What is a pardner?

How a pardner works

The group settles the amount and the order before anyone pays. Then it runs like this:

1. The group agrees how much everyone pays and how often.
2. They agree the order, so each person knows when their turn comes.
3. Everyone pays in each round, and the banker collects the money.
4. One person takes the whole pot that round.
5. It ends when everyone has had a turn. Some groups then start again.

Your place in the order changes what the pardner does for you. If your turn comes early, it’s like an interest-free loan from the group. If it comes late, you’ve been saving up. To set one up, see how to start a pardner.

What the words mean

Pardner or pardna

The savings circle itself. You will also see partner, partner hand, pardner hand and pardner scheme. Each member can be called a pardner too.

Hand or draw

The pot of money one person takes in a round. A hand can also mean one place in the pardner, and some members hold two.

Pardner money

The money paid into a pardner. People often say it when they mean the pardner itself.

Banker

The person who collects the money and pays out the pot. Groups pick someone they trust, since that person holds the money until it’s paid out.

Where the pardner came from

The pardner is closely tied to the Windrush Generation. The Bank of England Museum says many of them were denied loans and bank accounts in Britain because they had no UK credit history, and that made a mortgage nearly impossible. The Caribbean community turned to the pardner to support one another.

The practice is older than that. Museumand, the National Caribbean Heritage Museum, describes it as a centuries-old scheme that began in Africa and was taken to the Caribbean by enslaved Africans. It says the pardner helped many Caribbean people save, take out loans and buy property, and that it is still widely used today.

Is a pardner the same as ajo, esusu or susu?

Yes. They’re the same basic idea, and the formal name is a rotating savings and credit association, or ROSCA. MoneyHelper treats them as one type whatever they’re called. The detail changes from group to group, such as who holds the money and how the order is set. In Trinidad it’s a sou-sou, Nigerians say ajo and esusu, and South Asian families have the kameti. Our list of savings circle names around the world has the rest.

Is a pardner safe?

That depends on the people in it. According to MoneyHelper, these schemes are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. If the money is lost, you may not get it back. Our guide to whether a pardner is legal explains what that means.

There are two obvious ways it can go wrong:

• Someone takes their hand early, then stops paying, and the people still waiting lose out.
• The banker loses track of the money, or disappears with it.

Circles do collapse. A study of savings circles in urban Benin found that over two years about one in three groups had enforcement problems, and two thirds of those collapsed. That study covers one city in West Africa, so it can’t tell you how often British pardners fail. If it happens to your group, here’s what to do when someone stops paying.

This guide is general information and isn’t legal or financial advice.

Where CircleSave fits

CircleSave keeps the record for your pardner. Everyone can see who has paid and whose turn is next, and members get reminders on WhatsApp. We never hold the money, because members pay whoever’s turn it is directly. We can’t promise everyone will pay. A circle can have up to 10 people.