Smart loan servicing boosts Getbucks

GETBUCKS says its profit after tax for the year ended June 30, 2018 went up by a significant 25 percent to $4,5 million on the back of smart loan servicing.
The lender’s chairman Rungano Mbire said “the growth was driven by lower impairments of $0,2 million, from $1 million in 2017 and reduced operating expenses of $6,1million, from $6,7 million in 2017”.
“Impairments improved significantly due to better repayment collection efforts, increased collection channels and improved credit scoring models,” he said in the firm’s financials for the period under review.
“Operating expenses declined as management fees decreased due to continued localisation of services that were being obtained from our group,” Mbire said.
During the period, Getbucks’ staff costs, however, increased due to a higher headcount following efforts to build capacity to deliver services from internal resources.
“To ensure better access to credit for our customers, the bank restructured its product offering which resulted in more affordable products thereby slightly decreasing overall revenue,” Mbire added.
The institution managed to disburse 38 percent more loans — 47 000 from 33 860 in 2017, with its loan book growing by 43 percent to $21,6 million from $15,1 million.
“The trend is looking to continue into the coming year…as clients respond to the new offerings and competitive pricing,” Mbire said.
Going forward, Mbire said they will continue to focus on a technology-centric strategy after “successfully launching” its retail offerings including Point of Sale machines, Zimswitch enabled debit cards and ZIPIT for its individual and corporate clients.
Internet and a mobile banking applications with USSD capability will be rolled out to complete the full repertoire of banking services for its customers.
“These channels will be used to deliver additional innovative products to clients using efficient and low-cost platforms,” Mbire said, adding that “the bank continues to increase accessibility to credit in the underserved markets for both individuals and SME’s and improve credit scoring capacity required to ensure pricing remains competitive”.
Meanwhile, Getbucks declared a final dividend of 0.038 cents per