Three moving parts. One shared place to run them.
A savings circle has three moving parts: the organiser, the members, and the cycle. Baanka gives all three a shared place to operate.
No interest. No bank required. Just a group holding each other accountable.
A savings circle works like this. A group of people agree to contribute a fixed amount at regular intervals. At each interval, one member receives the full pot. This continues in rotation until every member has received their payout. Then the cycle ends, or begins again.
No interest. No bank required. Just a group of people holding each other accountable to a shared commitment.
Known by many names
Pardner
· Jamaica
Susu
· West Africa
Tanda
· South America
Hui
· China
The structure is the same everywhere. What changes is the community running it.
Everyone has a clear place in the circle.
The person the group trusts to keep everything honest and running.
The organiser creates the circle, sets the rules, approves members, and manages the cycle. On Baanka, the organiser is called the Baanka, which is where the product gets its name.
Contribute each round. Receive the pot when your turn comes.
Members contribute each round and receive their payout when their position comes up in the rotation. On Baanka, members can see their own contribution history, their payout position, and the status of the full cycle at any time.
Explore and understand before you commit to anything.
Not ready to join or organise yet? Guests can explore how a savings circle works and learn about the platform before committing to anything.
Set the terms. Build the group. Begin.
Set your terms
Choose the contribution amount, how often members pay, how many members the circle will have, and how the payout order will be decided. These terms are visible to every member before they join.
Invite or let members find you
Invite specific people using a private link, or let members find your circle by searching for your email. Either way, every join request comes to you for approval.
Confirm your members
Review each request and approve the members you trust. Once you have the right group, you set the start date and the cycle begins.
Every part of the cycle has a record.
Contributions
Each round, members contribute their agreed amount. The organiser records each payment as it arrives. Members can see their own contribution status in real time. Late or missing payments are visible immediately.
Payouts
When a member's turn comes, the organiser confirms the payout through Baanka. The ledger updates. Both the organiser and the member have a permanent record of the transaction.
Swaps
If two members want to trade their positions in the rotation, both must agree through Baanka and the organiser must approve. The change is logged. Nothing happens informally.
Meetings
For circles that meet in person or as a group, contributions and payouts can be confirmed in batch through a meeting record. Everyone sees the same update at the same time.
The record stays. The group decides what comes next.
When every member has received their payout, the organiser closes the cycle. The full history is preserved. If the group wants to run another cycle, a new one can be started without losing the previous record.
Use an invite, or find a circle by organiser email.
If you have an invite link, paste it to join directly. If you know the organiser's email, you can find their circle and request to join. Organisers review every request. You will not be added to a circle without their approval. As a member, you can see your contribution history, your payout position, and the status of the cycle, but not other members' personal data.
Already running? Bring it in without starting from scratch.
You can bring your existing member list, payout order, and cycle history into Baanka without starting from scratch. The import flow is built for circles that are already mid-cycle.
Migrate your circleWhat Baanka does not do yet
Baanka is a coordination and record-keeping platform. Contributions are currently settled between members directly. Baanka does not yet hold or move money. This is something we are working towards.
If you need a platform that processes payments directly, we are not there yet. If you need a platform that gives your circle a clear, permanent, shared record, Baanka is built for that now.