Reducing poverty in Eswatini through ethical financing
Learn how ESASCCO expanded its offering and improved services, easing banking access for 24,000 previously unbanked members, all at a lower cost.
- countries: Eswatini, South Africa & Lesotho
- previously unbanked members
- Savings and Credit Cooperatives served
ESASCCO
About the customer
Eswatini Association of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (ESASCCO) was established in 1988 to empower the Eswatini nation economically through the cooperative approach. Today ESASCCO is a parent body of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in the country. It provides SACCOs with a range of services that enable them to better serve their respective members at grassroots level, improving their financial strength, while maintaining the highest ethical standards.
The financial inclusion divide
Digitalisation in the finance industry has created a significant gap between high-income countries and countries like Eswatini. The predominantly poor and rural members of of ESASCCO face severe challenges in accessing modern financial products due to limited resources and financial education.
To address this, ESASCCO partnered with the German NGO Deutscher Genossenschafts-und Raiffeisenverband e.V. (DGRV) and technology provider Mambu to move their operations to the cloud to improve financial inclusion.
Acceleration through cloud banking
Seeking an affordable and configurable solution for their financial services, in 2017, ESASCCO partnered with Mambu to implement the cloud-native, API-first platform.
Mambu's platform allowed ESASCCO to tailor various loan and savings products for individual SACCOs, offering up-to-date accounting data and reports when needed. ESASCCO is now able to provide low-cost, flexible savings and loan products, allowing members to access accounts, view statements, and perform self-loan pre-qualification assessments.
Powered by Mambu
Loans and savings, made better
Personal lending
Interest-bearing unsecured loans for individual and household use.
More on personal lending
The impact
- Grassroot SACCOs transformed into modern financial institutions
- Cost savings through paperless operations, automated bulk payments, workflows, and more
- Faster and better communication between cooperatives and their customers, even those living in remote areas
- Decreased fraudulent activities with secure access to banking services, from anywhere
