Comparison

Squirrel Away vs FORUS Connect Mobile

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Squirrel Away

Features
Read full description

SMART GIFTING. REAL GROWTH. REAL WEALTH. It takes a village to raise a child. Now the village can build their future too. Squirrel Away is South Africa's first investment gifting platform where friends, family, and community turn love into lasting wealth for the children they cherish. THE VILLAGE - MANY GIVERS. ONE FUTURE. A grandparent. A school friend. A colleague. An aunt sending love from across the country. With Squirrel Away, anyone in a child's life can contribute directly to their future, effortlessly, with no barriers and no financial knowledge needed to gift. A parent or guardian creates a profile, adds their child, chooses a portfolio and investment horizon, then shares the child's unique gifting link. The Village does the rest. THREE PORTFOLIOS. EVERY GOAL COVERED. Acorn Shield โ€“ Capital preservation, for right now Treehouse Growth - Balanced growth, for the years ahead Mighty Oak โ€“ Aggressive growth, for the decades ahead Every portfolio is built from carefully selected, low cost ETF instruments, giving South African families a clear path to long-term wealth. WHY SOUTH AFRICANS CHOOSE SQUIRREL AWAY โ€ข Start from as little as R10, no minimum โ€ข Diversified across leading JSE and global ETFs, professionally managed for real growth โ€ข Every Rand compounds - small gifts becoming real, lasting wealth over your child's lifetime โ€ข Built to break cycles - turning family support into inherited wealth, not inherited debt โ€ข Full transparency - every contribution, every Rand of growth, visible anytime โ€ข FSCA licensed โ€“ Category I & II (FSP No. 54219), regulated for your peace of mind REGULATED. TRANSPARENT. TRUSTED. Squirrel Away is licensed by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) as a Category I and II Financial Services Provider (FSP No. 54219). We comply with FICA, POPIA, and all applicable South African law. MILESTONES BECOME WEALTH. Baby showers. Naming ceremonies. Birthdays. Tooth Fairy visits. First days of school. Graduations. Every moment of celebration is a chance to give something that lasts. Download Squirrel Away today and join South Africa's investment gifting movement.

About

FORUS Connect Mobile

Features
Read full description

FORUS Connect - One wallet. Every merchant. Everywhere. FORUS Connect is a next-generation mobile wallet built for the way the world actually moves money. Whether you are paying at a local merchant, sending funds across borders, managing a prepaid card, or earning crypto rewards - FORUS Connect brings it all together in one secure, beautifully designed app. PAY ANYWHERE WITH QR Scan any FORUS merchant QR code to pay instantly. No card swipe, no cash, no friction. Generate your own QR code to receive payments from anyone on the network. GOODFORUS CARD - YOUR PREPAID CARD, ISSUED INSTANTLY Apply for a GoodFORUS Virtual or Physical prepaid card powered by Stripe Issuing. Set spending limits, freeze and unfreeze, top up from your bank card or eZAR wallet, and view real-time balance - all from the app. Card details are revealed only through Stripe's PCI-safe interface. Your PIN and PAN are never stored. SEND MONEY WORLDWIDE Transfer funds to 8 or more countries including the United Kingdom, India, Brazil, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Hungary, South Africa, and Nigeria. Live exchange rates, transparent fees, and real-time transfer status - all in a few taps. MAHALAX XRPL REWARDS WALLET Every qualifying payment earns you MahalaX (MHX) tokens on the XRP Ledger. Watch your balance grow, track your loyalty tier from Bronze to Silver to Gold to Platinum, and send or receive MHX directly from the app - no third-party wallet required. STABLECOIN HUB Buy, hold, and cash out USDC, USDT, and EURC. On-ramp from local mobile money or bank transfer. Off-ramp back to ZAR. Full transaction history filtered by asset. COUNTRY PAYMENT RAILS Pay like a local anywhere in the world: - UK: Stripe card, Open Banking, GoCardless Direct Debit - India: UPI QR, GPay, PhonePe, Paytm deeplinks, EMI instalments - Brazil: Pix QR with countdown timer, Boleto barcode, Parcelamento - Vietnam: VietQR, MoMo, ZaloPay, VNPAY, 9Pay - Sri Lanka: PayHere, LankaQR, WEBXPAY, OnePay - Hungary: Barion, OTP SimplePay, qvik QR TRANSIT PURSE Load your CIPURSE transit card for offline bus and taxi payments. Top up in seconds, view trip history, and manage your card - no separate transit app needed. BANK-GRADE SECURITY - Face ID and Touch ID lock with no bypass paths - Biometric setup prompt on first login - Email OTP two-factor authentication - PCI-DSS tokenised card storage - raw card data is never held by FORUS - All data encrypted in transit and at rest KYC IDENTITY VERIFICATION Verify your identity with Didit, a regulated KYC provider, to unlock higher limits, wallet linking, and all payment features. The process takes under 2 minutes. MERCHANT TOOLS Generate dynamic merchant QR codes with custom amounts, currencies, and invoice references. View your merchant dashboard with transaction volume, recent payments, and exportable reports. WHITE-LABEL READY FORUS Connect is the consumer face of the FORUS platform - a regulated payment orchestration layer used by businesses, universities, transit operators, and community organisations across Africa and beyond. WHAT'S INCLUDED - QR scan-to-pay at FORUS merchants - GoodFORUS prepaid card (virtual and physical) - Cross-border remittance to 8 or more countries - MahalaX XRPL rewards wallet - Stablecoin hub (USDC, USDT, EURC) - 7 country payment rails - CIPURSE transit purse - Recurring payments and subscription management - Full transaction history with export - Sweepstakes and loyalty programme - GoodFORUS charity giving - Referral programme - Admin dashboard for merchants FORUS Connect is operated by FORUS Card Services N.V. Payments are processed by Stripe (PCI-DSS Level 1), eZAR Network, and regulated rail connectors. This app is not a bank. Funds held in wallets are not covered by deposit insurance.

Screenshots

Squirrel Away4 screens
FORUS Connect Mobile4 screens

Verdict

The call

Squirrel Away and FORUS Connect Mobile are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters โ€” price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Squirrel Away ships an update every 10 days, FORUS Connect Mobile every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Squirrel Away versus FORUS Connect Mobile: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSquirrel AwayFORUS Connect Mobile
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 9 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better15.1
Further details โ€” not scored
Size30 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSquirrel AwayFORUS Digital pty ltd

In-app purchases

None

Squirrel Away

No in-app purchases

None

FORUS Connect Mobile

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Squirrel Away free?
Squirrel Away is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FORUS Connect Mobile free?
FORUS Connect Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Squirrel Away or FORUS Connect Mobile have ads?
Neither Squirrel Away nor FORUS Connect Mobile shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Squirrel Away or FORUS Connect Mobile?
Squirrel Away ships an update every 10 days, and FORUS Connect Mobile every 9 days. Most recently, Squirrel Away was updated on October 24, 2026 and FORUS Connect Mobile on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons