A New Payments Landscape Emerges From Tradition

Across Africa, an old financial custom is transforming into a new frontier for banks, fintech companies, and mobile payment providers. Community savings groups – once managed with cash-filled envelopes and handwritten ledgers – are rapidly joining the digital economy.

The interest stems from both the deposits these groups hold and the transaction flows they generate. In Kenya alone, regulated Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs) held KES 1.21 trillion (USD 9.4 billion) in assets by 2025 – a 12.5% increase from the previous year.

South Africa’s stokvels manage approximately ZAR 50 billion (USD 2.7 billion) annually with around 11 million members. Even Egypt’s MoneyFellows, which digitizes traditional savings circles called ‘gameyas,’ has onboarded over 8 million users.

Competition Heats Up in Kenya

Commercial banks are now vying to handle transactions for these groups, which lack direct access to national payment infrastructure. The Co-operative Bank of Kenya serves 110 SACCOs with ATM connectivity, but Family Bank, KCB, and Equity Bank are expanding their reach.

Safaricom and Interswitch have also entered the Pesalink instant transfer market for SACCOs, demonstrating a widening settlement landscape beyond traditional lenders. Data shows that digital financial product adoption among regulated SACCOs increased from 236 to 267 between 2024 and 2025.

Banks Modernize Services Elsewhere

In South Africa, First National Bank completed the full digitization of its stokvel accounts in early 2026, allowing remote onboarding and transactions – a move competitors like Standard Bank, Nedbank, and Absa have yet to match.

This shift creates opportunities for lenders while offering members greater security and convenience. The stable, predictable nature of community savings provides banks with low-cost funding sources.

Alternative Models Across the Continent

Egypt’s MoneyFellows has built a profitable business by digitizing savings without requiring users to join pre-formed groups. Their platform generates credit scores from savings behavior – transforming cultural tradition into data asset.

Nigeria is also seeing renewed activity with Rank (formerly Moni) launching digital versions of traditional ‘ajo’ and ‘esusu’ rotating savings schemes, having already paid out over USD 100 million in the past year.

As these groups embrace digital solutions, regulators face the challenge of balancing financial inclusion with new risks. The infrastructure supporting community savings is clearly becoming a market in its own right – attracting banks seeking deposits, fintechs targeting transaction data, and mobile money providers vying for payment rails.