A tanda is a savings circle. A group of family members or acquaintances each pay a fixed sum every period, and in each round one member takes the whole pot. There is no bank and no legal backing.
In Mexico’s 2024 National Survey of Financial Inclusion, by INEGI and the banking regulator CNBV, 36.6 percent of adults aged 18 to 70 saved only in informal ways. El Universal reported participation in tandas at 20 percent, up from 18 percent in 2021. The newspaper did not state the base of that figure.