Charity update: Just Small Change – What is Table Banking?

Just Small Change is a microfinance charity that Coinadrink has been supporting for a while. Peter and Jane Donaghue are friends of ours and we are delighted to help make a difference in some of the poorest parts of the world. We were delighted to receive an update from Peter and Jane last week regarding the organisations’ progress, including the introduction of ‘table banking’…

What is Table Banking?

Women are often left out and unable to access loans from traditional banks, so table banking works to make things easier. It is a group based funding system that sees members pay in weekly amounts for others to borrow as and when they need it. The minimum amount they can donate is set by the group, so the members’ income can be factored in beforehand.

Every week there is a discussion into who owes what and how much money people can look into borrowing. A clear business plan must be displayed prior to borrowing any funds and the loans can either be repaid in the short term or long term. On a short term basis, the interest rate is 10%, whilst on long term it is set to 1%. Group guarantee means that members act as guarantors for each loan taken out. If one defaults then the other members cannot access finance, so it acts as motivation to keep up the repayments.

Table banking has countless benefits. As it is group owned, members gain a sense of pride that wouldn’t be available from a traditional bank, and all repayments go back into the groups’ kitty. The close interaction with members creates knowledge and skills needed to successfully invest, whilst it’s also a very convenient way to bank due to being close to where they live.

With the help of table banking, many women’s fortunes have been boosted.

Quinter.

Quinter has benefitted from Table Banking.

Quinter is a widow who took out a loan of 10,000ksh (£77), though in tragic circumstances she lost her 7 year old son to a nasty snake bite and had to pay for the funeral. Quinter was still able to repay the loan, but in doing so she would struggle to make ends meet.

Just Small Change were in discussions to allow Quinter some extra grace period, and she has used the loan to purchase a cooking bowl. She cooks maize and beans every night and sells them the following morning for 10ksh (0.08p) by the cone.

She makes around 11,000ksh (£84.61) a week and together with reduced living costs, she is now able to start an additional business with her savings – a second hand clothing store.

Alice.

Alice has always sold chapatti for a living, though upon receiving a loan of 10,000ksh she has managed to purchase extra meal bowls and stock. By adding bean stew to her sales, Alice is now selling more chapatti, too.

She makes an average profit of 600ksh (£4.62) every morning, which she uses to buy fruit and vegetables to then sell on her market in the evening. This brings in a further 150ksh (£1.50) profit.

Alice spends her additional income on supporting her children with food and better quality living arrangements and transport to and from school. At some point in the future, Alice wants to open her own kiosk with her savings.

Susan.

Susan saves 100-200ksh in the table banking scheme.

Susan is 28 and has three children of her own. She also has three siblings who also live with her. She borrowed 10,000ksh in March 2018 and now has only 2,500ksh outstanding.

Susan sells soap and disinfectant. The loan has helped her to bulk buy 20 litre drums of disinfectant to sell in 250ml and 500ml bottles, which has helped her profit margins rise to 3500ksh (£27) per week.

Susan spends her extra income on household expenses and clothes for her children, as well as school fees. She saves 100-200ksh (77p-£1.54) in the table banking and she is soon looking to expand her stock on the stall.

Clarice.

A widow aged 65, Clarice has 7 dependants. This includes the four children of her son who died in the AIDS epidemic. The 10,000ksh loan has helped Clarice to add stock to her to stall selling onions and tomatoes.

Having paid off this loan she then borrowed 20,000ksh (£154) and also managed to inherit some land by Lake Victoria. She used 8000ksh of this loan to purchase two goats and two sheep and plans to breed animals to sell.

After making a profit off her vegetable sales, Clarice has created an additional livelihood by employing someone to tend her land. All of her other money is spent on her children. She has also saved money in the table banking group.

Ruth.

Ruth is another person who has benefitted from the help of Just Small Change and table banking.

Ruth’s husband has been sick for 13 years so she is the sole provider for her family of 5 children. Her 10,000ksh loan has already been repaid, which was used to start raising ducks and selling the ducklings for 500-700ksh.

After having 49 birds in her flock, Ruth was able to take out an additional loan of 20,000ksh which she has used to diversify into bricks. The loan was used to purchase clay, a wheel barrow and a spade.

Ruth makes the bricks at home, for homebuilders to come and pick them up. The bricks sell at 15ksh each, enabling Ruth to make a profit of 10,000ksh every year. This has improved her living standards.

 

 

 

We’re delighted to again see steady success within the organisation and are thrilled to help!

The post Charity update: Just Small Change – What is Table Banking? appeared first on Coinadrink.

source https://coin-a-drink.co.uk/table-banking