Here at WeTrust, we believe our Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA) products can truly change the world! In addition to their traditional use as a way for people in a group to save together and receive money when they desperately need it, we’ve seen other unique situations that would be well suited for our ROSCA products. In Part 1 of this 4 part series, we take a look at a few uses of the ROSCA mechanism!

WeTrust ROSCA for Group Purchase of a Shared Resource

Some things make sense to be purchased with pooled funds. Dinner at a nice restaurant with a group of friends. A subscription to online streaming services that’s shared among a family. Utilities and rent that are paid for with contributions by multiple roommates. All of these consist of people pooling their money together, just like in a ROSCA.

And as time goes on, people may find new ways to share a resource. With real estate prices skyrocketing and income for the young stagnating, it can be difficult for millennials to afford a mortgage. At the same time, home ownership can be a great investment, and being unable to own a home could limit the wealth-building opportunities of young millennials. The real estate market in places like the Bay Area, Shanghai or London is so pricey that some millennials worry they will be forever trapped as renters.

WeTrust would be able to provide a solution by making it easier for a group of millennial friends to purchase a home together. A WeTrust ROSCA could be designed to pool funds for making regular mortgage payments to a bank, with the house shared among the friends contributing into the ROSCA. The group of friends could then live in separate rooms within the house. By doing this, the group of friends can begin building their own wealth instead of paying rent to others!

Funds are pooled in a WeTrust ROSCA…

… and are sent to the bank to pay for a house shared by a group of friends!

WeTrust ROSCA for Group Purchase of a Fractionally Owned Resource

Some things, like a house with many rooms or online subscriptions, are naturally shared among friends. But what about things that aren’t so easily shared? For example, if a group of people decide to share a car, they might not always want to drive to the same place. One person in the group might want to go grocery shopping, another person might want to take a trip to the beach, and yet another person might want to drive to the mountains and go skiing!

ROSCAs lend themselves naturally to situations like this. A group of friends in a city such as San Francisco could create a WeTrust ROSCA to make payments on a car, much like the previously mentioned ROSCA for buying a house. The ROSCA could be set up to have weeklong rounds, with one “winner” each week. The winner could then use the car for that week! The members of the ROSCA would each fractionally own a part of the car in a time-sharing agreement, and the WeTrust ROSCA would fairly determine who would be able to use the car in any given week.

In a city like San Francisco, most people use the abundant public transportation options and car share services to get around town. But people still want a car to be able to take the occasional weekend road trips to go wine tasting in Napa, skiing in Tahoe or surfing in Monterey. A group of friends could purchase a car together, and each week everyone sends in their portion to cover the car loan, and one of them would be able to use the car to go on their preferred trip!

Funds are pooled in a WeTrust ROSCA…

… and used to pay a car loan, while the ROSCA determines who uses the car at any given time!

WeTrust ROSCA for Charitable Giving

A group of friends may all believe in giving funds to charitable causes they believe in, but they may disagree on which charity could use the funds most urgently. A WeTrust ROSCA could be created to allow one member of a group of friends to receive the funds during each round, and donate those funds to a charity they personally believe in. In fact, WeTrust is running a Charity Circle with other blockchain community members, and they are all looking forward to using their Ethereum to do good in the world!

Funds are pooled in a WeTrust ROSCA…

… and the winner of the pot decides which charity to donate the funds to!

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