Say hello to invoicing on Grey

If you make a lot of money transfers, you’d have an idea of how exchange rates can make you gain or lose money. Lately, they’ve been fluctuating a lot, especially in the Nigerian market. This is why it can cause a dent in your conversion and money transfer plans.

Because of how important this is to our users, our product team has come up with a great way to keep track of Grey's real-time exchange rates. This way, you can compare and track rates before your transactions.

In this post, we’ll show you how to find our rates page on Grey and how to make exchange rates work for you.

Why you should track exchange rates

Tracking market exchange rates are very important because they help you plan and better strategize your money transfer plans - especially when they are cross-border payments.

Perhaps the most apparent reason to track exchange rates is to get the best market rates. Since rates go up and down often, you need to know when the right window is to make a swap.

For example, if you want to convert your GBP to NGN, you need to swap when the exchange rates are higher. If you swap when it’s lower, you’d be losing out on some NGN you could have earned during that conversion.

Another reason is to be able to make the right estimates during your budgets. If you are sending money abroad frequently, especially for business, you need to know if there’ll be any price changes. Tracking rates will help you know how much you need to spend for that transaction and what you’d need to factor in for surprise costs.

In general, tracking exchange rates will help you avoid any potential losses during currency conversions as well as reduce any risks involved in your foreign transactions.

Also Read: Factors that Affect the Prices of Exchange Rates

How to see exchange rates on Grey

Before making your currency conversions, here’s how you can see Grey exchange rates. These rates cut across all accepted currencies on Grey, and they are updated in real-time in line with parallel market rates.

On website

• Log into your Grey account on the web app
• On the top right of your screen, click on “See our rates”

• You’ll see the dropdown of our rates across all accepted currency pairs.

On mobile

• Log in to your Grey mobile app
• On the bottom right of your screen, tap on the ‘More’ button
• Scroll down to the ‘Others’ Category
• Tap on ‘See our rates’
• You’ll see a dropdown with our rates across all accepted currency pairs

PS: Please keep in mind that you have to be signed in to your Grey account to see this page.

Make our exchange rates work for you

Grey has one of the best exchange rates available in the market. With competitive fees, you can be sure to get the best deals on your instant currency conversions. Since we know how exchange rates can affect businesses, we hope our rates page helps you make better financial decisions.

Create a Grey account and start enjoying all the tools and rates available to make your international payments better.

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Welcome to our monthly product newsletter, where we give you the rundown of all our latest features and product updates you should stay on top of. Here's our product update for May 2023.

Our Latest Delivery💨

Straight out of the oven, we have KES and TZS deposits! This means you can now deposit Kenyan and Tanzanian Shillings to your Grey balance using mobile money. It’s a great way to send and receive money in East Africa even faster.

Top up your KES balance via MPESA and your TZS balance via Airtel money and TigoPesa. Here’s a guide to help you get started.

Introducing Grey’s Invoicing🧾

We understand that, as a business owner or freelancer, invoices are pivotal to receiving your payments on time. That’s why you can now generate invoices for your employers, clients, and customers directly from your Grey app.

Your invoice will have your Grey account details so your recipient can complete the payment via a bank transfer. Learn more about how it works here.

KES Withdrawals

We have our KES bank payouts! Previously we could only process Kenyan Shillings withdrawals to mobile money only. However, after months of working with our new partners, you can withdraw and send money to any Kenyan bank account🎉. “Send money to Kenya  🇰🇪 with Grey” sounds cool, innit? 😎

We’ve put together a guide so you can see how it works here.

Keep Track of Our Exchange Rates📈

See what our real-time exchange rates are and keep track of any changes on the Grey rates page. While converting currencies is seamless, we understand how important exchange rates are to your final conversions. This is why all rates on this page are updated in real-time. See how to view this page.

Improved NGN Deposits 🤑

While this isn’t exactly news, we’ve improved Naira deposits and top-ups on Grey. With the Grey Naira bank accounts, you can now add Naira to your Grey account with a single bank transfer. So whether you’re trying to top up your Naira balance or receive Naira transfers, we absolutely recommend getting an NGN virtual account today. Here’s a guide.

On USD Accounts 🛠

We definitely aren’t laid back about USD accounts. After gaining express permission from our bosses, we are excited to share that we will be launching our new USD bank accounts soon.

Our quality assurance team is on the last round of tests to make sure everything works perfectly, so expect an official announcement from us in the coming days.

