World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) received funding through UNCDF’s MicroLead program to support the consolidation of Rwanda’s Umurenge SACCOs (U-SACCOs). The goal? To promote increased sustainability of these small institutions, to automate the U-SACCOs, and to increase access to savings in rural Rwanda.

When WOCCU Rwanda discovered that savings groups were spontaneously linking to its U-SACCOs, it sought to discover why and how to better leverage these groups. WOCCU Rwanda took a client-centric approach, developing a marketing plan and tailoring products based on satisfaction surveys and assessments of internal strengths and weaknesses. Satisfaction and savings group studies found that clients wanted increased access to loans and interest-bearing savings accounts, faster response time on loan applications, extended operating hours, and automation to provide transparency, efficient service and mobile payments. In response, policies and procedures were streamlined, and new products were developed, with corresponding policies incorporated into the parameters for transactional software in anticipation of U-SACCOs automation.

Learn how the U-SACCOs linked to savings groups, increasing access to financial services in rural areas and building a stronger financial foundation for the U-SACCOs in the case study below.

Photo (top) courtesy of WOCCU.