- February 18, 2017
- Posted by: wgadmin
- Category: Loan Management
Further expanding on successful collaborations with government development agencies within South Africa, Ké Concepts were honoured to be granted the KwaZulu-Natal Growth Fund tender in the first quarter of 2011.
Established in 2007, the KZN Growth Fund is a Public-Private Partnership between the KZN Provincial Government, the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), Standard Bank Limited and the Infrastructure Finance Corporation (INCA). By partnering with these influential financiers, this R1.1billion long term debt fund aims to create an enabling environment for sustainable economic development, job creation and broad-based black economic empowerment.
Dealing in large scale investments of R30m and above in infrastructure and related projects, the KZN Growth Fund’s need for an integrated Loan Management System (LMS) was an important aspect of their solution requirements.
“Following a rigorous tender evaluation process, we selected CreditEase due to its suitability and adaptability to our business” says Leonette Reynolds Venter, Acting CEO at KZN Growth Fund Managers (Pty) Ltd. “We have a very complex funding structure that underpins each of our projects and we were looking for a system that could cater for this complexity as well as being able to handle the unique structuring of each loan funded.”
Ké Concepts, having previously successfully tendered for both the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC), were both confident in their ability to deliver a superior solution and highly conscious of their tradition in surpassing all set expectations on their way to securing this KZN Growth Fund tender.
“With such a formidable product as CreditEase, we have, over the years, grown confident in our ability to promise and deliver a viable solution offering solid benefits for our customers,” says Gary Green, Director of Sales and Operations at Ké Concepts.
With the KZN Growth Fund coming from a background of Excel based processes, it initially seemed that the fund team were merely seeking a Back Office solution to tag onto their Excel procedures to complete their existing management system. However, after being introduced to the CreditEase application, their peace-of-mind LMS requirements broadened to encompass the entire CreditEase suite, from Origination (Front Office) to Loan Management (Back Office) to Collections (Arrears Management). The project has been divided into two phases, the 1st phase being Loan Management due for completion end July 2011, and the 2nd phase to include Origination and After Care.
Coupled with a keen appreciation for the fund’s mandate to enhance economic growth and accelerate socio-economic development for the KZN province, Ké Concepts were able to clearly demonstrate the exceptional functionality of the CreditEase calculator which included flexibility of individual loan tailoring, incorporating structuring such as capital and interest moratoriums and the ability to import the structured amortisation directly into the Loan Management solution, thereby limiting manual information entry and human error.
By teaming up with customers and working side-by-side through the implementation and orientation processes involved in assimilating CreditEase into a customer’s operation, both Ké Concepts and the client remain equally vested in the success of the adoption.
“With intimate understanding of CreditEase, and thorough knowledge of the lending environment in which we operate, Ké Concepts are able to fulfil the beneficial dual role of software technologist and market specialist,” remarks Green, “affording our clients complete operational confidence.”
The benefits of which the KZN Growth fund clearly recognise, “the management and staff at Ké Concepts have proved to be very professional in delivering their product and have gone the extra mile to ensure that their product is successfully implemented,” comments Ms Reynolds Venter. “We commend Gary and his team for the great service and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Ké Concepts.”
And in pursuit of the KZN Growth Fund’s vision for a ‘new’ KwaZulu-Natal, Ké Concepts believe that the formidable partnerships formed today between themselves, the KZN Growth Fund, and various other innovative government development agencies, will continue to set the tone for progressive expansion and successful future joint ventures both within South Africa and out into Africa.
About Ké Concepts: Ké Concepts is a Microsoft® Silver Partner, with specialist expertise in the provision of tailored, yet cost effective credit management and lending solutions. Based in Johannesburg, the company has been operating since 1998 when it was founded by a core of talented, experienced and collaborative individuals. This group has spent the many years working together to provide lending and debtor management solutions to the financial services industry.
Developed in close association with Microsoft and a number of veteran industry leaders, CreditEase is designed to address the challenges facing financial services providers within the Sub-Saharan African market.