The cooperative
Kapitala's first member program is being prepared for cooperative operation in Siargao. The intended borrowers are eligible individual cooperative members, with institutional support proposed for lending capacity. These are plans, not executed partnership claims or an announcement of legal clearance. Membership and lending are not open yet.
The cooperative provides the member-owned operating structure for that first program. The platform is being developed to apply its rules, keep records and make outcomes checkable. The cooperative and its responsibilities are distinct from the software; its program funds will be held by the cooperative itself.
A cooperative, in short
A primary cooperative is governed through its members under the applicable one-member, one-vote principle, not voting power purchased through funding volume. Institutional financing does not automatically make a company an ordinary member. Surplus and member benefits follow applicable law and adopted rules, not simply capital supplied.
Why this structure fits
The purpose of this project is financing that a community runs for itself: rules members can read, outcomes members can check, and any surplus staying with the people who created it. A cooperative is built for exactly that.
Member ownership connects the purpose of the pool to the people it serves. Any funding and lending arrangement must still meet applicable requirements and the cooperative's adopted rules. Registration alone does not authorize every form of lending, custody, deposit-taking or public participation.
What this does not mean
A registered cooperative is not the same as an open financing program. Membership and lending are not open yet, and reading this site does not make anyone a member. When membership opens, the requirements and the applicable rules will be stated before anyone is asked for anything.
The cooperative is not a bank. This website offers no deposit account or financial product and promises no return. Share capital, any permitted savings, institutional financing and guarantees require distinct legal and accounting treatment.
Further reading
- Registration and compliance: how a cooperative is registered, and what it must keep and file.
- The first program: the cooperative's first member financing program.
- Organizations, pools and funding: where funds sit.
- Membership and eligibility: how participation is controlled.
- Rules and responsibilities: how authority is defined.