What is a savings club?
A savings club on CitizenWealth is the digital version of the community savings traditions that have powered families for generations — stokvels, tandas, chamas, esusu, tontines, and paluwagan. Instead of cash in envelopes and WhatsApp tracking, everything runs on a transparent, multi-currency platform.
Members from anywhere in the world can join a single club. Contributions are tracked in real-time. The group's funds are held in stable currencies (USD, GBP, or EUR) so your collective savings hold their value.
Club types
CitizenWealth supports four club structures:
Rotating Payout — Each cycle, one member receives the full pot. This is the classic stokvel/tanda/chama model. The rotation schedule is automated, with reminders sent before each deadline.
Shared Goal — Everyone contributes toward a single target (property deposit, education fund, business capital). Progress is tracked visually, and funds deploy when the goal is reached.
Emergency Fund — A community safety net where members contribute monthly. Funds are available when any member faces an emergency, with a withdrawal request and approval workflow.
Investment Club — Pool capital for investment opportunities with structured voting, allocation tracking, and return distribution based on each member's contribution.
Emergency Fund and Investment Club are use cases of the proportional payout structure — same engine, different rules configured by the admin.
Creating your club
Setup takes under 20 minutes:
- Name your club and choose the currency (USD, GBP, or EUR)
- Select the club type and define the rules (contribution amount, frequency, payout schedule)
- Invite members via a shareable link — they can join from any country
- Start saving — contributions begin flowing immediately
There's no minimum number of members, and clubs support up to 50 members.
Contributions and auto-pay
Members contribute in their local currency from anywhere. The platform converts at near mid-market rates and credits the contribution in the club's chosen stable currency.
Auto-pay lets members set up recurring contributions on a schedule. Instead of remembering to contribute before the deadline, funds transfer automatically. Smart reminders go out before each deadline, and admins can see who has paid and who hasn't in real-time.
Every contribution is timestamped, attributed, and visible to all members. No more spreadsheet arguments.
Payouts
When it's time for a payout — whether that's a rotation, a goal being met, or an emergency withdrawal — funds move at low transaction fees (from 0.60%) on major corridors.
Recipients can receive payouts to their bank account, mobile money (M-Pesa, MTN), or keep them in their CitizenWealth wallet. Settlement depends on the corridor: typically 1-2 business days.
Wallet locking
Club funds are held in dedicated locked wallets. No individual member can accidentally (or intentionally) spend what belongs to the group. The locked wallet ensures:
- Club funds are segregated from personal spend wallets
- Only authorized payouts move funds out of the club
- Admin controls govern all disbursements
- Full audit trail for every movement
This is one of the most requested features from community savings organisers — and it solves the single biggest trust issue in informal savings groups.
Earning yield
While your club saves, the pool earns up to 3% APY via USDB — a yield-bearing stablecoin backed by US Treasuries. Yield accrues daily to the club balance. No lock-up, no staking, no extra steps.
When payouts happen, members receive their share plus accumulated yield. It's the first time community savings clubs can earn institutional-grade returns on their collective pool.
Ready to start your club? Download the app and bring your community's savings tradition into the digital age.