Small Loans
Small Loans covers the whole life of a loan, from the moment a client applies to the day the last instalment is collected. This section explains each step from the point of view of branch staff.
The loan lifecycle
Every loan moves through the same stages, in this order:
| Step | What happens | Who usually does it | Status you will see |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Apply | A loan application is captured for a client. | Collection Officer, Branch Manager | Submitted |
| 2. Collection Officer review | The first approval. | Collection Officer | CO Approved |
| 3. Area Manager review | The second approval. | Area Manager | ALM Approved |
| 4. Branch Manager review | The final approval. The loan is now ready to pay out. | Branch Manager | BM Approved |
| 5. Disburse | The money is paid out and the loan and its repayment schedule are created. | Branch Manager or Admin | Disbursed (application), Active (loan) |
| 6. Daily collections | The client repays one instalment per day. Each payment is recorded on the Collections screen. | Collection Officer | Active |
| 7a. Repaid | When the outstanding balance reaches zero, the loan closes by itself. | Automatic | Completed |
| 7b. Behind on payments | If payments fall behind the schedule, the loan goes into arrears and appears on the Delinquency screen. Penalties may be charged, depending on your organisation's settings. | Automatic | Active, listed under Delinquency |
At any approval step the application can be rejected instead, which ends it. Admins can approve at every stage. Some organisations do not use the approval chain at all, in which case a new application goes straight to BM Approved. See Approving and rejecting applications.
The Small Loans menu
The Small Loans heading in the left-hand menu has six items:
| Menu item | What it is for | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | Headline figures for the loan book and quick links to the other screens. | This page |
| Applications | All loan applications and their status. Start a new application here. | Applying for a loan |
| Loans | Every disbursed loan. Open a loan to see its schedule, collections, savings and arrears. | Reading a loan and its repayment schedule |
| Collections | Today's collection sheet, the history of all collections, and batch entry. | Recording collections |
| Approvals | The queue of applications waiting for a decision. | Approving and rejecting applications |
| Delinquency | Loans in arrears, and the portfolio-at-risk report. | Arrears, penalties and fees |
The Overview screen
Small Loans Overview shows four figures:
- Portfolio Outstanding - the total still owed on all active loans.
- Collections Today - the total collected today.
- PAR 30 - the share of the outstanding portfolio held in loans more than 30 days in arrears.
- Active Loans - how many loans are currently active.
Below them are two charts: Collections trend (daily collections over the last two weeks) and PAR Breakdown (how the outstanding portfolio splits between loans that are up to date and loans in each arrears band). Under Quick Links there are cards for Applications, Approvals, Active Loans, Collections and Delinquency; select Go on a card to open that screen.
Pages in this section
- Applying for a loan
- Approving and rejecting applications
- Disbursing a loan
- Reading a loan and its repayment schedule
- Recording collections
- How payments are applied
- Arrears, penalties and fees
Clients and groups are set up before anyone can borrow; see Clients and groups. Organisation-wide settings such as fees are described in Administration.