Some members of Umurenge Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) are reactivating their dormant accounts as the government has pledged to automate all SACCOs by 2024, The New Times has learnt.
A dormant account is a financial account that has shown no activity for a prolonged period of time.
Due to a lack of automation, many people who had opened accounts in SACCOs in their respective sectors stopped using them when they moved to other parts of the country.
ALSO READ: Over Rwf2bn allocated for full automation of Umurenge SACCOs.
Rutunga Sacco is one of the Umurenge SACCOs in Gasabo District that was automated in a pilot phase.
"The process to automate our SACCO started three years ago. What we have realised is that after getting information that services are going to be digitised, the number of members is increasing as others are reactivating dormant accounts they had given up,” the manager of Rutunga SACCO, Jean Marie Hubert Ayimana, told The New Times.
So far, 68 Umurenge SACCOs have been automated, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
About 100 SACCOs in the pipeline are expected to be automated by the end of June this year. The full rollout across the country will be achieved by the end of June 2024.
There are 416 SACCOs across the country.
ALSO READ: 25 Saccos automated in pilot phase.
Ayimana said that automation has triggered the increase of Rutunga SACCO members from 8,000 in 2020 to about 10,000 as of now.
"It was difficult to control the SACCO operations, and the manual work was tiresome. Preparing reports manually was also difficult, delaying services. Today we enter the digital system and monitor what is being done every minute.
"As SACCOs are set to be automated and merged to have a district SACCO where customers can withdraw their money wherever they are located, many members are reactivating their dormant accounts,” he explained.
ALSO READ: What automation of Umurenge SACCOs means for members.
He said with a district SACCO and cooperative bank, there is hope that the number of loans provided at the sector level will also increase.
"There is a plan of push and pull transfer on mobile wallets where you can withdraw money from your account using mobile banking. This has motivated the increase in the number of members and accounts reactivation. We are currently getting 100 new members per month,” Ayimana noted.
Cynthia Umuhire, from Musanze District, said she opened an account in Umurenge SACCO in 2010 when she was employed in land registration at the cell level.
"I used to get my salary through SACCO. But when I went for studies in Eastern Province, the account immediately became dormant. If it was automated, I could have d saving money on it as I would be able to withdraw wherever I am. I only left Rwf1, 500 on this account and I can revive it, if SACCOs get digitised,” she said.
Providence Uwamahoro, the manager of Imbangukiragukira SACCO in Kibangu sector of Muhanga District said that the SACCO is not yet automated.
She said manual operations trigger long queues of customers seeking services at the SACCO.
"SACCO is the financial institution close to many residents, especially in rural areas. Automation will ease service delivery as people can withdraw money without going to SACCO offices. The process should be fast-tracked,” she said.
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The manager of Abahizi SACCO in Rulindo District, Jean Marie Vianney Ndagijimana said, "The district is hilly, therefore there is a need for digitising SACCOs’ services so that customers can withdraw cash using mobile banking without walking a long distance to queue there.
Abahizi SACCO which has currently 9,400 members is also on course to be automated.
ALSO READ: Capacity building plus automation for SACCOs equals to innovation, efficiency and profitability.
"We are currently entering data into the system. Once done, we will start to operate digitally. Manual operations delay service delivery. Preparing reports is also a big challenge. With automated SACCOs, members can withdraw money through their mobile phones even during holidays and weekends,” he said, adding that clients are coming back to the SACCO to reactivate their inactive accounts.
Ndagijimana said money theft cases will also decrease thanks to digitised SACCO services.
According to data from the Finance Ministry, the Umurenge SACCOs automation and consolidation project, aimed at creating a cooperative bank, commenced in 2020 and is projected to be completed in 2024, with a budget of over Rwf7.8 billion.