‘Oradian’s app to aid financial institutions’ growth in West’Africa’

A financial inclusion company, Oradian, has said its cloud-based toolset, known as “Instafin”, is capable of growing the number of financial institutions in West Africa by 30 per cent, thereby creating efficiency in ease of doing business.   

The toolset, according to Oradian, already in use by over 40 financial institutions across Africa, to reap the benefits of digitisation and boost financial inclusion, which is part of the drive for 80 per cent financial inclusion target by 2020 led by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).Besides, the cloud-based application has been strategically designed to boost the operations of microfinance banks, savings and loans companies, especially in the remote areas of Africa.

Speaking at a networking dinner, organised by the company in Lagos, Oradian’s Co-founder and Head of Implementation, Onyeka Adibeli, said Toolset is programmed to help microfinance banks penetrate hard-to-reach communities with financial services and managing loans’ repayment.Adibeli said: “Our service is designed in such a way that financial institutions have the tools they need to know and control their portfolio because the majority of the institutions that use our service offer time-based loans such as weekly, monthly and yearly.”

“To eliminate financial barriers that stand between financial institutions and technology, the solution is being rendered as a service, and so it gives their clients the window to access the solution on an annual subscription basis.“Apart from enabling financial institutions become more efficient with automated administration and eliminating time-consuming manual processes like monthly reporting, our solution also helps them to make informed decisions, using real time data and always up-to-date report from all branches,” Adibeli noted.
  
The event brought together leaders of financial institutions, regulatory groups, financial inclusion experts and Fintech providers to form strategic partnerships that will boost financial inclusion in Nigeria and West Africa at large.The event also connected the private sector, public sector and financial services regulator.

Attesting to the positive impact of Instafin’s utilisation in rural microfinance institutions, Head, LAPO Rural Development Initiative, Mrs. Florence Omofonmwam, said through Oradian and its solution, LAPO has been able to continuously open new branches, reach new clients and boost financial inclusion in Nigeria.

She said: “Oradian has helped us eradicate the cumbersome process of monitoring packs and client data management is now simpler and less stressful. With digitization, my team has less administrative work to do and they can spend more time in the field out of the office, finding new clients”.

The Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Oradian, Antonio Separovic, affirmed that the CBS Instafin enables financial institutions to eliminate manual, pen and paper processes and move to digitised operations.

“By reducing the time spent on administration through digitisation, financial institutions have more time to focus on their core competency; delivering financial services to clients in their communities,” he said.He explained that as part of the processes to minimise inefficiencies, Instafin reduces high operational costs through automatic reporting that replaces time-consuming month end reporting routine. 

The CEO highlighted several other tools by the company to include Instafin Messaging, automatic updates, maximum data security, training and implementation including data migration from their previous CBS or from spreadsheets.