Jamiya is a free app for the jamiya, the rotating savings circle that families run in the Gulf. It keeps the turn schedule, records every payment and payout, and gives each member a private link. Bin Haider Darwish LLC runs it from Muscat, at jamiya.om.
The jamiya we all know
The jamiya is a familiar habit in Oman. A group agrees on a monthly amount. Each month, every member pays in. One member receives the full pot. The turns rotate until every member has received once.
The idea is simple. The records are the hard part. Often the organizer keeps a paper notebook. Questions arrive in scattered messages. When a member asks "when is my turn?", the organizer has to search.
We built Jamiya to give a family jamiya one clear schedule. It replaces the notebook and the long chat.
What Jamiya does
No email, no password. You type your name and start. You get a private link that opens your jamiyas on any phone or computer. Later, you can keep your account with a username and password if you want.
A schedule where every turn is covered. The organizer adds the members and the amount. Then they set the order by hand, or the app draws lots for a fair random order. Before the jamiya starts, the app checks that each turn is fully funded. It also checks that each member receives exactly what they pay.
A link for every member. Each member gets a short link, such as jamiya.om/K7M4QX. The organizer sends it on WhatsApp. The member opens it on their phone and sees only their own turn and payments. They do not need an account or the app.
Privacy inside the family. The family link shows the schedule only. Only the organizer sees who is late. A jamiya runs on trust between relatives, and nobody should feel exposed in front of the others.
Flexible payouts. A jamiya can pay out every month, every two months or every three. Each member can pay a different amount. A member can also split a share, 70/30 or 50/50, with someone else.
We never touch the money
This was the first rule we set. Jamiya keeps records only. It does not hold money and it does not move money. Members pay each other the way they agree, and the organizer records each payment and each payout.
We also take no cut of the jamiya money. A savings circle exists so that people keep all of what they save. An app that takes a fee from the pot works against that.
How it pays for itself
The free plan covers a family. It allows two active jamiyas at a time, with up to 20 members in each. It includes member links, drawing lots, Excel export and one co-organizer.
Pro is for people who organize more. It costs OMR 1.5 a month, or OMR 12 a year. It adds unlimited jamiyas and members, and one dashboard for all of them. It also adds PDF member statements, up to 10 co-organizers and automatic WhatsApp reminders. The phone apps show ads to people who are not on Pro. The website has no ads and no trackers, and we do not sell data.
Jamiya works in the browser on any device. The Android app is on Google Play, and the iPhone app is on TestFlight.
Guides, in plain words
The site also has short guides in Arabic and English. They explain what a jamiya is and how the numbers add up. They cover turn order, late payments and a jamiya at work. There is a written agreement template and a ten-turn schedule to copy or print.
What I learned building it
The organizer is the real user. One person carries the notebook and answers every question. When we make that person's month easier, the whole group benefits.
The second lesson is about restraint. It was tempting to add payments inside the app. We kept the app as a record and a reminder. The money stays with the people who own it.
Jamiya sits in BHD Group next to the print shop and our other software. Like those, it starts from something people in Oman already do every month.
Related: BHD Group ventures and Why we built our own ERP instead of buying one.