Sou-sou funds should not be turned away by the banks. Local economist Roger Hosein and activist Attillah Springer have both argued that the informal savings arrangement should be considered as legitimate by the banking system.
Last week, Karen Darbasie, chief executive officer of State bank First Citizens and president of the Bankers Association, said that sou-sou funds would not be accepted as a source of income in the midst of the rush to change the old $100 bills to the new polymer $100.
This had long been a practice in local banks, but Hosein said the sou-sou practice is so widely used, it cannot be ignored.
“I can understand that banking system may not want to accept sums of money from people who illegitimately come with these sums of money but I don’t know if sou-sou, if it can be traced,” said Hosein, who said he was raised with his parents using the sou-sou system and still uses it to this day.
“I am of the view, this is not an unusual type of activity of Trinidad and Tobago and therefore it should be considered in the realm of resources to be put into deposits,” he said.
However, Springer said banks internationally have recognised the practice as a form of savings.
“In New York, for the past 30 or 40 years of Caribbean into New York, banks in the New York have been forced to acknowledge that sou-sou is a form of savings club for Caribbean people and African Americans and Africans who have come into the system as migrants. To be able to save their money, to be able to buy houses,” said Springer.
She expressed disappointment that this recognition has not yet come in a multicultural society such as ours, where these informal arrangements have been practised for multiple generations.
“Part of that acknowledgement is to understand that there are different types of banking that exists in different parts of the world. And the fact that we have not acknowledged this yet is a bit alarming and a bit concerning because there are a lot of people who do use it.”
Springer explained that the sou-sou has even evolved to the point that they actually utilise the banks to some extent.
“Right now there are lots of sou sous that are being run which don’t have any money passing your hand.
“You make a deposit to the bank and then you sign the deposit and the person who is the banker, the person who is responsible gives you your money digitally through the bank,” said Springer.
One sou-sou user, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they favoured the sou-sou over banking due to the fees attached to having a bank account.
“Besides not being able to add interest to my money in the bank, I also have to pay to keep my money in the bank.
“Through sou-sou, I get to save my money without being charged (the box money is far less than the bank charges) and I don’t see or can’t interfere with that money till it’s my turn,” they said.
