Banks see stokvel boom amid lockdown
Data from financial services group Nedbank reveal that collective savings accounts – stokvels – are not only seeing a continued increase in new applications, but a rapid adoption of digital channels due to the shift in banking behaviour during the lockdown.
The data also shows women are the best savers, making up 55% of the 170 017 stokvel account members in South Africa.
Sisandile Cikido, head of retail investments at Nedbank, said with restrictions on movement and gatherings, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted stokvel members to adopt digital payment methods.
Cikido said EFT deposits increased by 134% year on year in the stokvel market. “The COVID-19 pandemic might have limited our interactions due to … social distancing, but this does not mean that we should stop saving as we usually do. We need to adapt our practices to our circumstances and one way is to adopt digital ways of banking.”
FNB last month said despite expectations of a decline in stokvel savings from March, stokvels have grown by double digits compared to last March.
Data from the National Stokvel Association of South Africa shows there are about 810 000 active stokvel groups, with over 11-million participants, collecting about R50-billion a year.