A niche that is very popular with microfinance operators (MFOs) is that of the fringe of society that likes to set aside a certain amount of money on a daily basis without necessarily having to go to a banking institution to save. This practice, which is very common in Africa, is a way for EMFs to bank even summarily individuals, whether they are in the informal sector or not.

The commercial offer called “daily collection” frames this activity. It is done through physical agents who go to the clients to collect the floating savings. The approach lies in a relationship of trust established to allow the saver to deposit money with the microfinance institution through its duly identified staff, but also through administrative and financial processes that are more or less well oiled.

However, it has been noted that while there are no significant abuses in the area of deposits, this is far from being the case for withdrawals. In fact, there are many unclear scenarios due to the fact that clients and microfinance institutions can be abused by fraudulent maneuvers of crooked employees who can, for example, forge signatures to authenticate fictitious withdrawals. This leads to a deterioration in the relationship between the targets who are dispossessed of their funds and the EMFs who are also victims of breach of trust.

To circumvent these disastrous situations for business, managers turn to their technical supports to develop automated or digitized solutions to circumvent or reduce security breaches. The process is quite simple and relies either on a biometric fingerprint system, which is the latest trend, or on a PIN code system given to the customer when registering in the computer file. It is this PIN code that has to be introduced as the last authentication barrier in addition to the photo, the identity document and the signature that are regularly required but which unfortunately can all be either stolen or usurped.

With the I-Collect daily collection software developed by ITECH SARL, these security processes are highly taken into consideration to allow a fluidity in the transactions while keeping the level of confidence of the parties high. All things that contribute to good business performance.