[ Ссылка ] Yahoo Finance's new app Tanda can help you save up your money or even offer you a loan — but there are a few things you should know before deciding to sign up.

UPDATE: Tanda has announced that it will be shutting down starting May 29th. While I didn't expect the app to last too long, this was a bit sooner than I thought.

A few months ago, Yahoo Finance launched a new app called Tanda, which takes its name from the Latin American name for rotating savings and loans associations or ROSCAs. Under this set up, each member of a tanda circle contributes an agreed upon amount of money which is compiled into a pot.

Then, that pot is delivered to one person in the tanda based on their position in the circle. As a result, those earliest in the tanda rotation can utilize the money as a loan while those in later positions are essentially using the app to help them save.


While the concept itself is nothing new, Yahoo attempt the bring the idea into the 21st century, allowing you to either organize your own private tandas digitally or joining with strangers.

With that, here are three things you need to know about Tanda as well as a few other thoughts I have on the app.

Linking a Bank Account

Joining Tanda is not unlike signing up for other personal finance apps, requiring you to enter some basic information as well as the last four digits of your social security number. However, before you can participate in tanda and join circles, you’ll need to confirm a U.S. bank account. To do this, you’ll either be asked to input your online banking username and password or Tanda can make a set of microdeposits to your account for you to confirm. Be aware that while option one will give you access to the app nearly instantly, the second option can take one to three business days.

Once you complete these steps and join your first circle, contributions will automatically be initiated on the day they are due. In my experience, this deposits can take a few days to fully clear, but they’ll still be counted as on time as long as they were initiated on the correct day.

Building Your Trust Score

After your first on-time contribution clears, you’ll also be awarded the first points in your Trust Score. By raising you Trust Score, you’ll be to join tandas with higher dollar amounts down the road and access earlier position in the circles. As a new user, you’ll be limited to tandas with payouts of $250.


Fees and Bonuses

As mentioned, those in early tanda positions are most likely using the payout as a loan. Because of this, Yahoo charges a fee for the first two payout positions. If you’re in the first position, 8% will be deducted from your funds and those in the 2nd position will be assessed a 7% fee.


On the other hand, if you don’t need money right away, you can earn a bonus on your contributions by volunteering to be the last position in the tanda. Those in the final position will have 2% added to their payout.


These are the only positions that have fees or bonuses associated with them. All other position payouts are equal to the tandas set limit and there are no fees for these middle positions.



Now that you have an overview of Tanda I want to talk a bit about my thoughts on the app and how it could be improved

At the very least, I find it interesting that Yahoo to decided to adapt such an age-old idea for the digital age. That said, in doing so, they also defeated part of what made these arrangements popular. Namely I’m referring to the 8% and 7% fees the app charges to those in the first two positions. While this may be cheap by some loan standards, it could still be a turn off to some potential users.

In my case, the only reason I wanted to try Tanda was to take advantage of the 2% bonus paid to those in the last position. Unfortunately, snapping up one those spots wasn’t exactly easy and it took me a few days to find a circle with my desired position available. Furthermore, Tanda’s search options are limited and it would be nice to have a filter function to help users like me find their desired spot.

Considering that I’m still in the middle of my tanda, I can’t speak to how every aspect of the app works. This includes not yet knowing how long it takes to receive payouts after they’re initiated. However, if the amount of time it takes contributions to clear is any indication, this is one area where there’s definitely room for improvement,

With these and others issues, it’s hard to say if Tanda will have much staying power, but in the meantime, I’ll happily take my 2% return.

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