Other Features in the Works 🚧

USD accounts aren’t the only projects in the works. You can now;

• Top up your virtual cards with any currency on the Web and Android app.
• Track your expense management on Android and Web app.
• View the app in Swahili on Android and Web.

While it’s not yet 100%, you can start testing with us and share your feedback. We’ll be sure to announce once they are all available.

And that’s it for the month of May. If you have any product features or suggestions on how we can improve your experience with Grey, do share them directly with our bosses by sending an email to talktoidee@grey.co

Until Next Month,

Love🖤

The Product Team @ Grey

As a business owner or freelancer, one of the most tedious tasks you face is creating and sending invoices, and at Grey, building infrastructures that embrace the needs of our users continues to remain a top priority.

Who is the invoicing feature for?

The invoicing feature is designed for freelancers and businesses to request payment for their work done, products, or services. It allows you to outline the service or product that was offered and specify the amount due. This way, freelancers and business owners can manage their finances more efficiently and best of all, it eliminates the need for manual invoicing.

Our invoicing feature is a one stop shop for freelancers, nomads, and business owners to request for and receive payments from their customers while keeping track of all their expected revenue.

How to create invoices on Grey

Ready to create an invoice on Grey? Here’s a step by step guide to help you create one:

• Log in to your dashboard
• Under “Quick Actions” click on “Invoices”

• Enter your customer's information

• Enter the invoice details

• Preview the details on your invoice

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If you’re a freelancer, remote worker, or digital nomad, you can now create and invoices directly from your Grey account. We can’t wait to see how this feature improves your business and services. Log in to your account and start creating your invoices today!

Two years ago, Grey, formerly called Aboki Africa, launched to make globalisation easier for everyone. More than that, we’ve brought a lot of African freelancers, remote workers, and digital nomads along with us on this journey.

If you started using Grey before the rebrand in February 2022, you’re one of our oldest users. You probably wonder or have asked a customer support agent about the safety of your money.

With over 150k users, be assured that you’re in the great company of other freelancers who trust our service. From your signup process to your foreign account creation and transactions, here are a few steps we’ve taken to protect you:

Grey on Instagram: “If you’ve ever been concerned about the safety of your money as a Grey user, be rest assured you’re in safe hands. Here are a few things we do to safeguard your funds. 👇🏾"
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A thorough verification process

When you create a new Grey account, you must verify your email and state your occupation and identity by verifying a valid Government ID.

Verifying your KYC helps us prevent financial fraud, terrorism financing, money laundering, identity theft, and other malicious intent or financial crimes.

It also helps us understand your needs and how to serve you better. Your KYC protects both you and Grey from falling victim to fraud.

Two- authentication

After the signup process, you can enable the 2FA option (either via an authenticator app or SMS).

This ensures that you can have security at login or sign-in. We recently introduced 2FA for withdrawals, and this is for you to have an extra layer of protection while performing withdrawals or sending funds to new or saved beneficiaries.

On the mobile app, after you sign in with your email and password, you must compulsorily set a four-digit PIN which helps ensure that your Grey app access is personalised and secure.

Start protecting your finances by turning on your Grey 2FA here.

Recommended Reading: How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication on Your Grey App

Device and aessions management

This feature allows you to see all devices where your Grey account is currently logged in. Both on the mobile and web app. You can remove any suspicious or unwanted devices to protect your account. This will prevent and avoid future unauthorised access.

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How else do we protect you and your money?

• We safeguard the funds of our customers. This means that customer funds are deposited with our banking partners and kept separate from the funds used to run our business.
• We are registered and licensed with FINTRAC and FinCEN.
• We are not a bank, so we do not lend your money as a traditional bank would nor do we invest it with third parties and hedge funds.
• Our platform also uses encryption and the latest security to protect customer data. Grey also uses two-factor authentication (2FA) on accounts to provide an extra layer of protection.

The Bottom Line

Here is some of the security measures we’ve implemented to protect your money, privacy, and data on Grey. There’s also what can you can do to protect your account;

1. KYC verification.
2. Enabling Two Factor Authentication on your email accounts to keep you extra secure. This way, you’ll be notified if there’s any suspicious attempt.
3. Device and sessions to help you monitor where your account is logged in.
4. Do not share your Grey account details with anyone.
5. Don’t use public or shared computers to log into your Grey accounts.
6. Immediately report any suspicious activity to us.
7. Lastly, please don’t transact with anyone claiming to be Grey. We will never ask you to send money to a private account or share your password.

