Intelligent Fin.tech Issue 02 | Page 69

CHEQUING OUT and MFIs are struggling to digitise in the ways banks are . Digitisation can be very expensive , especially in financial services and as SACCOs and MFIs often operate on a small scale , this limits them from making such substantial initial investments in technology . Now , these institutions are having to compete with digitising banks , telcos and rising FinTech stars threatening to take many of their customers .

While many SACCOs and MFIs don ’ t have the resources to implement these digital solutions by themselves , there is an alternative . The majority of these groups favour a revenue-sharing model with an appropriate banking technology platform , using the ‘ As-a-Service ’ approach to keep their initial investment costs down .
technology platforms eliminates the need for these groups to ramp up their technical expertise and investment in IT infrastructure , which promotes cost savings , but more importantly allows them to focus on the more important aspects of the business .
SaaS platforms give SACCOs and MFIs a way to digitise without taking on enormous costs . While many experts wonder how financial services will reach an estimated 1.4 billion unbanked people across the globe , SACCOs and MFIs are already leading the way . And they can continue that journey and reach more of the unbanked if they can digitise .
If SACCOs and MFIs can leverage shared banking platforms through subscriptionbased pricing or revenue sharing model , they can again take the centre stage in providing financial services to places where other financial institutions cannot . �
SACCOs and MFIs are the trusted option for such customers .
Rather than buy everything upfront , SACCOs and MFIs can subscribe to technology services , such as Softwareas-a-Service ( SaaS ), to gain access to digital platforms . They can then use these solutions to design and deploy loan and savings products that work for their customers , such as flexible micro-loans or group savings accounts . They can also use the same platform for digital onboarding and mobile apps .
The benefit of accessing SaaS is not only from a cost perspective but also from a resourcing one . Tapping into shared
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