Sou sou money: how a sou-sou works in Trinidad and Tobago, and how to keep the book
A sou-sou (also written sou sou, su-su or susu) is a rotating savings group that is very common in Trinidad and Tobago. Members pay a fixed amount each week, and each week one member receives the whole pot. Everyone takes a turn once, and the sou-sou then ends or starts again with the same people.
In Trinidad and Tobago the sou-sou is an everyday part of family life. Many people keep a printed sou-sou calendar on the wall, marking who has paid and who receives the hand each week. The word is also heard on other islands, and the same idea goes by other names across the Caribbean and Guyana, such as box hand and meeting turn.
No interest is charged and no interest is paid. A member who receives early has money when they need it, and pays it back through later weekly payments. A member who receives late has saved the whole time. People use a sou-sou pot for school fees, a car repair, a deposit, Christmas, or a small business.
How does a sou-sou work?
- A banker, the person who runs the sou-sou, invites members who know and trust one another, and agrees the amount per week and how many weeks it will run.
- The order of turns is set at the start. A common method is to draw names, with each member taking the next place in the order.
- Each week, every member pays in, usually in cash.
- The banker gives the whole pot to the member whose turn it is that week. Once everyone has received it, the sou-sou ends.
Many bankers keep the book themselves: who has paid this week, who has received, and who is next. The sou-sou calendar on the wall is the simplest form of that book.
How are the turns decided?
Most sou-sous draw the order at the first meeting, so that nobody can say the order was fixed. Some members ask for a turn that falls at a particular time of year, such as Christmas, or before a school term. Others let the banker keep the first turn in return for running the sou-sou.
Whatever the method, agree it before anyone pays, and write it down where everyone can see it. Most arguments in a sou-sou start with a dispute about who was meant to go first, or whose turn is the December one.
Sou-sou, pardner, box hand or meeting turn?
In Jamaica and the UK the same system is often a pardner, with each payment called a hand. In Guyana it is a box hand, and in Barbados a meeting turn. The mechanics are the same, so the rules and the risks are too. The difference is in local usage, which matters when you explain the group to members.
A sou-sou is not a bank, and it is not a registered business. It is an informal arrangement between people who know each other. Keep it that way: a sou-sou run for strangers, with guaranteed returns or new members paid to bring in others, is not a sou-sou at all.
Warnings from Trinidad and Tobago
Regulators in Trinidad and Tobago have warned that pyramid schemes are sometimes passed off as sou-sou. A genuine sou-sou promises no profit and does not ask you to bring in new members to get your payout: every member gets back what they put in, at a different time.
A bank in Trinidad has said it will not accept sou-sou money as a source of funds. If you receive a large payout, keep a dated record of who paid, when, and how much. A clear record is sensible even though no record can promise that a bank will accept the money.
This guide does not give legal or tax advice. If you are unsure about the rules where you live, or the group is handling large sums, speak to a qualified adviser.
What goes wrong in a sou-sou?
- A member stops paying after receiving the pot. The people still waiting carry the loss, which is why bankers usually invite people they know well.
- Late payments. One late week delays the next payout, and the banker is left to cover the gap or chase people.
- Records on a calendar or in a chat. A printed calendar can be lost, and chat messages scroll away. Months later, nobody can prove who paid which week.
- Disputes about the order. When the order was never written down, two members can remember it differently.
How do you run a sou-sou with Savings Circle?
- Create the group. Choose “Savings circle” as the name type, or “Committee” if you prefer, and give the sou-sou its own name. Set the currency (US dollar is supported) and what each member pays per round.
- Add members from your contacts. They don’t need to install anything.
- Set the order. Run a random draw in front of everyone, or enter the order you agreed. A random draw saves its seed, so anyone can check later that it was not changed. Members can ask to swap turns, and the swap is recorded too.
- Record payments as they come in, in cash, by bank or by mobile wallet, with a screenshot as proof if you like. It works offline and syncs when you are back online.
- Remind the late ones. One tap opens WhatsApp, SMS or Telegram with a polite message ready to send.
- Record each payout. Every entry is dated. A correction is added as a new entry, and the original stays in the history. A statement shows each member what they have paid.
Savings Circle replaces the wall calendar with a shared record. It never holds or moves money. Members pay the banker the way they already do; the app is the shared book of who paid, who is next and what is owed.
Other names for the same idea
In Trinidad and Tobago it is a sou-sou. In Guyana it is a box hand, in Barbados a meeting turn, and in Jamaica a partner or pardner. Around the world the same system is a susu in Ghana, a committee in Pakistan and India, a tanda in Mexico, a chama in Kenya, an arisan in Indonesia and a paluwagan in the Philippines. Economists call all of these rotating savings and credit associations, or ROSCAs.
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