Tracing Riba Across Linked Contr A Source-of-Funds Analysis of Saver Bonuses in Informal Indonesian Community Finance
A Source-of-Funds Analysis of Saver Bonuses in Informal Indonesian Community Finance
Keywords:
Keywords : community savings; informal Islamic finance; qardh; riba; wadiahAbstract
Informal community savings schemes can expand access to saving and emergency liquidity, yet their Sharia compliance may be difficult to assess when savings, lending, remuneration, and bonuses are financed through the same cash pool. This study examines a community-managed savings scheme in Randuati Village, East Java, Indonesia, and develops a source-of-funds tracing lens for evaluating linked transactions rather than assessing each contract in isolation. Using a bounded qualitative case based on interviews with one manager and five members, observation, and documentary evidence collected in April 2026, the study reconstructs the scheme's operational and contractual architecture and evaluates it against Indonesian Sharia guidance on wadiah, qardh, bonuses, and riba. The scheme accepts flexible deposits, recycles pooled savings into loans, charges borrowers an additional 10% of principal every three months, allocates five percentage points to saver bonuses and five to staff remuneration, and provides balance-linked in-kind bonuses that members know in advance. The analysis shows two connected compliance problems: the saver bonus functions as an expected benefit rather than discretionary 'athaya, while its funding originates from a predetermined increment on qardh. The article conceptualizes this cross-contract movement as a riba-transmission pathway and argues that Sharia review of informal finance should trace both contractual form and the economic origin and destination of funds. A practical redesign separates safekeeping, benevolent lending, operating remuneration, and any discretionary bonus into transparent, Sharia-consistent funding channels.
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