What is ChamaBiz?
ChamaBiz is a web-based chama management platform built for Kenyan savings groups. It helps chamas track contributions, manage loans, issue fines, send M-Pesa payment requests, export financial reports, and communicate with members — all in one place.
Contributions
Record and track member contributions by cash, M-Pesa, bank transfer, or cheque with full history and filtering.
Loans
Apply for loans, approve them as admin, and track repayments with automatic interest calculation.
Fines
Issue and manage fines for late contributions, missed meetings, or other violations. Members pay via M-Pesa.
M-Pesa STK Push
Send payment requests directly to members' phones. Payments are automatically recorded when confirmed.
Reports
Generate financial summaries and export as PDF, Excel, or CSV for record-keeping and audits.
E-Wallet
Each member and the group has a digital wallet for tracking funds, deposits, and withdrawals.
User Roles & Permissions
ChamaBiz uses role-based access control. Every member has a role within each chama that determines what they can see and do.
| Feature | Admin | Treasurer | Secretary | Member |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| View dashboard | ||||
| Record contributions | ||||
| Approve / reject loans | ||||
| Apply for a loan | ||||
| Issue fines | ||||
| Send M-Pesa STK push | ||||
| Invite / remove members | ||||
| Change member roles | ||||
| Edit chama settings | ||||
| Archive / delete chama | ||||
| Download reports (PDF/Excel) | ||||
| View investments |
Sign Up & Login
Creating an account takes less than a minute. You can log in with your email, phone number, or username.
Go to Sign Up
Visit /signup/ and fill in your full name, email address, phone number, and a password (minimum 6 characters).
Submit the form
Your account is created immediately — no email verification required. You are logged in automatically.
Create or join a chama
Once logged in you can create your own chama or wait for an admin to invite you to an existing one. You can be a member of multiple chamas at the same time.
0712345678), or your auto-generated username. Forgot your password? Visit /forgot-password/.Dashboard
The dashboard is your home screen. It shows your active chama's financial summary, member balances, quick access links, and upcoming meetings.
Stat Cards
Shows Total Contributions, Outstanding Loans, Active Members, and Next Meeting at a glance.
Group Information Panel
Displays cash at bank, total contributions, outstanding loans, and a 12-month trend chart.
Balances Table
Lists all members with their contribution paid amount and arrears. Click View all for the full contributions page.
Quick Access Grid
One-click shortcuts to Members, Contributions, M-Pesa, Loans, Reports, PDF/Excel exports, My Profile, New Chama, and Logout.
Upcoming Meetings
Any scheduled meetings appear here. Admins can schedule from the Settings page.
Your Profile & KYC
Your profile holds your personal details, payment information, notification preferences, KYC verification status, credit score, and a full view of your chama memberships.
Header Stats
Total contributed, active loan balance, outstanding fines, and payment rate — all at a glance across all chamas.
Credit Score
A score from 0–850 based on contribution consistency, outstanding fines, and active chamas. A higher score improves loan eligibility.
Personal Details
National ID, KRA PIN, M-Pesa number, bank, occupation, and location. Click Edit → to update.
Notifications & Preferences
Toggle M-Pesa alerts, SMS reminders, email reports (frequency), and Two-Factor Auth.
My Chamas & Contribution Trend
View all your active chamas with your role and contribution amount, plus a 6-month bar chart of your contributions.
Add National ID and KRA PIN
Go to Edit Profile → KYC & Identity section and fill in your National ID number and KRA PIN.
Submit KYC
Click the orange Submit KYC button on your profile page. Your status changes to Pending Review.
Await verification
Once verified, your status shows Verified with a green badge and your credit score improves.
Contributions
Contributions are the regular savings members make to the chama. Admins and treasurers record contributions; all members can view them.
Open Contributions
Navigate via sidebar → Contributions or /chama/<id>/contributions/.
Click + Record Contribution
Select the member, enter the amount, choose a payment method (M-Pesa, Cash, Bank, Cheque), and optionally add a reference number and notes.
Set status
Choose Confirmed, Pending, or Rejected. Confirmed contributions count in financial summaries. M-Pesa contributions via STK Push are auto-confirmed.
Loans
Members can apply for loans from the chama pool. Admins and treasurers review applications, approve or reject them, and record repayments.
Open Loans
Navigate via sidebar → Loans and click + New Loan Application or Apply for First Loan.
