Community finance
Saving on your own can be difficult. With a group, you can agree to put something aside regularly, work towards a bigger goal, or have somewhere to turn when you need help.
Different structures. A shared purpose.
People use these names loosely. What matters is how members contribute, who decides what happens to the money, and how everyone keeps track.
Members own the cooperative, save with it, and can apply for loans. The SACCO team keeps member, savings and loan records in order.
Keep member records, savings, shares and loans together for your team and members.
SACCO compliance software for KenyaIn Kenya, chama members contribute towards a shared goal. They may take turns receiving the pooled money, help one another in an emergency, lend from it, or invest it.
Give your team a shared view of contributions, welfare funds and loans.
Chama software for KenyaMembers pool their money to invest together. They choose what to put it into and agree how any gains or losses will be shared.
Track members and contributions, then work through your investment records and decisions with our team.
Investment club software for KenyaA chama can also be an investment club. The name matters less than the rules members agree to and the records they can rely on.
In the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) model, members build a fund from their own savings. This is one common approach; rotating groups, SACCOs and investment clubs can work differently.
Members decide when to meet, what a savings share costs, how loans work, and who keeps the records.
Members contribute, the money is counted together, and individual savings are recorded.
Members can request loans. The group applies its agreed terms, and repayments return to the fund.
At the end of an agreed cycle, savings and the fund’s net earnings are shared out according to the group’s rules and members’ savings.
Groups may keep a separate welfare fund for emergencies. Some also use a bank or mobile-money account to hold money. Borrowing through a group does not mean every part of its finances happens outside banks.
CARE’s VSLA manual explains this modelRead how savings groups have worked in Uganda and Kenya, with the original sources for context.
Research published in 2021 describes savings groups in Gulu, Opit and Amuru whose members used group finance for needs including school costs, farming and health care. Members contributed to a shared fund and could borrow from it. The study describes particular groups at that time; it is not a picture of every group in northern Uganda today.
Read the Gulu-area study (2021)Some groups collect an agreed amount and give the pot to a different member each round. Others keep the money together and lend from it. Welfare groups help members meet emergencies. FSD Kenya describes how these arrangements can support regular saving, shared knowledge and mutual help—even for people who also have bank accounts.
Read FSD Kenya’s savings-group explainer (2015)SenteRail brings member records, contributions, savings and loans into a Back Office for the team, with a Member App for members. We work with SACCOs, chamas and investment clubs, reviewing each group’s rules and setup before activation.
Work with us