Metshelo are a traditional and informal savings system in which members contribute funds on a monthly basis and share the returns in cash or kind on an agreed date.Being unofficial, however, many such cooperatives have fallen through the cracks in commercial bank products, often being forced to open corporate accounts and thus incur commercial charges incongruent with motshelo saving objective.Those that opt to save in one member's bank account, also find that the charges for the numerous deposits and withdrawals associated with the motshelo's activities draw high charges or the suspicion of banking officials.
Last week, Barclays announced that it had come to the rescue, establishing a product it described as a "safe place," for metshelo. Explaining the product, Barclays Motshelo Product Manager, Shepherd Kgafela, said the new product, known as the Group Savers Account, is an attempt by the bank to bridge a gap identified in the market."We realised that people are trying to make life easier for themselves through motshelo but the traditional way of saving is not safe because they normally keep their money at home which is risky," he said."Also keeping the money at home could lead to any group member being tempted to use it."
