Rotating Savings and Credit Associations : A Case Study of ‘Panampayattu’

ROSCA is a type of money exchange system which provides financial assistance to low income people by combining credit and savings and thereby improving the standard of living of the people. All ROSCAs are closely linked to informal financial sector during their inception and later most of the ROSCAs are brought forward to formal financial System. The present study focus on ‘Panampayattu, (a type of ROSCA prevailing in northern Malabar area in the Indian state of Kerala). The study shows that panampayattu has a huge scope to be the potential product in the product mix of financial institutions like banks. The study also lays out the comparative advantages of panampayattu with respect to other popular financial products in meeting the financial requirements of the low income people