Credit Cooperatives; a Critical Assessment and a Desired Model Offered
Document Type : Original Article
Authors
Abstract
In the conventional financial system the credit cooperatives are widely exploited to decrease poverty and satisfy the households’ minor needs. These cooperatives are active in the Iranian economy as well, but they are confronted with some shortcomings as regards different aspects, some of which are the existence of free cooperatives, lack of proper regulations regarding credit cooperatives, unconventional rates for deposits and loans, lack of proper managerial structure and lack of clear jurisprudential basis.
The present article tries to resolve these problems and, in order to do so, besides taking advantage of the experience of Iran and other countries, designs a desired model for Iranian credit cooperatives, consistent with Imamiah jurisprudence, using the method of interviewing the experts and analyzing the results. In this model, credit cooperatives are formed according to company contract, using the capital of members having one feature in common, and in order for the new members to be able to join them the multiple common link can be exploited. In this model the credit cooperatives, besides utilizing membership fees, use the members’ deposits as a supplementary resource, and through the contracts of Qard-ul-Hasanah, Murabahah, Istisna, Ijarah Bittamlik and Dain purchasing, offer loans and are regulated by the central bank, a national and professional institution. On the basis of our findings, credit cooperatives, while offering loans with rates lower than those of banks, accept deposits with fair rates.
The present article tries to resolve these problems and, in order to do so, besides taking advantage of the experience of Iran and other countries, designs a desired model for Iranian credit cooperatives, consistent with Imamiah jurisprudence, using the method of interviewing the experts and analyzing the results. In this model, credit cooperatives are formed according to company contract, using the capital of members having one feature in common, and in order for the new members to be able to join them the multiple common link can be exploited. In this model the credit cooperatives, besides utilizing membership fees, use the members’ deposits as a supplementary resource, and through the contracts of Qard-ul-Hasanah, Murabahah, Istisna, Ijarah Bittamlik and Dain purchasing, offer loans and are regulated by the central bank, a national and professional institution. On the basis of our findings, credit cooperatives, while offering loans with rates lower than those of banks, accept deposits with fair rates.
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