About Banasave
Savings groups have existed for centuries.
We gave them infrastructure.
Banasave modernises the age-old ajo, susu, esusu, and tontine tradition — bringing transparency, accountability, and structure to communities that have always saved together.
Our mission
Make community savings as reliable as a bank — without the bank
Rotating savings groups represent one of the most widespread forms of informal finance in the world. Hundreds of millions of people participate globally. Yet they have been almost entirely ignored by fintech.
Most savings apps are built for individuals. Most community finance tools are built for NGOs. Nobody built one for the WhatsApp group running a susu every month.
Banasave sits in that gap — consumer-grade simplicity, community-first design, with the transparency and accountability that informal systems have always lacked.
12+
Countries
50k+
Active members
$2M+
Savings managed
98%
On-time payouts
WhatsApp reminders
Chasing 12 people individually every month
Google Sheets ledger
One person controls all the data — no transparency
Cash handoffs
No record, no receipt, no audit trail
Word of mouth
Disputes with no way to verify who is right
The problem
Informal systems built on trust have no infrastructure
Traditional rotating savings groups are managed informally — through WhatsApp messages, handwritten ledgers, and word of mouth. This creates real problems.
No transparency. No accountability. No record. When something goes wrong — and it does — there is no audit trail, no arbitration, and no way to rebuild the trust that made the group possible in the first place.
Our values
What we believe
Community first
Every product decision starts with the same question: does this make the savings circle experience better for the people in it?
Radical transparency
Every member of a group sees the same data. No information asymmetry. No hidden ledgers. What the admin sees, every member sees.
Culturally grounded
We didn't invent rotating savings — communities did. Our job is to honour that tradition and give it the infrastructure it deserves.
Built for trust
Informal savings groups run on trust. We earn a place in that ecosystem by never taking a cut of payouts and never holding funds ourselves.
Our story
How we got here
Founded in London after a family susu dispute that could have been avoided with better tooling.
Launched closed beta with 50 groups across the UK and Ghana. Processed our first £100k in savings.
Public launch. Expanded to Nigeria, France, and Canada. 10,000 members in the first quarter.
KYC verification launched. Groups now processing over $2M in savings. Growing across 12 countries.
The team
Built by people who understand community
We are a small team with deep roots in the communities we serve.
Aisha Oyelaran
Co-founder & CEO
Former fintech product lead. Grew up watching her mother manage the family ajo on a notebook.
Kofi Mensah
Co-founder & CTO
Built payments infrastructure at scale. Passionate about financial inclusion across the diaspora.
Fatou Diallo
Head of Product
Previously led product at a pan-African payments startup. Obsessed with simplicity.
James Okonkwo
Head of Compliance
15 years in financial regulation. Ensures Banasave operates safely and transparently in every market.
Ready to start saving together?
Set up your first savings group in under 5 minutes. Free forever for up to 10 members.