Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game was played with just 20 cards, today it is usually played with a standard deck, although in countries where short packs are common, it may be played with 32, 40 or 48 cards. Thus poker games vary in deck configuration, the number of cards in play, the number dealt face up or face down, and the number shared by all players, but all have rules that involve one or more rounds of betting.
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient. ID Ghana is an example of a microfinance institution.
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal.
A tontine is an investment linked to a living person which provides an income for as long as that person is alive. Such schemes originated as plans for governments to raise capital in the 17th century and became relatively widespread in the 18th and 19th centuries.
A friendly society is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose. Before modern insurance and the welfare state, friendly societies provided financial and social services to individuals, often according to their religious, political, or trade affiliations. These societies are still widespread in many parts of the developing world, where they are referred to as ROSCAs, ASCAs, burial societies, chit funds, etc.
A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits.
The 1967 Alberta general election was held on May 23, 1967, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to the 16th Alberta Legislature. The election was called after the 15th Alberta Legislature was prorogued on April 11, 1967, and dissolved on April 14, 1967.
A chit fund is a type of rotating savings and credit association system practiced in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and other Asian countries. Chit fund schemes may be organized by financial institutions, or informally among friends, relatives, or neighbours. In some variations of chit funds, the savings are for a specific purpose. Chit funds are often microfinance organizations.
A mutual savings bank is a financial institution chartered by a central or regional government, without capital stock, owned by its members who subscribe to a common fund. From this fund, claims, loans, etc., are paid. Profits after deductions are shared among the members. The institution is intended to provide a safe place for individual members to save and to invest those savings in mortgages, loans, stocks, bonds and other securities and to share in any profits or losses that result.
Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.
Susu collectors are a traditional form of financial intermediaries in Africa, predominantly in Ghana. For a small fee they provide an informal means for Ghanaians to securely save and access their own money, and gain some limited access to credit, a form of microfinance. Money looked after for an individual by a Susu collector is held in a Susu account.
A rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) is a group of individuals who agree to meet for a defined period in order to save and borrow together, a form of combined peer-to-peer banking and peer-to-peer lending.
Stokvels are invitation-only clubs of twelve or more people serving as rotating credit unions or saving schemes in South Africa where members contribute fixed sums of money to a central fund on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. The name “stokvel” originated from the term “stock fairs”, as the rotating cattle auctions of English settlers in the Eastern Cape during the early 19th century were known.
An arisan is a form of Rotating Savings and Credit Association in Indonesian culture, a form of Microfinance.
The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants have had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP held circuit events in other locations, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. The inaugural WSOPE, held in 2007, marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas.
A susu or sou-sou or osusu or asue ) is a form of rotating savings and credit association, a type of informal savings club arrangement between a small group of people who take turns by "throwing hand", as the partners call it. The name is used in Africa and the Caribbean. The basic principle is that each member of the group makes a standard contribution to a common fund once per some time period. Then each period the total contributions are disbursed to a single member of the group. The recipient changes each period in a rotating fashion such that all the members of the group are eventually recipients. Participants of a susu do not make a profit, but receive their contributions as a lump sum and is a forms of savings clubs.
Collaborative finance is a category of financial transaction that occurs directly between individuals without the intermediation of a traditional financial institution. This new way to manage informal financial transactions has been enabled by advances in social media and peer-to-peer online platforms. The wide variety of collaborative finance resources may vary not only in their organizational and operational aspects, but also by geographical region, share of the financial market etc. It is precisely this heterogeneity that enables the informal savings and credit activity to profitably reach those income-groups not served by commercial banks and other financial institutions. It is their informality, adaptability and flexibility of operations – characteristics which reduce their transactions costs and confers upon them their comparative advantage and economic rationale. Collaborative Finance is characterized by highly personalized loan transactions entailing face-to-face dealings with borrowers and flexibility in respect of loan purpose, interest rates, collateral requirements, maturity periods and debt rescheduling.
A Tanda is the Latin American term for an informal rotating savings and credit association (ROSCAS). They are operated globally, but have over 200 different names that vary from country to country. This economic activity is practiced among various groups of people which are also known as cundinas (Mexico), susu/Osusu, hui (Asia), juntas (Peru), cuchubales, pollas (Chile), arisan (Indonesia), main kutu (Malaysia), pandeiros (Brazil), paluwagan (Philippines), Stokvel, Syndicate(Belize), committee or quiniela. An English name for such an association is a partnerhand. In short, a tanda is a form of a short-term no-interest loan among a group of friends and family.
A Chama is an informal cooperative society that is normally used to pool and invest savings by people in East Africa, and particularly Kenya. The chama phenomenon is also referred to as "micro-savings groups". "Chama" is the Kiswahili word for "group" or "body". The chama phenomenon arose out of the idea of harambee, which means "all together", in the late 1980s and 1990s. Originally, chamas tended to be exclusively women's groups, but as chamas started to grow in sophistication and success, men started participating in chamas as well. The chama structure is used throughout Africa, but is particularly popular in Kenya where the word originated. In Kenya there are estimated to be 300,000 chamas managing a total of KSH 300 billion in assets. Chamas are known for their exclusivity. In order to join, new members are typically subjected to extensive interviews and must have assurances or guarantees made for them by an existing member. Some sources have estimated that one in three Kenyans is a chama member.
London Community Credit Union Limited is a member-owned and led financial co-operative, operating in the London boroughs of Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and the City of London. It has over 17,000 members and 4 branch offices in Bethnal Green, Poplar, Hackney and Stratford.
