The adoption of digital tools is a make-or-break transformational journey among cooperatives and micro-finance institutions (MFIs) in the country.
This was shared by Oradian General Manager Jonathan Engalla during the company’s recent strategic workshop that sought to enhance the digital adaptability of its partners amid the complex client demands and rise of digital banking.
During the two-day workshop held in Makati City, Engalla said that manual systems continue to cause a huge loss in the operations of cooperatives and MFIs.
A breach in security and major data adjustment due to inconsistency in information entry and generation are also some of the inconveniences that local banking encounters.
These inefficiencies directly impact their ability to expand and service their clients effectively.
“Why go digital transformation for businesses under the financial sector is no longer the question, it is how urgent should they integrate this digital advancement into their operations,” said Engalla.
He shared that aside from operational risks and inefficiencies, coops and MFIs also face rapid changes in clients’ lifestyles, such as increasing preference for mobile banking.
Records from Bangko Sentral show that 25% of current bank clients use mobile banking technologies in their transactions and this number is predicted to grow exponentially.
“But using the digital tools for their operations will make our partners from cooperatives more efficient in managing their portfolios effectively,” Engalla said.
To help adapt to the demands of digital banking, industry experts from Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and Oradian conducted a workshop for select representatives from cooperatives and MFIs, who were mostly in Mindanao.
The workshop included interactive discussions on the challenges and opportunities that cooperatives face nowadays, including a session on how to harness the potential of digital banking.
The workshop also included a live demo of Orcadian's Instafin, a technology platform that combines key functionality (administration, security, accounting, loan portfolio management, & deposit) of the banking system.