Group savings
Making saving together safe, transparent, and stress free
Group name
Context
When we launched Ejara’s savings products, one of the strongest signals we got from users was a desire to save together. Some wanted to invite friends or family members to a personal goal, while others, especially cooperatives wanted something that mirrored their familiar tontine (A traditional group savings system popular in many African communities) model but without the risks.
Tontines, while popular, come with problems: administrators running away with funds, lack of transparency, and disputes over contributions. I saw an opportunity to reimagine this experience digitally, making it secure, transparent, and aligned with our value proposition.
Role
Product Designer
Company
Ejara (fintech)
Duration
5 months
Year
2024
Extending Personal Goals
My first attempt was simple: allow someone to create a personal goal and then later add members to it. It felt like the most straightforward path.
But when I walked through this idea with our engineers, they pushed back. According to them, personal and group goals would have to be structured differently in the system, and forcing them into the same framework would create chaos.
Goal details
Rent a new home
250,000 XAF
Dec 27, 2024
Save
100%
Amount saved
250,000 XAF
Cash bonus
Your savings earn bonuses!
View
14:45
Last transaction
See all
Deposit
Completed
30,000 XAF
09:23 AM
Woohoo! 🎉 You’ve hit the target amount!
Increase the amount to continue saving.
Invite your members
Invite others to save with you.
Invite
The Second Iteration: Groups first, Goals right after
So we flipped the approach. Instead of starting with a goal, users would create a group first, give it a name, set the type of relationship (family, friends, coworkers), and then invite members with a link. Only after the group was formed could they create a savings goal together.
This felt cleaner, but something still bothered me...
14:45
Goals savings
Personal savings
Save for your personal goals.
View
Group savings
Add a group and invite others to save.
Create a goal
14:45
The Siblings
Group savings
Start a group goal and invite others to save with you.
One Group, multiple Goals
As the group admin, you can set up more than one goal within the same group.
Validators approval required
Appoint 2 validators for each group. Their approval will be required for withdrawals or breaking of group goals.
Group limit
Groups are limited to 20 members.
Earn up to 5% cash bonus
Only for each goal set for 3 months or more.
Individual withdrawal not allowed
Individual members cannot withdraw their contributions separately.
Cash bonus payment
Cash bonus is paid to the group on the target date.
Savings security
Your savings are secured by government bonds.
Agree and continue
Create a group
Group name
The Odili’s
Relationship type
Family
Create group
14:45
Invite members
Saving together is more fun!
You can only have 20 members in a group, so you have 19 more members to invite.
Invite via contact
Copy invite link
14:45
Making It Truly Collaborative
One day, scrolling through Instagram, I saw a reel, a mother and daughter texting about bills and contributions essentially a family running a mini financial system over chat. That struck me. Families and friend groups don’t have just one goal; they juggle many. Rent. School fees. A holiday trip. Medical expenses. It felt like a burden to force them to create a whole new group for every single goal.
That led to my third iteration: multiple goals within a group. Suddenly, the structure matched real life — one group, many goals, all managed transparently. The team bought into the idea immediately.
To make it feel like real-time group savings, we built in validators. While only the group admin could withdraw funds when a goal reached its target, withdrawals had to be approved by selected validators, and all members would be notified. That way, no single person had unchecked control — a direct answer to the trust issues in traditional tontines.
Group details page
14:45
The Emeralds
12 members
2 goals
Total contribution
25,000 XAF
Save
Savings milestones 🎉
Halfway
30 days streak
High achiever
7 days streak
Monthly streak
About group
See all
Relationship type
Family
Validators
@Kage . @Pmhacker
The Emerald’s goal
14:45
Ongoing
Completed
Broken
Rent a new home
Dec 27, 2024
25,000
of 250,000 XAF
49%
2025 Maldive Vacation
Dec 27, 2024
25,000
of 250,000 XAF
49%
Create a new group
HF
Hello Jean!👋🏾
Wallet balance
XAF
50,000
Cash in
Cash out
Jumpstart with Ejara!
1/4
Withdrawal updates
Email verification required
Verify your email
Increase your limits
Unlock higher transaction limits.
Complete your verification
Last transaction
Cash in
Orange Money
Completed
5,000 XAF
09:23 AM
Expanding your possibilities !
Soon, you can pay your CNP+8S contributions directly in our app!
14:45
Wallet
You’re invited to join
a group savings!
Serge invited you to join his ‘The odili’s’ group savings.
+8 members
Decline
Join group
Group goal savings
Created
Joined
14:45
Emeralds
12 members
Mag & siblings
12 members
Club 60s
3 members
The facko
4 members
Create a new group
Reflection
This was one of the most interesting products I worked on. It stretched me beyond just designing screens; it pushed me to think about culture, trust, and collaboration in money management.
Even though I didn’t get to see its full performance in the market, I made it a point to speak with colleagues and gather their feedback. The excitement they had about its potential reassured me that this product had a strong future especially in communities where tontines are not just financial tools but social ones.
Thank you for reading
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