We have all been told, time and again, that do not put your eggs in one basket but less and less has been said about what do you do when the number of baskets available is too narrow. Specifically for investors who would like to invest in stocks, how do you diversify your portfolio on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) where there is only a handful of listed entities, and most of the stock is held by a few institutional investors who are not keen on selling in the short term? A limited supply of stocks aside, the other available financial investment products, such as treasury bonds, T-bills, and fixed deposits all require huge cash outlays.
But with the launch of Chipper Stocks in November 2021, Chipper Cash users in Uganda, can now conveniently buy and sell shares in any of the companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange from their smartphones/devices. These companies include most of the Fortune 500 technology, automobile, financial, retail brands that we have become accustomed to in our daily lives such as Facebook, Tesla, Apple, Google, etc.
Chipper Cash the African fintech start-up, that has now gone global, is the first company to offer fractional stock investing in Uganda. The service provides a credible alternative investment option to many individual investors who have often been locked out of financial markets for either lack of options and or higher cost of entry, hence resorting to other traditional investment vehicles such as land and real estate.
Who is Chipper?
Chipper Technologies Uganda is one of the leading cross border money transfer service providers with both inbound and outbound transactions. Sending and receiving money on Chipper is free of charge. Chipper offers interoperability for local P2P transfers at no cost. Once a user credits their Chipper wallet, they can send money to any network – MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money etc at no cost. The receiver must install Chipper Cash to cash out though.
Chipper is the leading local P2P and cross border payments platform in Africa with over 5 million users and a service offering that extends to airtime, data, trading, bill payment, virtual cards and APIs. Top countries on Chipper for remittances include Nigeria, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Chipper Technologies is licensed and regulated by the Bank of Uganda following the issuance of a Payment Systems Operators (Large Funds Transfer) license and Payment Service Provider (Other Payment Services) license. The Licensing by the Bank of Uganda means that Chipper is now able to add more services to their range including virtual cards, bill payments, network APIs, enterprise business solutions and so much more.
Chipper Technologies, mid this year, received a go-ahead from Uganda’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to together with DriveWealth LLC, a US-based pioneer in fractional investing and embedded finance, launch Chipper Stocks.
Chipper Stocks, which is a form of fractional shares, largely billed as the new kid on the investing block, are crucial to making investing in stocks easier and more accessible, especially for developing economies and retail investments.
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But now, with Chipper Stocks, for the first time, Ugandans of all economic backgrounds are able to invest as little as USD1 or UGX3,500 Uganda Shillings in the world’s largest public companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. With Chipper Cash, users can invest on a dollar equivalent basis (i.e., fractional shares) in over 6,000 U.S. securities and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), with little or no minimum requirements.
To enrol for the service and start trading, users have to download the Chipper Cash on Google Play or App Store and have their account verified using either the National ID or passport.
You don’t have to be a pro to start investing
Chipper Stocks helps users to research the performance of various stocks before they choose which company to invest in. Investment is as easy as a tap of a tap of a button. Chipper also enables you to monitor the performance of your investment portfolio using easy to understand trended graphs. It also allows you to monitor the performance of other stocks on the NYSE, so you can be able to diversify your investment portfolio or make key buy or sell decisions.
You are probably wondering how to become a better investor and make the best out of your investments. Chipper has started an online education campaign, that guides users on overall investment best practices and principles as well as how stock exchanges work. To learn more and click this YouTube link and subscribe to learn as well as get notified whenever there are new educational materials:
There’s a plan to add companies on the Uganda Securities Exchange when all integrations are concluded.
