Financial Cooperative Societies: Conceptual Framework and Evidence from Egypt

This paper reports on a survey conducted in Egypt about the motives behind participating in Societies; and their perception by participants. It is also devoted to clarifying the unique nature of Societies as a premise of informal finance to manage financial aspects that bear zero interest. A random sample of participants from Helwan area in Cairo, who joined a Society for managing their financial needs, was selected. A questionnaire was used for collecting data and descriptive analysis methods were used for analyzing the study variables. The study revealed that Societies have a long history mode that has been followed in many countries. It also showed that the participants devote the majority of the Society's sum for expenditure on current essential short-term needs. A high sensitivity to Islamic Sharī’ah has been showed by the Society members. It proved that the general trend toward Societies was very positive.