Versa: A Digital Cash Management Platform

versa logo

Versa is a platform to save extra money with a decent interest rate akin to fixed deposit (FD) without the lock-in period. It is licensed by Securities Commission as a recognized market operator.



How Versa Works?

It channels the invested money to Affin Hwang Enhanced Deposit Fund, a money market fund. The interest is earned daily and is paid every two weeks in the form of extra units. According to the website, the return as of 31/12/20 is 2.46% per annum.



Affin Hwang Enhanced Deposit Fund

The manager of this money market fund is Affin Hwang Asset Management (AHAM). This fund invests mainly in very low-risk assets such as fixed deposits to Malaysian banks. You can refer here for the fund’s details.



Why use Versa?

We can also invest directly in the fund above by ourselves. However, the minimum amount for investing directly is RM 10,000.00, whereas Versa allows minimum investment amount of RM 1.00. Furthermore, the withdrawal process of Versa seems to be faster (T+1), instead of T+2 of money market funds. T means the transaction day. However, we need to keep in mind that only business day is counted in the calculation.



Registration process

First, download the Versa app from App Store or Google Play. Then, follow the instruction to open an account. The details required include basic information (scan the IC and the details will be autofilled), personal information (race, bumiputera status, monthly household income, and source of income for investing), employment information, and financial information. After that, deposit some money through FPX.

It will take one to two business days for the balance to show and two to four business days to have the account verified.



Fund transfer

Instead of sending the money to Versa, the money is directly transferred to AHAM. Versa essentially acts as an agent for AHAM.



Fee structure

Versa does not charge any fee. However, AHAM charges 0.30% per annum management fees and 0.05% per annum trustee fee. The fees will be deducted directly from the fund return.



Conclusion

Versa seems like a good place to keep extra cash. Instead of locking the money in FD which has inflexible tenure, Versa offers an attractive alternative. Furthermore, the interest is on par with FD. Nonetheless, I have just started to try this digital cash management platform and I will give an update once I have more experience with it.

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