Fill the application
Enter amount, interest rate, repayment term (months), purpose, and description.
Wait for approval
Loan status shows as Pending Approval. An admin or treasurer will review and approve or reject it.
Repay your loan
Make repayments via M-Pesa STK Push or have a treasurer record cash/bank payments. The system tracks your remaining balance automatically.
Fines & Penalties
Admins and treasurers can issue fines to members for late contributions, missed meetings, or other violations. Members can pay fines via M-Pesa.
| Reason | Description |
|---|---|
late_contribution | Contribution received after the due date |
missed_contribution | Contribution not made at all for a period |
meeting_absence | Member was absent from a scheduled meeting |
other | Any other reason specified by the admin |
M-Pesa Payments
ChamaBiz integrates with Safaricom's Daraja API to send STK Push payment requests directly to members' phones. No manual transfers needed.
Admin initiates a push
Enter the member's M-Pesa number (format 254XXXXXXXXX), amount, and select payment type (Contribution or Loan Repayment).
Member receives a prompt
The member's phone shows a payment prompt with the chama name and amount.
Member enters their PIN
Payment is processed through M-Pesa and the receipt number is returned.
Auto-recorded in ChamaBiz
A contribution or loan repayment is automatically created with the M-Pesa receipt as reference. Status is set to Confirmed.
E-Wallet
ChamaBiz provides two wallet types: a personal E-Wallet for each member and a Group Wallet for the chama's pooled funds.
Personal Wallet
Top up via M-Pesa STK Push or record cash/bank deposit. Transfer funds to the group. Request withdrawals (admin approval required). Full transaction history.
Group Wallet (Admin)
View group balance, total received, and total disbursed. Review and approve or reject member withdrawal requests. See all member wallet balances.
Top Up via M-Pesa
Go to E-Wallet → Deposits. Enter your phone number and amount, then click Send STK Push. An M-Pesa prompt will appear on your phone.
Record Cash / Bank Deposit
Select source (Cash, Bank), enter amount and reference number, optionally upload proof, and click Submit for Approval. A treasurer confirms and credits your wallet.
Messaging Hub
Send announcements, reminders, and messages to all chama members or specific individuals directly from ChamaBiz.
Emails
Send internal emails to individual members or the whole group.
SMS
Send SMS messages directly to member phone numbers.
Notifications
In-app alerts and updates visible to members when they log in.
Announcements
Broadcast messages to all chama members at once.
Creating a Chama
Any registered user can create a chama. The creator automatically becomes the Admin.
Click New Chama
From the dashboard Quick Access grid or the sidebar chama selector dropdown → New Chama.
Fill in chama details
Name (required), description, monthly contribution amount, contribution day (1–28), meeting day, and currency (KES, UGX, TZS, USD).
Submit
The chama is created and becomes your active chama. You are automatically added as Admin. Start inviting members right away.
Managing Members
Admins can invite new members, assign roles, and remove members who are no longer part of the chama.
Go to Members
Navigate via sidebar → Members.
Enter member's email and role
The person must already have a ChamaBiz account. Enter their email, select a role (Member, Secretary, Treasurer, Admin), and click + Add Member.
Member is added immediately
They see the chama next time they log in — no invitation email required.
Chama Settings
Only admins can access chama settings. Settings are organized into tabs — Chama, Roles & Permissions, Notifications, Profile, and Billing.
| Section | What you can change |
|---|---|
| Group Identity | Chama name and description |
| Schedule & Contributions | Meeting day, contribution amount, due day of month, max members, late penalty %, loan interest rate % |
| Currency | KES (Kenyan Shilling), UGX (Ugandan Shilling), TZS (Tanzanian Shilling), or USD |
| Danger Zone | Transfer Admin, Archive Chama (freeze activity), Delete Chama (permanent) |
Delete & Restore a Chama
ChamaBiz supports both soft archiving (freeze activity) and hard deletion. Use Archive to pause a chama safely, or Delete to permanently remove it.
Archive
Freezes all activity. Data is preserved but members cannot make contributions, loans, or any transactions. Reversible.
Delete
Permanently deletes the chama and all its data. This cannot be undone. Use with extreme caution.
