Microfinance plays a critical role in India with 40% of the population having limited or no access to traditional banking services. Meeting the needs of the underserved is not easy though. Janalakshmi knew from the start it needed a smart way to service customers and the technology to scale.

“Our vision has always been about improving financial inclusion and providing a full suite of products and services to a growing number of customers. Investment in technology like Salesforce has helped make that possible,” said Vidyasagar Bedida, Vice President, Technology and Processes, Janalakshmi Financial Services.

Scalable and automated processes have reduced time to market for new products and supported Janalakshmi’s rapid growth. These include a simplified onboarding process which has halved the time between loan applications and disbursement of funds. Salesforce is at the heart of this and has supercharged productivity for Janalakshmi’s 10,000 field reps.

Integrated with Janalaskhmi’s core banking system and a custom mobile app, Salesforce lets reps capture new leads and service customers from anywhere. Loan disbursement and collection takes place from the ultimate convenience of the customer’s doorstep. Biometrics built-in to reps’ mobile devices allow for instant customer verification and transactions are authenticated on the spot.

With rich reporting functionality, management can track transactions or drill down into the data to see the total number of customers in any given sector or even the rate of approvals for particular geographies. Analysing these types of trends helps Janalakshmi target customers with the right products at the right time, and identify opportunities for growth.

“The insights and efficiencies we’ve gained from Salesforce have sustained 100% year on year growth for the past five years,” said Bedida. “Now, we want to harness those capabilities to support even more customers with a broader range of products and services.”