EDITORIAL: Too risky
A topic that might be considered overexposed is the problem of Blessing Circles, which has caused serious breakdowns in some local social groups. These money-making schemes became extremely popular during 2020 with people from all walks of life and every socio-economic bracket joining and promoting them.
People would make pitches to friends, family and everyone they came into contact with in order to fulfill the criteria that they need to bring a certain amount of other people to the group. Sometimes these people are simply excited about an opportunity to have their loved ones and themselves earn “free money” without considering the consequences which might occur. Hopefully, no one would want their close family members to lose large amounts of money just so that they can earn some, but this may not necessarily be true in every case.
Many warnings
There are many warnings given about these blessing circles. Most recently, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn spoke out against the schemes, calling them a gimmick. He explained that a blessing circle is completely different from the traditional meeting turn. The Minister made the comparison that people would be better off buying lottery tickets because if you win, you are legally guaranteed to get the money.
He mentioned that people are in a state of desperation, which has led to them falling for such schemes.
The Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes also made comments warning persons about the risk involved in entering a blessing circle. He advised that anyone interested in joining should seek professional advice first, so that their risk can be limited.
It has not been said that Blessing Circles cannot be successful, but the likelihood of loss is great due to the constant need for additional persons to join to keep the money flowing. As soon as there are not enough people interested, the whole system can break down leading to loss for persons who have contributed their money.
A regional problem
The issue does not only exist in Barbados, but is a regional problem which has been addressed in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, and Jamaica causing people millions of dollars in losses. In some of these countries the schemes were even more complex, backed by fraudulent companies and encouraging persons to invest.
It might be safer for Barbadians to continue to use meeting turns with participants that can be trusted to contribute. This too comes with risk, but it is more likely to satisfy all parties involved than a blessing circle. The meeting turn is really a way of saving your own money without the use of a financial institution. It seems that with blessing circles, someone will always lose.
Internationally there is a similar scheme which is described as a flower or petals and is essentially a pyramid scheme which has also caused people to lose large sums of money, so the idea is not new and has been around for generations, allowing for some unscrupulous people to take from others.
Some people are ambitious with their financial decisions and some are conservative; there is really no way to predict which option would be more successful in a particular case. Risks can lead to huge losses or massive gains. In this case, listen to the warnings. Do not get greedy. If you are going to try, try with money that you can afford to lose, so that if there is any loss, it would not cause serious disruption to life or severe desperation.