Reports & Analytics
Generate financial summaries and export them in multiple formats for record-keeping, auditing, or sharing with chama members.
| Export | Contents | Format |
|---|---|---|
| PDF Report | Full summary: members, contributions, loans, financial health | |
| Excel Export | 4 sheets: summary, contributions, members, loans | .xlsx |
| Contributions CSV | All contributions with member details, dates, methods | CSV |
| Members CSV | All members with contribution totals and arrears | CSV |
| Loans CSV | All loans with repayment status and balances | CSV |
Investment Portfolio
Track the chama's investment portfolio with returns, asset class breakdown, and member stake allocation.
Add Investment
Click + Add Investment to record a new investment with asset class, amount, and NAV details.
Member Stakes
Click Member Stakes to view how the portfolio value is allocated across chama members.
Technical Support
Members can raise a technical support ticket directly from ChamaBiz whenever they run into an issue, without leaving the app.
Submit a ticket
Fill in a subject, category (Billing, Technical, or Other), and a description of the issue.
Track status
Every ticket you submit shows up on your own "My Support Tickets" page with its current status.
Owner review
Platform owners see every ticket across all chamas in one place, with filters by status.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Open | Newly submitted, not yet reviewed by the ChamaBiz team. |
| In Progress | The team is actively working on your issue. |
| Resolved | The issue has been addressed and closed. |
Owner Broadcast Messaging
Platform owners can send an announcement to every chama on ChamaBiz — or a hand-picked selection of them — in one action from the Owner Panel.
Compose
Write a title and message, choose a priority level (Normal, Important, Urgent), and pick SMS/email notify flags.
Choose your audience
Send to every active chama on the platform, or select specific chamas from a list.
Broadcast history
A running log of every broadcast sent, its priority, and how many chamas it reached.
A broadcast automatically creates a real Announcement inside every targeted chama's Announcements feed — the same feed members already check for local chama news. To keep the source clear, broadcasts from the platform are shown with a distinct "ChamaBiz Team" badge and a "Platform Broadcast" tag, instead of a regular member's name and avatar.
WhatsApp Bot
Members can message the ChamaBiz WhatsApp number to check their contributions, loans, fines, and chama summary — no login or app required.
Sending "hi" or "menu" to the WhatsApp number brings up a numbered list of options:
- My Contributions
- My Loans
- My Fines
- Chama Summary
- Submit a Support Ticket
- Talk to an Agent
Identity check
The bot matches your WhatsApp number against your ChamaBiz account automatically.
New number?
If your WhatsApp number isn't recognized, the bot asks for your National ID to verify you, then links the new number to your account.
Support tickets
Option 5 walks you through submitting a support ticket right from the chat, in two quick steps.
Owner Settings Panel
A single settings page for platform owners covering integration health, platform-wide configuration, and the owner's own account.
Integrations Status
At-a-glance status for M-Pesa, Airtel Money, PesaLink, Email, Sentry, database engine, and Debug Mode — whether each is configured and ready.
Platform Config
Edit the Growth plan's monthly price, support email and phone number, and toggle site-wide maintenance mode with a custom message.
Account
Update the owner's own name, email, and phone number.
Public Demo Account
A shared, live demo lets anyone explore ChamaBiz's real interface — with real seeded sample data — before signing up, without touching the login/signup flow.
The real app
The demo isn't a mockup — it logs visitors into a real, seeded chama ("ChamaBiz Demo Group") using the same pages every real user sees.
Write-protected
Visitors can view everything, but any attempt to add, edit, or delete data is blocked with a friendly reminder that it's a shared demo.
One click in
The "View Demo" links across the marketing site take visitors straight to a login screen pre-filled with the shared demo credentials.
Platform Revenue
A consolidated view of every payment collected across every chama on the platform, with trends and a per-chama breakdown.
Totals at a glance
Total Revenue, revenue collected This Month, and Total Transactions across every chama.
Revenue Trend
A month-by-month chart of platform revenue, so growth (or dips) are easy to spot.
Top Chamas by Revenue
Ranks chamas by how much they've paid in, with transaction counts and totals for each.
Partner Applications
Organizations interested in partnering with ChamaBiz — SACCOs, NGOs, tech companies, consultants — can apply through the marketing site's Partners page. Applications land here for review.
Organization details
Type of organization, name, contact person, job title, and how they'd like to work together (referrals, reselling, technical integration, co-marketing).
Pending review
New applications start unreviewed. Owners can filter between Pending and Reviewed applications.
Internal notes
Owners can attach private notes to an application, not visible to the applicant.
