PiggyVest Introduces Wellness Check to Tackle Dormant Accounts and Digital Inheritance

As fintech grows deeper roots across Africa, a crucial but often overlooked question is gaining prominence: What happens to a user’s digital wealth when they pass away? Nigerian-based digital savings platform PiggyVest is taking a bold step to answer that question—proactively.

(A screenshot of an email sent to a user) 

The company has unveiled Wellness Check, a new feature designed to detect extended user inactivity and initiate a verification process that ultimately includes contacting a registered Next of Kin (NOK). If an account remains dormant for 18 months, PiggyVest will email the user. If there’s still no response after four weeks, the platform will reach out to the NOK listed on the account.

The move, according to the company, is a renewed commitment to user protection and financial continuity, especially during life’s unexpected turns.

“If there’s no response or activity after four weeks, we’ll reach out to your Next of Kin,” PiggyVest told customers in a statement.

This development isn’t just a feature upgrade—it’s a signal that African fintech is maturing into trust-based finance, where accountability continues beyond the user’s lifetime.

Why This Matters: The Unspoken Gap in African Fintech

Until now, many fintech platforms have concentrated on innovation in payments, savings, lending, and financial education. However, one area has remained grey: digital inheritance.

PiggyVest’s initiative shines light on a system that’s long needed clarity. It brings legal structure into a space dominated by convenience. If a user dies, their digital funds do not automatically get passed to family. Instead, an executor or legal administrator—possibly the named NOK—must present verified documents to access the funds.

This process ensures both transparency and protection, but many users are unaware of their responsibilities. Few understand the importance of keeping NOK information up to date or that simply listing a name does not grant that person automatic access to funds.

By introducing the Wellness Check, PiggyVest is not only protecting dormant accounts—it is sparking a much-needed conversation around user responsibility and digital wealth planning.

Digital Wealth, Legal Realities, and Generational Impact

In Sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 60% of the population is under 25 and mobile fintech adoption is soaring, this type of initiative could have massive implications.

For millions of young Africans building digital assets—savings, investments, crypto wallets, even reward points—the idea of death feels far removed. But the reality is that digital assets are inheritable, and fintechs must take the lead in educating users about how to protect them.

PiggyVest’s approach is proactive. It reflects a shift from transactional fintech to legacy-minded finance—one where financial institutions don’t just serve users in life, but create mechanisms for their families in death.

The broader implication? Platforms like PiggyVest could become digital custodians of legacy—institutions that bridge modern finance with cultural responsibility.

What Comes Next? Awareness and Policy

PiggyVest’s Wellness Check will likely set a precedent for other fintechs in Africa. But innovation must be followed by education.

More needs to be done to help users understand the weight of NOK declarations, the documents required by executors, and the limits of informal designations. Many people assume that simply naming a relative grants that person full rights, but in reality, legal processes must still be followed.

This is where regulatory clarity, digital estate education, and platform-wide awareness campaigns come in.

As users grow more sophisticated and digital finance becomes the norm, the demand for transparency, legal safeguards, and ethical fund transfer will only rise.

With its new feature, PiggyVest has entered a space many fintechs shy away from—planning for when users are no longer here. In doing so, the company isn’t just building trust, it’s setting a new benchmark for the future of African fintech.

Digital finance in Africa is no longer about access alone. It’s about assurance. It’s about building a system that works—today, tomorrow, and even when users can no longer log in.