Delete your account

You can delete your Stok-Vel account yourself, from inside the app. Here is exactly what happens when you do.

How to delete it

1. Open the Stok-Vel app and sign in.
2. Go to Settings and scroll to Leaving.
3. Choose Close account, then tap again to confirm.

It happens straight away. Nobody has to approve it and there is no waiting period.

When we will ask you to sort something out first

Because a stokvel is a shared arrangement, the app will refuse a deletion in three situations — and tell you which one applies:

• You still have savings in the group. That money is yours and it is sitting in your stokvel’s account. Your admin settles you up first, then you can delete.
• You have a drawdown you have not repaid. Settle it with the group first.
• You are the last admin of a stokvel. Make someone else an admin first, so the group is not left stranded.

If you are stuck on any of these, ask your stokvel’s admins, or email us using the address below.

What is deleted

• Your name, profile photo and bio — everywhere they appear
• The content of any messages you sent to other members
• Your place on your stokvel’s member list
• Your sign-in is blocked permanently — you can no longer log in with your email and password

What your stokvel keeps, and why

Your stokvel’s financial record stays — the amounts contributed, any payout or drawdown, and the group’s totals for each year. It is kept without your name attached: on the group’s books those entries simply read “Former member”.

This is deliberate. A stokvel’s book is shared. Every member’s balance and the group total are worked out from all the contributions together, so removing yours outright would change what everyone else sees and rewrite years the group has already closed. That record belongs to the group, not to any one person, and South Africa’s POPIA allows information to be kept where it is needed for a lawful purpose — while still requiring that it be de-identified, which is what we do.

Stok-Vel never holds or moves your money. Your savings live in your stokvel’s own bank account, so deleting your account here has no effect on your money. Speak to your stokvel about anything you are owed.

If you cannot sign in

Email info@stok-vel.co.za from the address on your account and ask us to delete it. We will confirm it is you before doing anything, and complete it within 30 days.

Lost your password rather than your account? Reset it here and you can delete the account yourself.

Our full Privacy Policy explains every right you have under POPIA, including how to complain to the Information Regulator.