Supported by the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) strategy to boost financial inclusion in the Philippines, Cantilan Bank is the first financial institution regulated by the Central Bank of the Philippines to pioneer cloud technology for their core banking operations across 40+ branches. The successful pilot, which selected Oradian to provide their cloud-based platform, and stakeholder collaboration demonstrate how cloud technology is boosting global financial inclusion.
In rural areas of Nigeria, microfinance banks (MFBs) are using cloud-based technology to overcome challenges of weak connectivity and downtime. Because of limited connectivity and faulty IT systems, many Nigerian MFBs in remote areas struggle with system downtime which creates inefficiencies and delays. These are especially painful during End-of-Day (EOD) or End-of-Month (EOM) processing, when MFBs consolidate data from the day or the month into cohesive reports.
Oradian’s cloud-based core banking platform, Instafin is software built specifically to cater to the everyday needs of financial institutions serving microfinance clients. As a banking platform, Instafin offers automatic and continuous consolidation of all operations and branches. This means that financial institutions’ client data is available in real-time and enables constant monitoring of business performance. Real-time data consolidation from an MFB’s branches to the head office allows instant access to all data with one click.
Instafin’s uptime is constantly tracked and reached 99.97% in 2018, meaning less than 2 hours of downtime per year. These downtimes are planned by Oradian and take place outside of financial institutions’ working hours. In case of unexpected issues, MFBs can continue operating and serving their clients by using the Instafin mobile app with offline capabilities.
LARDI (LAPO Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative), a subsidiary of LAPO – Nigeria’s largest microfinance bank – started working with Oradian in 2015. Florence Omofonmwan, Head of LARDI, wanted to enable LARDI to reduce operating costs and be able to reach new underserved communities. After starting to use Instafin as their core banking platform running completely in the cloud, LARDI’s IT management was able to control what was happening in the system. There is no need for LARDI to close their branches for calculations to take place – they are done automatically, every day.
“After LARDI implemented Instafin, we were able to access all our branches at one spot, reduce the time spent on consolidating reports on a monthly basis, and manage users from the same spot.” Enogieru Osagie Marvellous, IT Head at LARDI.
In Nigeria, where the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is striving to reach 80% financial inclusion by 2020, microfinance banks (MFBs) are looking to implement cloud-based core banking systems that enable them to maximise operational efficiencies and extend their reach to unbanked communities. To do so, MFBs must build and implement IT strategies that enable growth, sustainability, profitability and impact.
Oradian’s cloud-based banking platform offers enhanced security and enables growth without the burden of incremental costs associated with on-premise systems. Banks moving their services into the cloud are in a better position to serve their clients.
