Prosca | Devpost

Prosca poster

Basic Premise

PROSCA is an Android app that implements a traditional microfinance scheme known as ROSCA (Rotating Savings and Credit Association). In a ROSCA, a group of individuals gathers periodically, with each member contributing to a common fund. During each period, one participant receives the total amount, and this rotation continues until every member has received the pot once. PROSCA enhances savings, safeguards income from household members, offers insurance-like benefits, and facilitates group investments. Recognized for its impact, PROSCA earned the 'Best Social Impact' award in the Senior Design class at the University of Pennsylvania, where the project originated.

PROSCA simplifies the process by facilitating the formation of public pods and managing private pods. It consolidates all ROSCA-related activities, typically spread across multiple platforms, into one cohesive app. Moreover, PROSCA integrates trust into its protocol by utilizing machine learning algorithms to assess user reputations based on past in-app engagements. It further automates all transactions through cron-jobs, ensuring the impossibility of defection once a pod has commenced.

Stack

The backend, powered by Node.js and Express.js, communicates with AWS services (RDS MySQL, S3) for database management. The Kotlin frontend, supported by Retrofit server, operates the Android app with an XML-based user interface. For payment processing, PROSCA employs the Stripe API, with plans to transition to M-PESA for enhanced accessibility in developing regions. Additionally, a scikit-learn linear regression model, presently trained on synthetic data, periodically computes user reputations.