Financial cooperative societies : conceptual framework and evidence from Egypt

الملخص EN

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.