Susu, chama, committee and other names for the same idea

One idea, many names

Almost every community in the world has its own rotating savings circle. The details differ, but the heart is the same: a group pays in the same amount on a schedule, and each round one member receives the whole pot. In United Kingdom the names you are most likely to hear are pardner, susu, ajo, esusu, chama, njangi, mukando and tanda.

Here are some of the names, and where you will hear them. The list is not complete, and families often use their own words too.

Across Africa

• Ajo and esusu in Nigeria, with adashe and osusu among other communities there.
• Susu in Ghana, where the word also covers daily susu collectors.
• Chama in Kenya, where a rotating chama is often called a merry-go-round.
• Njangi in Cameroon.
• Mukando in Zimbabwe.
• Stokvel in South Africa.
• Tontine in much of French-speaking Africa.
• Equb in Ethiopia.

The Caribbean and the Americas

• Pardner or partner hand in Jamaica and among Caribbean families in Britain.
• Sou-sou in Trinidad and Tobago, and a meeting turn in Barbados.
• Tanda or cundina in Mexico and among Mexican families in the United States.
• Junta in parts of South America.

Asia and the Middle East

• Committee in Pakistan and India, also called a kameti or a BC.
• Hui among Chinese communities.
• Kye in Korea.
• Paluwagan in the Philippines.
• Gameya in Egypt.

What they share

Whatever the name, a circle rests on the same few things: an agreed amount, a fixed rhythm, an order of turns, and trust that everyone keeps paying after they have received. Most have an organiser, and the best have a second person who checks the organiser.

Some groups do more than rotate. A chama or a stokvel may also save for a shared goal or support members at a funeral. Rotaro is built for the rotating part: the schedule, the payments between members, and the record of who paid and who received.

Where they differ

Circles differ in how they choose the order, whether early receivers need someone to stand behind them, what happens to a member who misses a payment, and whether the organiser keeps one turn's pot as thanks for the work. None of these is right or wrong. What matters is that the group agrees them before the first payment and that every member can see them.

Running yours with Rotaro

Rotaro lets a group of any name keep one shared record of who paid, who confirmed and who received. You call your group whatever you like. Members pay each other directly, by bank transfer, and Rotaro never holds the money.