If you haven’t noticed from the deluge of tweets popping up on your Twitter timeline, Big Brother Naija is back for its seventh season. Kicking off barely a month ago, the Level Up season has arrived with its fair share of drama, gossip, stan wars, and all round wholesome entertainment.

As a mainstay in Nigerian popular culture, Big Brother is known to dominate conversations throughout its months-long airing on Showmax and DSTV. While a lot of these conversations typically revolve around topics such as the housemates, the different ships in the house, this year, there’s also a lot of talk about ‘Pocket by Piggyvest,’ the official sponsor’s of this season’s show.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Pocket App (@getpocketapp)

Formerly known as Abeg app, Pocket by Piggyvest app, is a social commerce and payments app targeted at young savers and tech-savvy business owners. The app was originally founded by Muheez Akanni and Dare Adekoya in 2019 as a social payment app which provides a peer-to-peer social payments platform where users can easily transfer money, partake in giveaways and request money from their contact list of friends.

Barely a year after its launch into the market through BB Naija Season 6, Abeg has now rebranded its name and user functionality. Now flaunted as Pocket app, the social and business payment platform introduces new and familiar features to appeal to a wider consumer pool. It was granted an approval in principle (AIP) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate as a Mobile Money Operator (MMO), becoming Nigeria’s first social commerce platform to acquire this. In a bid to show off its advancement and growth, Abeg has reintroduced itself as Pocket by Piggyvest. So what’s changed exactly?

How exactly does it work?

The new Pocket app allows sending and receiving money to be a lot easier. Almost all possible transactions can be completed within the app. Similar to the Abeg app, payments can be made between two Pocket app accounts as well as any other with commercial bank account. Your Pocket app maybe funded from any commercial or local bank and vice versa as long as you have your 4-digit pin.

The platform also offers an avenue for trading. As an e-commerce app, it offers unique services to buyers and sellers. While business owners can create a virtual shop to display their products for free on the app, these items are available for purchase by customers through the app and these items are placed in the user’s shopping cart until the user is ready to place the order. Just like Mobile commerce apps, the delivery fees vary according to location.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Pocket App (@getpocketapp)

New features

The most standout feature on the app is that it offers an escrow service — a contract that outline the terms and conditions between parties involved and the responsibility of each. This means that when the buyer pays the seller, the money is held up in the app until the product reaches the buyer and the buyer indicates that they are satisfied with the product. Only then will the money is released to the seller. The idea behind the name Pocket is as a result of the additional functionalities for users to buy and sell items via virtual pocket shops. What this means for the e-commerce platform as well as other e-commerce platforms is that e-commerce companies can now play on the existing gap in access to financial possibilities, wealth, and opportunities. 

Pocket by Piggyvest retains its position as  the headline sponsor of the BBNaija Season 7 and has introduced more brands to the new and younger generation. Small scale brands such as Quacktails, The Install Brand and more which have been given a platform to display and move their businesses via the PocketApp have also appeared on the BBNaija screens to support the contestants in the best possible way. 

Featured Image Credits/NATIVE