Circle Save
Rotational saving group management with automated processing
Rotating savings groups have existed for centuries. In Nigeria, they're called Ajo or Esusu. In other parts of Africa and Asia, different names, same idea: a group of people pool money together, and each month one member takes the full pot. It works because of trust and community accountability.
The problem is everything around it is currently manual. Endless WhatsApp messages to confirm contributions, Excel sheets managed by a single person, no formal receipts, and zero audit trails. When a dispute happens or someone misses a payment, there's no record to point to.
I built Circle Save to fix that.
It's a full-stack web app that digitizes the entire lifecycle of a rotating savings group: group creation, secure user onboarding, automated contribution tracking, payment reminders, and multi-role dashboards (User, Admin, Owner) for complete transparency.
The Tech Stack:
Frontend: React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
Backend: Node.js, Express.js, MongoDB
Payments & Infrastructure: Monnify API, AWS Cognito (MFA Auth), AWS S3 (Secure KYC Document Storage), and CloudWatch/Winston for compliance logging.
This was a solo build and my first time integrating a live payment gateway into a production application. Interestingly, the hardest part wasn't the payment gateway it was modeling the edge-case contribution rotation logic so the correct person gets paid the right amount at the right time, regardless of late joiners or missed months.
It's live and open to use. No revenue yet, I initially built it as a serious portfolio project, but the informal savings market across Africa is massive and ripe for digitization.
I would love feedback from anyone who has built fintech tools, handled automated recurring payments, or worked in markets where informal savings groups are common!
Live Demo: https://circle-save.onrender.com
GitHub Repository: https://github.com/Tapetal/Circle-Save
1 Comment
Interesting build.
The thing I'd be careful with is assuming the challenge is digitizing the process itself.
The harder decision may be which part of the existing trust system actually needs to be replaced versus preserved.
That sounds subtle, but it can quietly shape adoption, onboarding, and who becomes the first real customer.
I wouldn't make that call casually in a thread.