FIF providing responsible digital financial services in the DRC

FINCA Impact Finance (FIF) is committed to providing responsible digital financial services. As part of its network-wide digital transformation, FINCA rolled-out ‘CLICK’, a new financial product that empowers users to take control of their finances.

CLICK is a customer-friendly, menu-driven mobile financial services (MFS) platform that can be accessed via mobile phone, placing the power of banking at the user’s fingertips. The application is available both as a smartphone app or via USSD for feature phones, and enables users to perform a range of banking transactions, including opening an account, depositing and withdrawing, making transfers and receiving payments from other CLICK users.

Taking into consideration that not everyone is comfortable using the latest mobile phone technologies, CLICK was designed to be straightforward and easy to use, especially for people who have no experience with digital financial services. CLICK uses familiar text commands, making it easy for users to navigate the menu’s interface. It is precisely this kind of simplicity that makes CLICK so – especially for people whose savings are measured in small daily increments.

“At first, I wasn’t using CLICK because I was afraid of it,” says Ngiangia, a FINCA DRC customer. “But now I am very happy to have discovered this product. I have a lot of confidence in FINCA, because it has solved so many of my problems.”

With CLICK, FINCA DRC will be able to better serve customers in remote areas, providing access to financial services without long commutes to the branch. This saves customers the cost of transport, as well as the time they would have to shut down their businesses in order to make the trip to the branch.

Consumer protection and promoting financial literacy is also an important component of FIF’s digital strategy.

“We train CLICK users on budgeting and how to save money. Through this training, we expect our customers to manage their money more effectively, grow their businesses and most of all, to improve their standard of living,” says Mamie Kalonda, CEO of FINCA DRC.

And while FIF leverages fintech innovations like CLICK in pursuit of its mission to expand financial inclusion, it views digital platforms as just one part of the broader customer journey, and has maintained its customer-centric approach to providing in-person banking services.

“We don’t want to interact with our clients exclusively on a digital platform. We are hoping they will progress in their relationship with us, where they come into a branch or visit an agent so we can establish a relationship that goes beyond a digital platform,” says FIF President and CEO Andrée Simon.