SmartChama
Digital savings and loan management for African savings groups.
Built by my team and me; now part of NeuroGrowth's product line.
- Lenny Kidavi, Rachael, Shilla, Nanjoli
- 2026
- Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Solidity, Ethereum
Overview
Digital platform for Kenyan chama savings groups, automating M-Pesa contribution tracking, internal loans, Merry-Go-Round rotation schedules, and smart-contract verification.
Key features
- Automated M-Pesa contribution tracking and internal loan management
- Merry-Go-Round rotation schedule coordination
- Solidity/Ethereum smart-contract security layer
Story
Chamas run on trust, but most still track contributions, loans and Merry-Go-Round turns in notebooks and WhatsApp threads, so it's hard for members to see where the money is. My team and I built SmartChama to make that automatic and visible: M-Pesa contributions are tracked as they come in, internal loans and rotation schedules are managed in one place, and a Solidity smart-contract layer records the group's rules so no single person can quietly change them.
The hardest part was the M-Pesa integration. The API is difficult to work with, but we got it working: members now pay with an M-Pesa STK push, and their contributions show up in the group's records as they happen.
Screens
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