Besides investment groups, savings and credit groups have demonstrated immense potential in generating and sustaining the motivation of members to save money for unforeseen events, major expenditures (e.g. wedding, costly medical procedures, arrival of a child, purchase of investment goods or pricey durable consumer products etc) and the bridging of general expenditure or budget gaps.
Whereas investment groups are purely designed pool resources for investment in a mutual objective, savings and credit groups enable customers to borrow from the pool of funds and pay back the loan at a reasonable rate of interest. Being in foreign countries, there are a number of reasons that may force one to borrow. Of course most developed countries have established official helplines for people in need but the bureaucracy which one must go through before help is extended is often too long and time consuming to the extent that one might even die in emergency cases before the official channels release the needed assistance. Those who are lucky to have reliable friends may obtain assistance from the same but even this avenue is often limited to the extra money the friends in question have at that particular hour of need.
We at InterCurrency are co-operating with the Diaspora community in the running of savings and credit groups which may also have sub-groups depending on the language preference (English, French, Portugueese Arabic, Amharic or German) of members. The biggest groups are Anglophone, the Francophone and the German ones. Besides encouraging a savings culture and mobilizing savings for meaningful investment, this approach enables particular groups of clients with low drives to save to accumulate substantial reserves over a comparatively short period of time within the formal financial systems.
In case you intend to:
- save (and borrow, if necessary) for a desired holiday
- save (and borrow, if necessary) for an expensive but important trip
- save (and borrow, if necessary) for school/college fees
- save (and borrow, if necessary) for the construction/improvement/repair of your own home
- be organized/prepared for the end of the journey on earth and sort things in time so as to save dependents, friends and relatives some tough decisions, assignments and hassle
then you should talk to Horizon Group Savings and credit as soon as possible.
We break-down the figures for you and present you a workable plan based on your capabilities and targets.
Ordinarily, Horizon Group Savings & Credit members pay monthly contributions of at least € 20 (no maximum) to the savings and credit group and this amount is saved into a bank account from where members can borrow in times of need. Members who need to borrow will have to be guaranteed by at least two other members and the maximum loan is a function of the combined/total amount saved by the member and the guarantors as at the date of application for the loan. Information relating to the following issues can be supplied on request:
Joining procedure.
Loan application procedure and requirements.
Interest paid on loan.
Annual dividend to members.
Policy on retained earnings.