How Informal Banking Schemes Empower Entire Communities
In ‘The Banker Ladies’, meet three Black women creating diverse financial services through Rotating Saving and Credit Associations.
At the start of the short film The Banker Ladies, Post Growth Fellow Dr. Caroline Shenaz Hossein shares a powerful anecdote. Fran St. Fleur, a Haitian-Canadian living in Toronto, went to his bank to deposit a cheque for $9,000. Instead of providing this basic service, the teller called the police and Fran was arrested on suspicion of fraud. The cheque was legitimate, and the bank issued an apology. This story is just one example of anti-black racism in commercial banking — and a reason diverse financial services are so crucial.
Created by the Diverse Solidarity Economies Collective, The Banker Ladies tells the stories of Ginelle, Aisha, and Mabinty, three Black women in Toronto creating diverse financial services for their communities through Rotating Saving and Credit Associations (ROSCAs). Known by diverse cultural names, these self-managed money collectives are fundamentally anchored in reciprocity and community development. What’s more, such schemes are a living example of post-growth approaches to savings and finance — a socially and economically sustainable part of the commons, rather than charity.
While each woman’s story is unique, they reveal the transformative power of alternative banking. For Ginelle, the susu has changed her relationship to money, bringing humanity to monetary exchange and connecting each member to something bigger. For Asha, the ayuuto gave her the strength and support she needed to find her feet in a new and unfamiliar country. And Mabinty has discovered a sense of stability and independence that sets an inspiring model for her children and, she hopes, for generations to come.
Based on Dr. Caroline Shenaz Hossein’s research, the film reveals a Black Social Economy with ROSCAs at its very core. Though hidden in the social economy, ROSCAs contribute to Canada’s legacy of mutual aid and economic cooperation.
Three things you can do right now:
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- Find out more about Caroline Shenaz Hossein’s research on her website, and order her book: Politicized Microfinance: Money, Power, and Violence in the Black Americas.
- Start or join your own Rotating Saving and Credit Association! Here’s how they work.
Post Growth Fellow, Dr. Caroline Shenaz Hossein is Associate Professor of Global Development and Political Science at the University of Toronto Scarborough, founder of the Diverse Solidarity Economies Collective, and a Post Growth Fellow.
In March 2021 she delivered the Big Thinking Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences lecture, “Canada’s hidden cooperative system: The legacy of the Black Banker Ladies”. Dr. Hossein is a board member of the International Association of Feminist Economics, on the editorial board of the UN Task Force for the Social and Solidarity Economy and board chair of the Miami Institute. An author of numerous books and articles, her co-edited book Community Economies in the Global South will be out in 2022.
Find out more about the Post Growth Institute on our website.
