How a jam’iya works, and how to run one with a clear record
A jam’iya (جمعية) is a rotating savings group found across the Arab world. A few relatives, neighbours or colleagues agree to pay the same amount every month, and each month one of them receives the whole pot, until everyone has had their turn.
In English, jam’iya (جمعية) means “association”. The group itself is a rotating savings club, which economists call a rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA). In Egypt it is called a gameya.
There is no interest. Every member pays in the same total and takes out the same total. Whoever gets an early turn receives money up front and pays it back through their monthly payments; whoever gets a late turn is simply saving. Families often time a jam’iya around Ramadan and Eid, the start of the school year, a wedding or Hajj.
What is a jam’iya called, and how do people spell it?
The Arabic word is the same almost everywhere, but it sounds different from country to country, and people type it in many ways.
- Egypt: gam’eya, the everyday name. Online it is written gameya, gam3eya or gam3ya, and in Arabic both جمعية and جمعيه.
- Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon: jam’iyyeh, typed as jamiya, jam3iya, jam3eya or jamiyah. In Syria you will also hear جمعية آخر الشهر, the “end-of-the-month jam’iya”.
- Saudi Arabia and the Gulf: جمعية, الجمعية المالية (the “money jam’iya”) or الجمعيات الشهرية (“monthly jam’iyas”). Among co-workers it is often a جمعية الموظفين, an employees’ jam’iya. In Saudi Arabia some people call it a الدورية المالية.
- Morocco: daret (دارت), also called القرعة, “the draw”. French speakers say tontine.
- Sudan: sanduq (صندوق), “the box”.
Because جمعية also means an association or a charity, people looking for the savings kind usually add a word, as in جمعية شهرية (monthly jam’iya) or, in Egypt, جمعية فلوس (money jam’iya).
How does a jam’iya work?
- An organizer brings the group together. In Egypt the organizer is the صاحب الجمعية or صاحبة الجمعية, the “owner” of the jam’iya; in the Gulf, the مدير الجمعية; in Morocco, the مولات دارت.
- The group agrees the monthly amount (القسط) and the number of members, which sets the number of months. Each share (سهم) is one turn. Two people sometimes split a share and pay half each (نص سهم).
- Each member gets a turn, their دور, which decides the month they receive the pot.
- Every month each member pays the organizer, in cash or by transfer.
- The organizer hands the whole pot to the member whose turn it is. Egyptians call this قبض الجمعية; in the Gulf and the Levant it is استلام الجمعية. The jam’iya ends when every member has received once.
How is the order of turns decided?
The order is where most arguments start, because an early turn is worth more to someone with a wedding or school fees coming up. Groups settle it in one of three ways:
- A draw. Names are drawn in front of everyone, the قرعة الجمعية, and the result becomes the order of turns (ترتيب الأدوار).
- By need. Members agree to give early turns to whoever has an expense coming first.
- The organizer first. Some groups give the organizer the first turn in return for running the jam’iya.
Any of these can be fair. What matters is agreeing the method before the first payment, doing it where everyone can see, and writing down who has which turn. If two members later want to swap, the swap should be written down too.
Is there interest in a jam’iya?
No. Nobody earns interest and nobody pays any: each member receives exactly what they put in, only at a different time. The organizer doesn’t invest the money; it passes straight from the members to whoever’s turn it is.
Religious scholars have written about the jam’iya, and they don’t all reach the same view. This guide doesn’t give religious rulings; if the question matters to your group, ask a scholar you trust. For the record: Savings Circle charges no interest, takes no share of the pot and never touches the money.
What goes wrong in a jam’iya?
- Someone receives the pot and stops paying. Members with later turns lose out, so organizers only invite people they know well.
- Late payments delay the next payout, and the organizer is left in the awkward position of chasing relatives and friends for money.
- The notebook goes missing. Many jam’iyas are kept in a دفتر or, in Egypt, a كشكول, or in a WhatsApp group where old messages scroll away. Months later it is hard to prove who paid.
- Doubts about the organizer. When the only record is the organizer’s notebook, members have to take their word for it. A clear, dated record protects an honest organizer as much as the members.
- Late payers named in the group chat. Calling someone out in front of everyone rarely gets the money in sooner and often ends friendships. A polite private reminder works better.
How do you run a jam’iya with Savings Circle?
- Create the group. Choose the name type you prefer and give the group its own name, such as “Family jam’iya” or “Office jam’iya”. Then set the currency (the Saudi riyal and the Kuwaiti dinar are supported), the amount each person pays per round and the schedule.
- Add members from your contacts. They don’t install anything.
- Set the order. Run a random draw in front of everyone, or enter the order you agreed, including the organizer first if that is your custom. A random draw saves its seed, so anyone can check later that it wasn’t changed. Members can ask to swap turns, and the swap is recorded too.
- Record payments as they come in, by cash, bank transfer or wallet (in Saudi Arabia, STC Pay is one of the suggested methods), with a screenshot as proof if you like. It works offline and syncs later.
- Remind the late ones privately. One tap opens WhatsApp, SMS or Telegram with a polite message to that member, so nobody is embarrassed in front of the group.
- Record each payout. Every entry is dated. A correction is added as a new entry, and the original stays in the history. Receipts and statements are ready to share when a member asks.
The app and this website are available in Arabic, right to left, with Latin digits. You can also use the web app at app.savingscircle.app on a computer.
Savings Circle never holds or moves money. Members pay each other the way they already do; the app is the shared record of who paid, who is next and what is owed.
Other names for the same idea
In the Arab world it is a jam’iya, gam’eya or jam’iyyeh, a daret in Morocco and a sanduq in Sudan. South Asian workers in the Gulf often call it a committee or kameti, and Filipinos a paluwagan. Elsewhere the same system is a tanda in Mexico, a susu in Ghana, a chama in Kenya and an arisan in Indonesia. Economists call all of these rotating savings and credit associations, or ROSCAs. Savings Circle works for any of them.
Guides
- South Asia: committee, kameti, chit fund, bhishi, kitty party and samity
- Africa: susu, chama, ajo, adashe, equb, hagbad, stokvel, tontine, mukando and chilimba
- The Americas and the Caribbean: sou-sou, tanda, junta, lending circle and pardner
- Asia and the Pacific: arisan, paluwagan and hụi
- The Arab world: jam’iya