Newsletter Subscribers
Everyone who signs up through the marketing site's newsletter footer form lands in this list.
Simple capture
Just an email address and the date they subscribed — no separate signup flow to maintain.
Export
Download the full subscriber list as a CSV, ready to import into an email marketing tool.
Audit Log
A running record of admin actions taken across the platform — who did what, when, and to which object.
Pricing Plans
ChamaBiz offers three plans: Starter, Growth, and Enterprise. Starter is free to get going; upgrade to Growth as your chama grows, or contact us for an Enterprise plan tailored to larger organizations.
- Up to 5 members
- Contributions tracking
- Basic loans
- M-Pesa STK Push
- Basic reports
- Unlimited members
- Advanced analytics
- PDF / Excel exports
- Fines automation
- Unlimited members
- WhatsApp reminders
- Advanced analytics
- Fines automation
- Meeting scheduler
- PDF / Excel exports
- Priority support
- Multi-chama dashboard
- Up to 3 chamas
- Everything in Premium
- Unlimited chamas
- Merry-go-round tracker
- Investment tracking
- Custom branding
- API access
- Dedicated account manager
- SLA support
| Feature | Starter | Growth | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Members & Groups | |||
| Max members per chama | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Number of chamas | 1 | 3 | Unlimited |
| Member self-service portal | |||
| Contributions & Finance | |||
| Contributions tracking | |||
| M-Pesa STK Push | |||
| Loans management | Basic | Advanced | Advanced |
| Fines & penalties automation | |||
| Merry-go-round tracker | |||
| Investment tracking | |||
| Communication | |||
| WhatsApp reminders | |||
| SMS notifications | |||
| Meeting scheduler | |||
| Reports & Exports | |||
| Basic reports | |||
| Advanced analytics | |||
| PDF / Excel exports | |||
| API access | |||
| Support | |||
| Support level | Community | Priority email | Dedicated manager |
| Custom branding | |||
URL Reference
All routes available in ChamaBiz. Replace <id> with the chama's numeric ID.
Data Models
Core database models and their key fields. All models are in chamapro/models.py.
| Model | Key Fields | Notes |
|---|---|---|
User | email, phone, national_id, kra_pin, kyc_status, avatar, mpesa_number | Extends Django AbstractUser |
Chama | name, currency, contribution_amount, contribution_day, meeting_day, is_active | is_active=False = archived |
Membership | chama, user, role, joined_at, active | Roles: admin, treasurer, secretary, member |
Contribution | chama, member, amount, payment_method, status, date | Statuses: pending, confirmed, rejected |
Loan | chama, member, amount, interest_rate, term_months, status, due_date | Auto-calculates interest & balance |
LoanRepayment | loan, amount, payment_method, date, status | Loan marked repaid when balance = 0 |
Penalty | chama, member, amount, reason, status, issued_by | Statuses: unpaid, paid, waived |
MpesaTransaction | chama, member, phone, amount, checkout_request_id, status, mpesa_receipt | Links to Contribution or LoanRepayment |
Wallet | chama, member, balance, total_topped_up, total_contributed | Personal wallet per member per chama |
WalletTransaction | wallet, type, amount, reference, status, date | Types: deposit, withdrawal, transfer |
M-Pesa Integration
ChamaBiz uses the Safaricom Daraja API (STK Push / LIPA NA M-PESA ONLINE). Configuration is via environment variables.
MPESA_CONSUMER_KEY = your_key
MPESA_CONSUMER_SECRET = your_secret
MPESA_SHORTCODE = 174379 (sandbox default)
MPESA_PASSKEY = your_passkey
MPESA_CALLBACK_URL = https://your-domain.com/mpesa/callback/
localhost. Use ngrok (ngrok http 8000) in development or a live server in production.POST /mpesa/push/
Frontend sends phone + amount. ChamaBiz calls mpesa.stk_push() and creates a MpesaTransaction with status pending.
POST /mpesa/query/
Frontend polls every few seconds with checkout_request_id. ChamaBiz checks the local DB first, then queries Safaricom if still pending.
POST /mpesa/callback/ (from Safaricom)
Safaricom calls this automatically with the result. ChamaBiz updates the transaction status, creates a Contribution or LoanRepayment, and stores the M-Pesa receipt number.
Glossary
Key terms used throughout ChamaBiz.