Glossary

The terms used in the platform and in this help site, in alphabetical order.

Active (loan) - A loan that has been disbursed and still has a balance to repay.

Application - A request for a loan, captured for a client. Each application has a reference such as SL-2026-0001 (the year and a running number). An application moves through the approval stages and, once fully approved, can be disbursed.

Approval stages - The three reviews an application passes before disbursement: CO Review (Collection Officer), ALM Review (Area Manager) and BM Review (Branch Manager). After each approval the application status becomes CO Approved, ALM Approved and finally BM Approved. An application can be Rejected at any stage. Some organisations switch the approval chain off.

Arrears - The amount a loan is behind its repayment schedule - what should have been paid by today but has not been. A loan in arrears appears on the Delinquency screen.

Audit log - A list of actions recorded for your organisation, with who did what and when.

Back-dated collection - A collection recorded for an earlier date than today. Only supervisory roles can do this. A collection can never be recorded for a future date.

Client - A person your organisation serves. Each client has a client number such as CL-1A2B3C4D. Several clients can share a name, so always check the client number.

Collection - A payment received from a client towards a loan, recorded by staff on the Collections screen or from the loan.

Completed (loan) - A loan that has been repaid in full. It closes by itself when its outstanding balance reaches zero.

Contribution - A payment a client makes towards a Savings Club goal.

Custom field - An extra field your organisation adds to the client form, such as a local ID number.

Daily collection sheet - The list on the Collections screen of the loans due for collection today, with the amount required from each client.

Daily Required - The amount a client must pay each day to keep a loan on schedule. Loans on the platform are repaid in daily instalments.

Days in arrears / Days Overdue - How many days of payments a loan is behind. A loan that has missed nine days of payments is nine days in arrears.

Delinquency - Loans that are behind on payments. The Delinquency screen lists them with their outstanding balance, days in arrears and PAR category.

Disbursement - Paying out an approved loan to the client. Disbursement creates the loan and its repayment schedule. It is always a deliberate action by staff; the platform never disburses on its own.

Enrollment fee - A fee charged the first time a client takes up a product: for Small Loans at disbursement, for the Savings Club when a goal is created. Set in your organisation's fee settings.

Fee - A charge to a client set by your organisation, such as a registration fee, enrollment fee, account maintenance fee or per-transaction fee. A fee the client has not paid stays owing on their account.

Field officer - The member of staff responsible for a client, group or loan.

Group - A set of clients who meet and borrow together. A client can belong to a group, and a group can have a field officer.

Instalment - One scheduled repayment. For daily loans, one day's Daily Required amount.

Interest - The charge for borrowing, set as a percentage on each application. The interest rate is proposed when the application is captured.

KYC - "Know your customer" - the identity documents and photograph your organisation requires for a client. Document types marked as KYC are shown as KYC requirements on the client form.

Loan - The money lent to a client once an application has been disbursed. A loan has a principal, an interest rate, a term in days, a repayment schedule and an outstanding balance.

Maintenance fee - A recurring account fee, charged monthly, quarterly or annually to every client who holds at least one active account, if your organisation sets one.

Organisation - The microfinance institution you work for. You choose it when you sign in. Some screens call it the "tenant", for example Tenant Settings.

Outstanding balance - What is still owed on a loan.

PAR 30 (portfolio at risk) - The share of the outstanding loan portfolio held in loans more than 30 days in arrears. The higher it is, the more of the loan book is at risk.

Passbook - The record of a client's savings: deposits, withdrawals and the running balance.

Payout - Money paid out to a client from a Savings Club goal.

Penalty - An extra charge added to a loan when it falls behind schedule. Whether penalties are charged, and how much, depends on your organisation's settings.

Per-transaction fee - A fee charged on each daily collection, if your organisation sets one.

Portfolio Outstanding - The total still owed across all active loans.

Principal - The amount lent, before interest.

Registration fee - A fee charged when a new client is registered, if your organisation sets one.

Role - What a member of staff is allowed to do: Proprietor, Admin, Branch Manager, Area Manager, Collection Officer or Viewer. See Roles and permissions.

Savings - Money a client keeps with your organisation. For Small Loans, a client's savings back their borrowing: your organisation may require savings of a set share of the loan amount before a loan is approved and disbursed.

Savings goal - In the Savings Club, a target amount a client saves towards with regular contributions.

Term - How long a loan runs, in days.

Waterfall - The fixed order in which a collection is applied: penalties first, then interest, then principal, and anything left over goes to the client's savings. If your organisation chooses to take unpaid fees out of collections, fees come first. See Small Loans.