The People's Stokvel

Building a bank a R100 at a time

The People’s Stokvel is a call to action for all of us to invest in small black owned businesses. Basically we all contribute R100 a month. There is a joining fee of R1600. The contributions will then be used to fund purchase orders of members of the stokvel at a fee of 6% of purchase order value.

What Do We Do With Our Collective Earnings?

We are registering a bank. We have currently submitted an application to the Prudential Authority at the Reserve Bank to become a CFI (Co-Operative Financial Institution). This will allow the stokvel to function in almost every way like a bank.

Where Is This Stokvel Run From?

The stokvel will be run from the Stokfella Platform (Android & iOS Apps available. www.stokfella.mobi for mobile site). Once registered on the app, simply click on the blue plus button at the bottom of the screen and click “Join Group”; search for The People’s Stokvel and you will be ready to go.

A Bit Of History

We started this journey in November of 2017 as The Brownsense Stokvel and have evolved since then. Initially our main objective was to fund return yielding assets for black owned businesses. We have put a sizable amount of capital into this endeavor and some of these assets have already yielded results. In line with becoming a CFI, the board chose to have the stokvel function exactly like the CFI would, so as to allow us to start prep for the inevitable registration of our CFI. With this, it means that we have focussed all of our attention on purchase order funding.

The Road To A Bank

We started off by wanting a Co-Op Bank within 5 years. It looks more likely to be a Mutual Bank by Then

Stokvel

This is where we are right now (transitioning to stage 2). We have a R100 a month stokvel that buys us assets on The People’s Fund. The members & proceeds of these assets are the human and financial capital we will need to get to stage 2

Co-operative Financial Institution

This is a saving and credit union that is registered with the Co-operative Banks Development Agency (CBDA) within national Treasury (with new Twin Peaks Regulation, with The Prudential Authority at The Reserve Bank). This institution is able to take deposits and offer credit to its members.
Requirements: 200 Members, R100 000 in capital.
Status: We lodged an application to register in September 2018. We have the members and the capital (Over R700k collected in contributions from members to date)for it. We are currently consulting with the CBDA to ensure a smooth registration with the Prudential Authority.

Co-Operative Bank

This is very similar to a CFI, the major difference being that the minimum capital requirement is R1 000 000 and for all intents & purposes it is a bank for it’s members to draw credit from as well as them equally owning it.
Requirements: 200 members
R1million in capital Reserves
Expected Application Date: December 2019

Learn More About CFIs

Co-Operatives Bank Act

Mutual Bank

A mutual bank is the middle ground between a cooperative bank and full commercial bank. It is licensed to take deposits by the Reserve Bank, but unlike a commercial bank, each depositor owns a piece of the bank, can share in its dividends and has a voting right at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Unlike a Co-operative bank, Mutual banks have strict capital reserve requirements as well as strict regulation very similar to that of a commercial bank.
Requirements: R10million in reserves for registration
Expected Registration Date: December 2022

Commercial Bank

This is a fully fledged bank, governed and registered with the reserve bank. These are strictly regulated and are the corner stone of the economy. Unlike a mutual bank; these are not owned by the depositors but rather shareholders. All are public companies with very high reserve requirements.
Requirements: R250million in capital reserves for registration
Expected Registration Date: December 2025

Mutual Banks Act

Banks Act

The stokvel is
Managed on The Stokfella App

In the age of digital, we have our stokvel managed on Stokfella, a mobile Financial Services Provider regulated by the Financial Services Board (FSB Number: 48812 ) and the beauty is that it is 100% Black Owned. All purchases of the Assets for The People’s Fund; statements of balance, deposits into the stokvel and administration is done through the app. Once inside the app, click on the blue plus button, select ‘Join Group” in the search box, search for ‘The People’s Stokvel’ and you will be approved in no time.

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