Owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic, a strict nationwide lockdown has been deployed in India from March 25 until May 17. Amid this historic crisis, one of India’s largest credit union service organizations (CUSOs) decided to develop digital solutions that will help credit unions smoothly carry out their financial operations, both in country and abroad, thereby not letting the COVID-19 crisis hamper their business. 

Finacus Solutions Pvt Ltd.—a World Council of Credit Unions associate member based in Mumbai—has 13 years of experience in serving credit unions with technology solutions. They have provided core banking and payment solutions for over 100 credit unions and cooperative banks in India, Africa and Latin America. Despite the lockdown, Finacus continues to innovate, develop and roll out multiple digital solutions for their customers. 

One such initiative is the design of the Marketplace platform, which allows credit unions to showcase and deploy their products and services to retailers for business-to-consumer (B2C) operations and to wholesalers for business-to-business (B2B) activities. Credit union members can use the same platform to set up both delivery and payment for those products and services as well. The Marketplace platform can be deployed almost immediately, with some country-specific customizations.

“Our marketplace platform will definitely ease the pressure of doing business in a lockdown, especially now that it is pretty clear social distancing will be a norm for the rest of 2020 and possibly beyond. It is a useful tool for credit unions who want to reach their members with the best possible products and services. Low fees, greater visibility and earning potential, superior user experience and a safe application environment are some of the advantages which can be leveraged. It also allows for more reach than one physical location. The platform also allows both wholesalers and retailers to engage with customers on a common platform,” said Nimish Patel, director of FINACUS Solutions.

Finacus, on request from its international credit union clients, has also developed a Digital Subsidy Distribution service to replace current subsidy distribution systems that use physical vouchers. This solution is soon to be deployed to help one national government dispense subsidies directly to citizens using the credit union network. Beneficiaries can visit their nearest credit union to claim their subsidies—aiding the government in reaching people in the most remote regions.

The company has also developed a GIROs (domestic cash transfers) solution, which will be deployed in Colombia in the coming months. The main purpose is to enable and emphasize participation of credit union networks in domestic transfers. The system is similar to the Western Union model, enforcing KYC requirements and allowing for limits on authorizations, role-based access and comprehensive reporting to the regulator. It also provides an AML feature to monitor suspicious transactions.

For product information, please visit www.finacus.co.in.