Jisort’s Paperless Registration Drives Member Growth for Lending SACCO
The Challenge
As a lending SACCO seeking to provide financial services to underserved pastoral and livestock trader communities, a key challenge we faced was the paper-based customer registration process. Many potential members lacked formal identification documents or had documents in poor condition. This made registration difficult and created barriers to onboarding new members.
Specifically, we wanted to:
- Simplify member registration for pastoralists with limited paperwork
- Accelerate the onboarding process to activate loans faster
- Expand financial inclusion to more community members
The Solution
We adopted a paperless registration system based on Jisort’s flexible platform, which included:
- SMS Registration: Allowing members to register with basic details (name, ID number, livestock) via SMS messages.
- Ambassador Outreach: Employing community ambassadors to gather registration details from members through oral interviews in local dialects.
- Online Forms: Simple web-based forms requiring minimal details to instantly generate a member registration number.
The Results
The paperless registration process produced strong results:
- 52% increase in new member registration in 5 months
- 4X faster onboarding with instant member numbers issued
- 38 new loans activated for members within first month
Additionally, by expanding access:
- Herder groups and pastoral families are now able to access financial services
- Increased financial inclusion for the community at large
Here are some key metrics on our registration growth:
| Metric | Before Jisort | After Jisort | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Members Registered | 1,100 | 1,800 | +63% |
| Loans Activated | 230 | 320 | +39% |
| Member Satisfaction | 72% | 81% | +9% |
The Future
With streamlined paperless registration empowering us to rapidly onboard more members, we are now focused on service expansion. Key priorities include:
- Digitizing loan application process
- Adding mobile banking and payments
- Launching a member self-service portal
We know that robust identity and access management capabilities will be crucial for accountable growth. Jisort provides the trusted foundational platform we need to scale our offerings sustainably over the long term.
