Background

MicroLoan Foundation (MLF) are a UK-based microfinance charity operating in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In 2015 MLF selected Musoni as their long-term digitalisation partner, going live with their operations in both Malawi and Zambia. In 2017 they launched a new entity in Zimbabwe again selecting Musoni as their core banking system.

Getting started together

Before launching the implementation project, the Musoni team spent a week visiting the MLF field operations, gaining a deep understanding of the operations on the round, and the challenges being faced with the current system. This enabled the MFI to formulate their digitalisation strategy, starting off with migrating to the Musoni CBS. In both Malawi and Zambia, Musoni successfully migrated all client, loan and savings data from MLF’s previous system into Musoni. The data migrations, training and other implementation work were each completed in under three months, ensuring a quick and easy go-live for the operations teams.

Musoni continues to work closely with the MLF team on continuing their digitalisation journey. In 2019 our senior management spent a week visiting branches in Malawi and identifying how they could continue to gain the most benefits from the system.

Immediate Impact

Originally MLF ran their operations on a custom built, in-house system. As their client numbers increased and the organisation expanded into multiple countries this became increasingly difficult for them to maintain. Since switching to Musoni the results have been impressive. MLF have seen significant growth in client numbers, loan portfolio and total savings balances and now serve over 92,000 end customers across their three countries while maintaining a low PAR.

MLF were also one of the first adopters of the Musoni DFA, which is used by loan officers to register customers and collect additional information from clients in the field. This has improved efficiency, improved data quality, and reduced paperwork.