The problem Blockchain for Savings Groups solves

The project aims to bring savings groups onto the blockchain. Savings groups face multiple challenges, including weak governance, poor record-keeping, a lack of trust in management, loan defaults, competition from other financial institutions, slow decision-making processes, and low financial inclusion. The operations of many of these savings groups are inefficient as they are largely manual (i.e., paper-based), and a few others store their records on personal computer files. Going on-chain provides savings groups with increased trust through transparency of transactions and operations, increased efficiency resulting from faster decision-making and shorter processing times, reduced errors, and enhanced security to minimize fraud. These challenges can be addressed with blockchain technology.

Challenges I ran into

The challenge encountered while defining the project is that it will require the development of both the back-end and the front-end to solve the project problem. I plan to overcome this challenge by rolling out the project in a phased approach and then partnering with other developers to complete the front-end of the project.

The other challenge is that this project may not be viable for savings groups or communities that are not tech-savvy, i.e., characterized by low education levels, low literacy, and low numeracy levels. I plan to overcome this challenge by starting with savings groups formed by work colleagues, school or college mates, business associates, social club members, sports and leisure enthusiasts, etc., who are likely to be more tech-savvy. The less tech-savvy groups would be considered at a later phase after conducting sufficient member education.

In addition, the project will not be viable in communities with poor or no internet connectivity. An offline application will be assessed at a later stage to address this challenge.