Steem4Nigeriaccelerator Contest Week 126: My experience with daily contribution collectors (DCCs)

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Do you know Daily contribution collectors? What is your experience with them?

Well, I have heard of daily contribution collectors, usually referred to as "ajo," "esusu," or thrift collectors, in most places. They are individuals who visit business owners and traders with a hand in order to collect small amounts of money on a daily basis only to deposit the cumulative savings after a certain number of days agreed by the people involved and in most cases after subtracting a small percentage. I am aware that small business owners like them as they can now save easily and in a more disciplined manner.

Even though I have never worked as a collector and even been a member, I have found that a lot of traders use them to take care of their daily savings. There are instances when people have had a good experience since the system helps them to save regularly without having to visit a bank. But it has not been so pleasant with others as some are reported to have disappeared with money or not to refund the entire amount as promised.

How long have you been with them? Can you recommend people to them?

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I have never worked directly with a day-in day-out contribution collector, but I have personally known individuals who have used such systems over a number of years. Once they get to the place of trust, many business owners remain with a particular collector. In this kind of arrangement, trust is highly essential as most of the agreements are founded on personal relationships as opposed to the written agreements.

I would advise individuals to a collector only when the collector is well known in the community, he or she has a good reputation and has proved to be very dependable over time. Absence of trust and good track record would be risky to recommend others because any issue would impact on both parties of the participants and the one who did the recommending.

Do you think every business owner should join daily contribution collectors?

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Not all entrepreneurs ought to be included in the daily contribution collectors despite the fact that the system can be beneficial. It is based on the person and the kind of business. Daily contributions help some individuals to be disciplined and easily save towards business targets, like resilience of goods or expansion of businesses. Conversely, other business people can want to keep their money in a bank where they are guaranteed that it is safer and well documented.

Daily contribution systems have a certain degree of risks, particularly in cases where his agreement has not been finalized and there is no law to safeguard him. As such, on the one hand, some contribution collectors on a daily basis may help, on the other hand, business owners need to weigh the risks before becoming a member.

If the collector dies, will you forfeit your money or ask the relative to pay you, hence there's no written agreement?

In case a collector dies, things may be complicated and in the event that there is no written agreement. Ideally, the money should be repaid to the contributors by the family or relatives of the collector as this is not the personal property of the collector. But unless it is well documented, it can be hard to show the degree of contribution made by individual.

In this situation, the donors would probably attempt to get the money back by talking to the relatives or elites of the collector. There is a possibility of losing the money all the time when there is no clear record. This is why it is essential that the participants retain their own records and, presumably, have some kind of written agreement in order to insure their input.

Thanks for reading my post I'm inviting @pea07, @abdullahw2 and @mesola to participate.