HFC Bank's Digital Transformation: Leveraging WhatsApp Business Platform for Enhanced Customer Engagement
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Computer Vision Software
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Education
- Finance & Insurance
Use Cases
- Leasing Finance Automation
- Machine to Machine Payments
About The Customer
Housing Finance Company Limited (HFC Limited), commonly referred to as Housing Finance, is a leading mortgage finance provider headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. HFC targets predominantly emerging affluent, high net worth, middle and upper-middle-income customers and services a client base of approximately 300,000. With the launch of its digital banking platform dubbed HF Whizz, HFC set its target segment as college and university students (aged 18-24) and micro-entrepreneurs. Most customers in this segment were mainly interested in instant loans, short-term credit, and other small-value transactions.
The Challenge
Housing Finance Company Limited (HFC), a leading mortgage finance provider in Nairobi, Kenya, faced a significant challenge in increasing the number of transactions per customer on its digital banking platform, HF Whizz. The platform was primarily targeted at college and university students and micro-entrepreneurs, who were mainly interested in instant loans, short-term credit, and other small-value transactions. However, these customers lacked financial education about repaying these loans on time, posing a significant hurdle for HFC. The bank's customer engagement was conducted mainly via email, SMS, USSD, and WhatsApp channels, but it sought to better understand the customers who utilized its digital banking platform. HFC also wanted to find more ways of increasing the number of transactions per customer and the range of products and services they were typically using. The bank realized that it needed a commonly used platform to share information with this younger customer demographic and leverage its digital banking platform to upsell its products and services.
The Solution
In 2018, HFC defined its digital strategy and established its requirements through a consultative effort involving cross-functional internal teams and an external consultant. They identified the WhatsApp Business Platform, coupled with a two-way SMS to complement its USSD and App platforms as the ideal solutions for their needs. The solution needed to be agile to implement, customizable in a short time, offer flexibility in terms of innovation and pricing, and have simple Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that HFC could connect to. The bank also sought a partner to provide 24-hour support and a designated team to implement the project. After issuing requests for proposals, Infobip was chosen as the successful bidder, based on its willingness to fully understand HFC’s vision and its ability to provide a technology solution that met all the bank’s requirements.
Operational Impact
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