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How we helped one of South Africa’s premier credit providers add value to the lives of their customers – and became part of them in the process
Intro
African Bank Limited is one of the country’s biggest credit providers. Currently serving over 1.1 million customers, the bank intends to grow the base to 2.5 million by 2021 and aims to do so through a variety of mechanisms. One of these avenues for growth and real customer empowerment is through technology.
The Challenge
One of the key obstacles to achieving disruptive innovation is the expense, skill and time required to build new channels for market acquisition. So, we needed to help ABL reach current and new consumers who are not able to afford tech devices such as laptops through traditional retail or retail credit providers.
The Solution
We approached African Bank with the idea of a new loan offering to enrich the lives of their current customers, as well as provide a platform to enrich new customers, through access to technology.
By bundling essential devices with loans, we could redefine loan products from being perceived as a cash-only offering into a “customer technology access” loan coupled with value-adds. In this case, it was designed to enable access to education.
While African Bank focused on their core competencies, we developed an end-to-end solution that encompassed marketing, training, logistics and after-sales support. The result offered customers the ability to purchase devices on credit through add-ons to their existing loans or as stand-alone technology loans.
The objectives
To develop a product offering that projects the core values of technology enrichment, i.e.:
1
Provide access to connectivity
2
Provide educational content in bundles that will enrich the end user
3
Provide an after-sales solution that will allow the customer and African Bank to have peace of mind
4
Deliver and service the full value proposition from order to customer delivery
Our idea was to create bundles that would appeal to the African Bank customer base, with the intention to create maximum value for the customer. Not only did we develop the bundle, we also sourced the data and technology to go with it – from the device itself to the accessories.
We also developed and implemented an integrated process, from procurement to delivery, servicing, customer queries and warranty fulfilment. This, along with a strategic marketing effort, was instrumental in the early sales push.
Services Offered
1
Procurement of product at zero risk (African Bank only pays for the product on successful delivery)
2
Digital Planet assumes all stock risk
3
Merchandising and bundle creation with strategic partners (Microsoft, Vast, HP, Mecer, etc)
4
Order management through Digital Planet’s order management system
The Results
We assisted in increasing client acquisition and retention, as well as building a larger credit book for the bank. This resulted in a four-year (and counting) partnership in which we’ve enabled African Bank to grow, while making a REAL difference to the lives of their customers.