What is Mtu na Pesa?
Mtu na Pesa is a personal wealth operating system built for East Africa. Track every shilling, build the discipline to keep more, and grow real wealth — assets, investments, and your Chama — from one app.
Questions
Clear answers, plainly written.
Net worth, investments, loans, AI insights, the five plans, mobile money, security — the questions people ask before trusting an operating system with their money.
About the system
What Mtu na Pesa is and how it’s different.
Is Mtu na Pesa just another expense tracker?
No. Most apps stop at “where did your money go.” We start there and keep going: net worth that includes assets and investments, allocation-based budgeting, savings goals that convert into trackable assets, full debt classification, internal Chama / VICOBA management with loans and rotations, and an AI Coach that uses your actual data. Expense tracking is one feature, not the product.
What is the Financial Discipline Score?
A single number from 0 to 100 that captures how disciplined your money behaviour was this month — across four components: how consistently you log transactions, how reliably you save, how well you stick to your budgets, and how steady your money habits are. You see it monthly, and you can see how it has trended over time.
What is the best personal finance app in Tanzania?
Mtu na Pesa is built specifically for East Africa — it is mobile-money native (M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money, Halo Pesa), tracks real African assets like land, livestock and SACCO shares, and includes full Chama / VICOBA group management that other apps skip. It works for Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, with a genuinely free plan and an affordable Premium upgrade.
What does “Mtu na Pesa” mean?
“Mtu na Pesa” is Swahili for “Person and Money.” The name reflects the mission: putting an ordinary person fully in control of their money — tracking it, keeping more of it, and growing real wealth.
Is there a finance app that works with M-Pesa and Tigo Pesa?
Yes. Mtu na Pesa is built around mobile money. You can keep M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money, Halo Pesa, bank and cash accounts together in one view, record money moving between them, and see your full balance across all of them at once.
Net worth, investments & assets
The wealth side — what you own, what it’s worth, how it grows.
How does net worth tracking work?
Cash in your accounts + savings + assets (land, property, vehicles, livestock, equipment) + investments − liabilities (loans, credit, mobile-money debt). We compute it nightly and on-demand, so the number you see is your real position right now. You can also see your net worth over time — month by month, year by year.
What investments can I track?
Unit trusts (UTT), stocks (DSE), SACCO shares, fixed deposits, bonds, and crypto. Each one tracks cost basis, current value, unrealized gain/loss, and a valuation history. You can contribute, withdraw, revalue, or close holdings — all from the app.
Can I track assets like land, houses and cars?
Yes. Asset types include land, property, vehicles, livestock, inventory, equipment, and other. Each asset tracks acquisition value, current value, and unrealized gains. When you sell, the proceeds land in whichever account you choose, and the gain becomes realized on your reports.
What is the Goal → Asset feature?
When you finish saving for something real — a piece of land, a car, a generator — one tap turns the completed savings goal into a tracked asset on your net worth. No double-counting, no manual math, no re-typing.
How do I calculate my net worth?
Add up everything you own — money in all wallets, savings, investments, land, property, vehicles, livestock and equipment — then subtract everything you owe, such as loans and credit. The result is your net worth. Mtu na Pesa calculates this for you automatically as you track your accounts, assets and debts.
Loans & debt
Money you owe and money owed to you.
How does loan management work?
Track money you borrowed (formal loans, credit, mobile loans, salary advances, informal lending) and money you lent. Each loan has a category, interest rate, repayment frequency, and due date. Record partial or full repayments. We remind you before payments are due. The unified liability view shows you what your debt actually costs.
AI Coach
Your private financial intelligence layer.
What does the AI Coach actually do?
Several things, all grounded in your actual data: anomaly detection (flags spending out of line with your normal pattern), allocation suggestions (proposes how to split your income across Giving / Needs / Wants / Savings based on your last 90 days), income forecasting (predicts next month’s likely income), weekly briefings (every Monday, a summary of last week and what to focus on), and Coach chat (ask money questions in your own words and get answers from your real finances).
Pricing & payment
Free, Premium, Family — and how paying actually works.
Is it really free?
Yes. The Free plan is free forever — no trial, no expiry. It includes income & expense tracking, smart categories, savings goals, basic AI insights, and CSV / Excel export. We charge for Premium features (AI Coach, full wealth tracking, advanced reports, Chama management). Most people start free and upgrade when they want more.
How do I pay? Do I need a credit card?
You can pay with M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money, Halo Pesa, or a card — through Snippe checkout. Most users pay with mobile money. No credit card required.
Is there a free trial?
No — and that's deliberate. There's no trial countdown to race against. The Free plan is genuinely free, forever: income & expense tracking, up to 3 accounts and goals, Savings Groups, Learn, habits, your net worth today, and CSV / Excel export. When you want the wealth-building tools — AI Coach, budgets, assets, investments, net worth over time, deep reports — you upgrade to Premium directly. No card needed to start on Free.
What happens if I cancel?
You keep Premium until the end of the billing period you already paid for. After that, you drop back to Free — your data stays intact, you just lose Premium features. Re-subscribe any time.
Privacy & security
Your data, your audit trail, your peace of mind.
Will you read my SMS or bank messages?
No. Deliberately not. Some apps scrape your bank and mobile-money messages “to make it easier” — we don’t. Trust matters more than convenience. Mtu na Pesa never asks for your bank or mobile-money credentials.
What happens to my data if I delete my account?
It’s permanently deleted. We don’t keep backups of deleted accounts.
Day-to-day
Groups, business use, exports, countries.
Do you support Chama / VICOBA / SACCO groups?
Yes — it’s a first-class feature, not an afterthought. Create groups, add members with roles (Owner, Admin, Treasurer, Member), record contributions and payouts, set rotation schedules, issue internal loans with interest, and track repayments. Members see only their own loans; admins see the whole picture.
Can I export my data?
Yes. CSV and Excel export are free on all plans. PDF export is a Premium feature. Any date range, any time.
Is my data safe?
Your auth tokens stay encrypted on your device — Keychain on iOS, Keystore on Android. Sensitive screens are screenshot-protected, so balances and net worth won’t appear in app switchers or screen recordings. Every important change is recorded in your activity log. We never sell your financial data.
Which countries do you support?
Built for East Africa first — Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda. Multi-currency (TZS, KES, UGX, RWF, USD) means you can use it from anywhere.
Can I use Mtu na Pesa for my business?
Today you can track both personal and business money in the same app using separate accounts. A dedicated Business tier with Personal + Business modes, multi-entity organisation and team support is coming soon — tap “Notify me” on the pricing page to hear when it launches.
How do I budget when I get paid irregularly?
Budget by percentage, not by fixed amounts. The moment income arrives, split it into giving, needs, wants and savings using set ratios, and move savings out first. You save more in good months and less in lean ones, but always something — which is what builds the habit on an irregular income.
How do I get out of debt?
List every debt with its balance and interest rate, then pay it down deliberately — either highest-interest first (cheapest overall) or smallest balance first (most motivating). Crucially, stop borrowing to repay borrowing. Mtu na Pesa gives you one unified view of every loan, its interest and due dates, so you always know what your debt costs.
What app can I use to manage a Chama or VICOBA?
Mtu na Pesa includes a first-class savings-group module. You can create a Chama, VICOBA, ROSCA or SACCO sub-group, add members, record contributions and payouts, set the rotation order, issue internal loans with interest, and keep an exportable, provable record — with privacy by role so members see only their own loans.
Ready when you are
Start running your money as a system.
Download Mtu na Pesa and begin with the Free plan. Upgrade whenever you’re ready for the full wealth dashboard.