Baanka exists because a practice that has helped communities build wealth for generations deserves better than a WhatsApp group.
This did not start as a product idea. It started as a family practice.
Savings circles (pardner, susu, tanda, hui) have been moving money through communities for centuries. They work because of trust, not technology. They have always worked that way.
But the infrastructure has not kept up. Organisers are still keeping track in spreadsheets and WhatsApp threads. Members have no record of what they have contributed. Disputes have no evidence. And when banks ask questions about regular deposits from multiple people, there is nothing to show them.
Baanka was built to fix that. Not to replace the practice, not to turn it into a banking product, but to give it the infrastructure it has always deserved.
A coordination and record-keeping platform. The infrastructure layer for community savings.
Right now, Baanka is a coordination and record-keeping platform. Organisers create circles, approve members, log contributions, confirm payouts, and manage the rotation. Members see their own history. Everyone has the same record.
That record is the foundation. The next step is payment integration, so that contributions move through the platform rather than around it. That requires operating under FCA oversight as an Appointed Representative, with an authorised principal firm, and building towards holding our own licence as an Electronic Money Institution.
This regulatory work is not a compliance checkbox. It is how a community-facing financial platform earns the right to handle real money. We are building it properly from the start, with governance advisors who have spent decades in community finance and credit union regulation — because the communities this platform serves deserve nothing less.
We are building this the right way from the start.
Community finance sits at the intersection of trust, culture, and regulation. Getting it right requires more than good software.
Karl George MBE
Karl George MBE is one of the UK's leading figures in community finance and credit union governance. He has advised on financial inclusion at the highest levels of government and has spent decades building the infrastructure for community-led financial services.
He serves as Baanka's strategic governance advisor. His involvement means we are building regulatory credibility and community trust from the very beginning, not retrofitting it later.
Michael Chambers, founder.
Michael is the founder of The Hummingbird Co, a digital product studio. He has spent fifteen years building products and businesses at the intersection of technology and community.
Baanka is a personal project as much as a product. The savings circle tradition is part of his family's story. Building Baanka is a way of taking something that has always worked and giving it the infrastructure it deserves.
Three things we will not compromise on.
Communities come first
Baanka exists to serve the people who have been running savings circles long before anyone built a platform for it. Every product decision is made with them in mind.
Infrastructure, not intermediation
We are not trying to take over the circle. We are trying to give it a better place to operate. The organiser runs the group. Baanka keeps the record.
The tradition is the product
The savings circle works because of trust, community, and mutual accountability. We are not replacing that with technology. We are making it easier to maintain.
We are in early access.
Baanka is currently working with a small group of organisers and members. If you want to be part of the next cohort, request access below.
Baanka is a product of The Hummingbird Co.
Building towards a partner API — if you are a fintech, credit union, or lender interested in what we are building, get in touch →