End of June 2009 two hundred and forty nine micro-finance organizations were using Loan Performer in 549 branches in 50 countries all over the world. The trend that started 11 years ago, does not seem to stop. How did a small Uganda based organization achieve this?
romota Magazine talked to the Executive Director and CEO Mr. Hans Verkoijen: "Our company Crystal Clear Software Ltd. started in 1998. We wanted to create user-friendly and affordable micro-finance software. As the Uganda market would be too small to keep us alive, we concentrated immediately on the international market. The first thing we did was to get internet access and set up a website and we made sure we were present at most micro-finance conferences where we could interact directly with our clients."
Since 1998 Crystal Clear Software Ltd has been working on the development of a management information system for rural banks, village banks, savings and credit co-operatives, Saccos and NGO’s called "Loan Performer". Loan Performer has modules for Clients, Shares, Savings, Loans and Accounting. They are tightly integrated so that one can pay/sell Shares from/to the Savings account and disburse Loans to the savings account and repay automatically from the savings account. "Everything is automatically booked into the general ledger and at the end of the day you can just print the Trial Balance or Income and Expense Statement", says Mr. Verkoijen.
He mentions that among the Microfinance software programs, Loan Performer is the most prominent in the African context. It is now one of the leading products in the micro finance industry both locally and internationally, with a client base of 249 organizations. About 75% of these are in Africa and the East Africa clients make up about 30% of the total. Loan Performer has been reviewed many times by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, (CGAP), a World Bank institution and has come out as "the best value for money", given the many features and low costs.
As a way of promoting the micro-finance sector, Crystal Clear Software offers free use of the Loan Performer software for small organizations having up to 500 clients/loans. "This is meant to be a stimulus to increase the growth of micro-finance institutions to serve more and more clients and to reach the targets of efficiency and self-sustainability faster", according to Mr. Verkoijen, "… but on the other hand it is also good for us. These small organizations don’t have the financial power to buy our software, so we may as well give this to them free of charge. If over time they have implemented and appreciated it, then when they reach the 500 clients/loans limit, they come back to us for an official license."
But a good car is not enough to drive, what about driving lessons? "We do on- and off-site trainings. Once a month there is a training session in Kampala for people from different organizations who want to learn Loan Performer. It is a practical training in front of the computer. The training takes 9 days and the costs are not expensive. It is however a requirement that the participant is computer literate and knows his micro-finance business. For small organizations this is the cheapest option. In general this is followed by a couple of days on-site implementation where the software is installed at the client’s site and people enter the first transactions. Thereafter we provide support for any problems that arise", says the director.
What about fraud? Can people mess up the data and present a rosy picture while in the mean time their safe is being drained? "Ha, ha", says Mr. Verkoijen, "well, if you don’t check what data is being keyed into the software, then don’t trust the reports! It is very simple: garbage in, garbage out. You can have a tight system with passwords for all users and limited access to menu items, but it is not enough. Make sure that at the end of the day – and I mean every single working day – all financial data that has been punched in, is printed out and signed/authorized by the proper persons. That is the only way you can build a reliable system."
And what about security? You need a user name and password to log into the program, says the director. As a manager you can set a validity period for the password. If that expires, the user is obliged to change his password. Then you can enable or disable menu items. For instance a cashier should not be allowed to write-off or reschedule loans. Access to the configuration should be disabled for unauthorized persons. Then you can log who entered into the program, on which date and for how long. You can even find out which menu items were accessed and which financial transactions were entered by which person and on which day into the system."
End of June 2008 the company celebrated 10 years of Loan Performer where the then Hon. State Minister of Micro-finance, Salim Saleh came to congratulate Crystal Clear Software Ltd with their achievements.
So what does the future hold? Mr. Verkoijen: "We would like Loan Performer to become the MS Word for micro-finance. We have shown to have a stable product that has served our clients well. People appreciate this and we have seen a steady growth in our clientele. We think it’s possible to double our figures in 4 years time and to reach a thousand clients in 6 years."
Crystal Clear Software Ltd.
King Fahd Plaza, Plot 52, Kampala Road (3rd floor), PO Box 7463 Kampala, Uganda
Telephone: ++256-414-231739
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