MNO Subscriber Mobile Lending Product at ABC Capital Bank Uganda

In Detail

1) Business Problem with Context: ABC Capital Bank had experienced a stagnated digital transformation agenda and was downgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2 by the Bank of Uganda following revised capital requirements. This downgrade weakened market perception, reduced competitiveness, and threatened long-term sustainability. 

Strategic Reality

• Core customer base is SMEs

• Strategic ambition is to expand into retail banking

• Existing Business-As-Usual operations were not sufficient to drive growth, attract new customers, and generate non-traditional revenue

Urgency: The Bank needed a high-impact MNO subscriber digital product capable of Rapid revenue generation, Customer acquisition at scale, and demonstrating digital execution capability to regulators, investors, and management

2) Objective / Success Criteria

Objectives

• Launch a scalable mobile lending product

• Leverage partnerships instead of heavy internal build

• Use alternative data for credit decisioning

• Generate measurable revenue within months, not years

• Integration of Airtel Uganda (MNO), Gnugrid, and ABC Bank

• Affordable Short-Term Loans

• High Disbursement Rate

Success Criteria

• Successful UAT and pilot deployment

• Customer adoption during pilot

• Revenue generation within the first quarter

• Strong management buy-in based on performance

3) My Role & Ownership as a One-Man Project Management Office (PMO). I led End-to-end ownership of the project and Acted as the Project Manager, Stakeholder coordinator, Vendor liaison, Product governance lead, and reported directly into senior management structures.

4) What I Did. 

• I designed a lightweight project management framework tailored for a bank with no formal PMO

• Set up a Project steering committee, Risk register and mitigations, and Communication and reporting plans

• Coordinated a three-party partnership between ABC Capital Bank, Gnugrid CRB, and Airtel

• Oversaw Documentation, Timelines, and Cross-organization dependencies

• Managed UAT and Pilot phases

• Coordinated go-live into Production

• Monitored early performance via LMS reports

• Led post-launch configuration reviews and refinements

5) Technical Depth

• Partnership Model

  • Gnugrid CRB provided Credit scoring and decisioning, CRB data plus Airtel Money behavioral data

  • Airtel provided the Customer base, USSD channel, and the Mobile money repayment rails

  • ABC Capital Bank provided the Loan capital, guidance on Regulatory compliance, and Revenue participation

• Core Systems

  • USSD Channel for loan application and repayment

  • Loan Management System (LMS) for Monitoring performance, Reporting, and Decision-making inputs, 

• Product Logic covered Short-term loans, Interest and penalties applied based on repayment behavior, and Revenue shared across partners

6) Results & Impact (Before vs After)

• Before

  • Limited digital revenue streams

  • Conservative risk appetite

  • Low confidence in digital product execution

  • Stagnant growth narrative

• After

  • Successful launch of a mobile lending product

  • Rapid customer uptake during pilot

  • Within 3 months, product revenue accounted for ~11% of the Bank’s total profits from the previous year.

  • Demonstrated viability of digital products

  • Shifted management perception around digital transformation

• Strategic Impact: The project became the strongest proof point that digital products could materially transform the Bank’s outlook and revenue profile.

7) Challenges & How I Solved Them

• Late Market Entry & Fraud Exposure: Competitors were already active, and Fraud cases emerged early. Solution was to Revise business rules, Tightened customer eligibility criteria, Reconfigured the decisioning logic to suit the new set business rules, and also Implemented auto-debit on mobile money wallets for overdue loans.

• Resistance to Change: Staff were accustomed to traditional banking models, and the Risk-averse management culture. Solution was to secure buy-in from key influencers, used early results to build momentum, and also Let performance data speak louder than theory

• Skills & Digital Literacy Gaps: Limited internal exposure to digital lending models. Combated this by simplifying communication, Focussing discussions on outcomes, not technology, and gradual exposure through pilot results.

8) What I’d Do Differently Next Time

• Engage other players in the same market to understand fraud and risk analytics earlier

• Invest earlier in staff digital upskilling

• Formalize a permanent PMO sooner

• Expand pilot monitoring dashboards faster