By Benedict Ngetich
Most of the local savings and credit societies are cautiously piloting the new trends of mobile technology which come with a myriad of challenges.
From the big societies to those still struggling with recruitment of members, the trend is to venture into mobile banking, this despite the menace of Cyber Crime rearing its ugly head.
Among those leading others in the venture include Imarisha Sacco who have set their eyes fully on the future venture.
After several achievements, the society has set its sights on the future and how to tackle stiff competition in the sector
To be on equal footing, Imarisha has developed new products which will be complemented with the onset of new trends.
The Chairman of Imarisha Mathew Ruto said that among the new products are: E-Loan to be launched in the next few months.
“Members or customers will soon use these channels to apply for FOSA loans, Dividend advance, Salary advances, Emergency loans and School fees loans,” he explained.
“E-guarantor; when applying for an e-loan that requires guarantors to be provided; an e-guarantor system shall be used,” he added.
The loan applicant shall be prompted by the system to key in the guarantor’s member number or phone number.
Then a guarantor will be sent a request to guarantee the e-loan through an SMS. The guarantor either accepts or rejects by responding to an SMS generated by the system.
In situations where the guarantor is not registered in the system, a response is sent back to the applicant to provide another guarantor.
The Chairman of K-Pillar Society, Mr Jackson Langat said the current trend was to adapt to modern mobile technology to give and receive loans by members, but the move will be undertaken after consultation with the relevant experts in the field.
The Sacco boss said the move to the digital platform will be done on a pilot phase first before the full launch.
The Mogogosiek Member of County Assembly (MCA ) Ambrose Koske who is also the Secretary of K-Pillar said the positive aspects of mobile technology override the negative effects and there was no option but to embrace the technology for the future competitiveness of the societies.
Patnas Sacco Chief Executive Officer Rono lauded the advent of mobile technology saying it will improve services through time saving.
Rono said Patnas Sacco will continue educating its members on best ways of tackling cybercrime as the programme is being rolled out.
It has also launched successful Sacco Link cards which has been welcomed by its members.
