MNO Subscriber Mobile Lending Product at ABC Capital Bank Uganda

In Detail

Context & Business Problem

ABC Capital Bank was operating in a constrained growth environment. Following revised capital requirements, the bank was downgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2 by the central bank, weakening market confidence and limiting competitive positioning. At the same time, the bank’s digital transformation agenda had stalled, with existing business-as-usual operations unable to drive meaningful growth or attract new customer segments.

The bank’s core customer base was SME-focused, but leadership had a clear strategic ambition to expand into retail banking. Achieving this required a visible, high-impact digital product that could generate revenue quickly, acquire customers at scale, and demonstrate execution capability to regulators, investors, and internal stakeholders.

Time to impact mattered more than theoretical perfection.

Objective & Success Criteria

The goal was to launch a scalable digital lending product capable of delivering measurable results within months, not years.

Key objectives

• Launch a mobile lending product with rapid time-to-market

• Leverage external partnerships instead of heavy internal build

• Use alternative data to support credit decisioning

• Generate early revenue and customer adoption

• Integrate Airtel Uganda, Gnugrid (CRB), and ABC Capital Bank into a single operating model

Success was defined by

1. Successful UAT and pilot deployment

2. Meaningful customer uptake during the pilot phase

3. Revenue contribution within the first quarter

4. Clear management and board buy-in driven by performance data

My Role & Ownership

I led the initiative end-to-end as a single-point delivery owner, effectively operating as a one-person Project Management Office (PMO).

My responsibilities spanned:

• Project leadership and delivery governance

• Stakeholder coordination across business, risk, and external partners

• Vendor and partner management

• Product governance and reporting into senior management

The mandate was simple: deliver a working product that could stand up to regulatory, commercial, and operational scrutiny.

Approach & Execution:

Rather than introduce heavy process, I designed a lightweight delivery framework suited to a bank without a formal PMO.

Key execution steps included:

• Establishing a project steering committee, risk register, and structured reporting cadence

• Coordinating a three-party partnership between ABC Capital Bank, Gnugrid, and Airtel Uganda

• Managing cross-organization dependencies, documentation, and delivery timelines

• Leading UAT and pilot execution with rapid feedback loops

• Coordinating production go-live and early-stage performance monitoring

• Driving post-launch configuration refinements based on live data

• The focus throughout was speed with control - moving fast without losing regulatory or risk discipline.

Platform & Technical Design

The solution was built around a partnership-led operating model.

Partnership model

• Gnugrid (CRB): Credit scoring and decisioning using CRB data and mobile money behavioural signals

• Airtel Uganda: Customer base, USSD access channel, and mobile money repayment rails

• ABC Capital Bank: Loan capital, regulatory oversight, and revenue participation

Core systems

• USSD channel for loan application and repayment

• Loan Management System (LMS) for performance monitoring, reporting, and decision support

• Product logic covering short-term loans, interest, penalties, and revenue sharing based on repayment behavior

The architecture prioritised simplicity, scalability, and operational visibility over custom complexity.

Results & Impact

Before

• Limited digital revenue streams

• Conservative risk posture driven by uncertainty

• Low confidence in executing digital products

• Stagnant growth narrative

After

• Successful launch of a mobile lending product

• Rapid customer uptake during the pilot phase

• Within three months, the product generated revenue equivalent to approximately 10% of the bank’s total profit from the previous year

• Demonstrated commercial viability of digital products

• Shifted leadership perception of what digital transformation could realistically deliver

Strategic impact

The project became the strongest internal proof point that digital platforms could materially change the bank’s revenue trajectory and long-term outlook.

Key Challenges & How They Were Addressed

1. Late market entry and early fraud exposure: Competitors were already active, and fraud signals emerged shortly after launch.

Response: tightened eligibility criteria, revised business rules, reconfigured decisioning logic, and implemented automated mobile-money debit for overdue loans.

2. Organizational resistance to change: Risk-averse culture and familiarity with traditional banking models slowed adoption.

Response: secured buy-in from key influencers, focused conversations on outcomes rather than technology, and allowed performance data to drive alignment.

3. Internal digital skills gaps: Limited exposure to digital lending models across teams.

Response: simplified communication, emphasized results over theory, and used pilot performance as a learning vehicle.

What I Would Do Differently

1. Engage peer institutions earlier to benchmark fraud and risk analytics

2. Invest sooner in structured digital upskilling for internal teams

3. Formalize a permanent PMO earlier in the delivery cycle

4. Expand pilot monitoring dashboards more aggressively during early rollout