to universities.

The timing of this announcement will have also been considered. Covid-19 has caused massive disruptions to job markets everywhere, making young people twice as likely as their seniors to lose employment, while student loan prices continue to see a steady rise.

Speaking about the need for products like Wajve, Krautwald stated: ‘It’s our ambition to become a trusted financial advisor to Gen Z across Europe, supporting the next generation to achieve financial stability and independence.’

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