Our Verified Channels of communication are

Email: support@grey.co

Website:  grey.co

Twitter: @greyfinance

Instagram: @greyfinance

Facebook: Greyfinance

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Fraudsters often target financial services, particularly those handling foreign transactions. At Grey, we prioritise securing your account and funds from suspicious activities, however, you have a role to play as well.

To enhance your security, make sure to enable two-factor authentication on both your web and app platforms.

In this article, we’ll share what two-factor authentication means, how it differs from a password, and how to activate it on your Grey account.

What is two-factor authentication?

Two-factor authentication (2FA), is security process that requires two different forms of verification in order to access an account. It’s an extra layer of protection beyond just a password.

2FA ensures that even in situations where your device might be missing or stolen, your account will remain secure.

Some common types of 2FA include:

• Email or SMS codes
• Authenticator apps
• Biometrics i.e fingerprints, face or voice
• Location
• Hardware tokens

What’s the difference between a Password and 2FA?

You might wonder - isn’t my password a sort of authentication? Well, the answer is Yes. However, passwords are the first level of security and identity authentication.

If someone knows your username and password, they can easily access your account. Passwords alone aren’t very secure because they offer just one layer of protection. Also, once you’ve used the same password across multiple accounts, it becomes easier to hack into your app.

But with 2FA, you get a code sent to a trusted device physically present with you and these codes are typically time-bound.

Types of two-factor authentication on Grey

There are two 2FA methods you can use to protect your Grey account. These include:

• SMS: With this option, you’d get authentication codes via SMS to your registered phone number every time you want to perform a transaction on Grey
• Authenticator apps: Apps like Duo Mobile, Twilio, or Google Authenticator generate a disposable code when you want to make a transaction. We recommend using this 2FA method because it ensures you always have access to your account, even if your phone number changes.

How to activate 2FA on Grey?

Ready to add an extra layer of security to your Grey account and secure your funds? Here’s how to activate two-factor authentication on your Grey app:

On web

• Log in to your Grey web app
• On the right side of your screen, tap on ‘settings’ icon
• Next, choose your preferred 2FA method between SMS and a Security App. (We recommend using the authenticator app 2FA method for better security.)

On mobile

• Log in to the Grey mobile app.
• Tap on more - its the three horizontal dots on the bottom right of your screen
• Under ‘Security,’ tap on ‘Two-Factor Authentication’
• You’ll be redirected to a page.
• Tap on ‘Set up now’
• Next, choose your preferred 2FA method between SMS and a security app
• Follow the subsequent prompts to complete the setup

And that’s how to set up two-factor authentication on Grey.

Wrapping up

Remember, 2FAs are there to protect your funds on Grey. Enabling them helps you keep out unauthorised access to your account.

You can also track all login activity to your Grey account directly on the app just to be safe. So start protecting your finances by turning on your Grey 2FA here.

To improve the user experience for our East African users, our product team has worked hard to be even more inclusive. With this in mind, we’ve launched the app translation feature on Grey.

This means you can now switch your Grey app language from English to Swahili.

So whether you want to log in, make a transaction, complete your account setup, or review your transaction history on Grey, you can do it all in Swahili.

How to change my Grey app language to Swahili

If you prefer to carry out all your financial transactions or reviews in Swahili on Grey, here’s how to do this;

On web

• Log in to your Grey web app
• Once you’re logged in, at the top right of your dashboard screen, you’ll see the language switch with the option ‘EN’

• Tap on this icon, and from the dropdown, click on ‘SW’

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Your Grey web interface will switch to Swahili. 

On mobile

• Log into your Grey mobile app
• Tap on ‘More’ located at the bottom right of your screen
• Scroll to ‘App Language’ and tap on it
• Switch your default App language from English to Swahili
• If you’re on iOS, you’ll receive a prompt to restart your application to change the language.
• Tap on Yes to complete the setup.

After restarting, the default language on your Grey app will automatically switch to Swahili.

Please keep in mind that this doesn’t reset even after you’re logged out. If you’d like to switch your default back to English, simply follow the same prompts and tap on EN for web or English for mobile.

So if you know anyone who prefers to read and transact in Swahili, don’t hesitate to share the Grey app with them anymore.

We are constantly looking for ways to improve your experience with us. So use this feature, and let us know what you think about this by leaving us a kind review here.