For chamas, from Kayole to Westlands
The chama's books, on any phone.
Collect contributions by M-Pesa, run the merry-go-round, lend to members and share out at year end, with books that always add up. Members check their savings and pay by dialling a code, even on a phone with no internet.
Open the demo chamaDial ChamaTrust as a member would, from any phone.
Demo member Wanjiku. USSD PIN 2580.
Books that cannot fail to balance
Every shilling that comes in is recorded once, against the right member, and checked against Safaricom's own records every night. Nothing can be edited or deleted: a mistake is reversed, with a reason, once a second official approves, and both stay on the record.
For the technically minded: after 10,000 random operations, with M-Pesa confirmations delivered twice, out of order, forged or not at all, the books still balance to the cent. The rules live in the database, and the test runs on every change.
Read the testThree ways money moves
Nobody is credited until Safaricom confirms the money arrived.
- In
An M-Pesa prompt
Pay from the app or by dialling the USSD code, without typing a paybill number.
Ask to pay → enter M-Pesa PIN → credited
- In
The paybill
The way chamas already pay, with the member number as the account. A number that matches nobody waits in a holding account for the treasurer rather than being credited on a guess.
Paybill 600980 · account UMJ007
- Out
A payout
Loans and merry-go-round turns go straight to the member's phone.
Two officials approve → sent → recorded on arrival
What a chama runs on
Contributions and fines
A schedule, a grace period and a late fine, judged by the deadline rather than by when anyone checks. Fines come out of the next payment first.
The merry-go-round
An agreed order and one turn a period. The database itself refuses a second payout for a turn.
Table banking loans
Borrow up to three times your savings; repayments clear penalties first, then interest, then principal.
The year-end share-out
The year's interest and fines shared by savings over time, so January's saver earns more than December's, with every cent accounted for.
Statements
Every entry with the balance after it, for any period, as a PDF to print or a mini statement over USSD.
USSD and SMS
A menu in English and Kiswahili behind a PIN, and an SMS receipt for every payment.