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Making sense of debt review


Johannesburg, 23 Oct 2015
Clear reporting
Clear reporting

Astraia Technology has a development team that faces business problems head on, but they don't just charge in. When problems arise with a client, Astraia Technology slows down, steps back and takes a holistic view of the situation.

The challenge is never just about technology because the business operations must be considered, and just throwing technology at a problem will only fix it, not solve it. Solving a business challenge is where Astraia Technology excels, bringing business savvy, technical expertise and clear communication together to deliver results that exceed expectations. One such challenge was raised by Intelligent Debt Management (IDM), and Astraia came to the rescue.

Fact sheet
Solution: Smartcents
Industry: Financials
Provider: Astraia Technology
User: Intelligent Debt Management

Intelligent Debt Management is the leading debt management company in South Africa and has led the way in the industry for many years. Debt has become a big problem in South Africa, with countless people finding themselves in the so called "debt trap". As a growing number of individuals battle with debt, struggling to keep up with ever increasing payments, they turn to debt counsellors and debt management companies such as IDM.

With the growth in people being assisted with debt, so the administration for a debt counsellor increases, and this growth for IDM has been considerable. Debt management is a complex issue and the last thing someone who is struggling with and stressing over debt needs is a complex and confusing system to work with. Debt counselling has always been perceived as painful and difficult, and thus a large number of people never get the help they really need.

Over a number of years, IDM has managed to streamline its processes internally and has used technology such as Sage CRM with inbuilt workflows linking through to its ERP system to maintain control of the many customers it deals with on a daily basis. IDM partnered with Astraia Technology to firstly implement the technology platforms needed to perform the work it does, and secondly to define and map the processes that drive the business.

In a relatively short space of time, IDM had refined and perfected its internal systems in partnership with Astraia Technology, and the next logical step was to make the process less cumbersome and friendlier for its customers. IDM knew what it wanted, and Astraia was asked to develop the platform required.

Taking the well mapped out processes from the internal operations and engineering them into a solution that made debt management easy for the end-user was the requirement. creating an effective countdown to financial freedom. Financial freedom is essentially the final goal for all IDM customers under debt review.

Astraia Technology knew all the information required to produce the online and fully mobile application was to be found in the management and operational systems it had implemented within IDM. IDM had a well refined process from client application to eventual financial freedom, and Astraia Technology needed to replicate this in a live, online and mobile framework.

View your balances online
View your balances online

Using a wide variety of technologies and through considerable testing with IDM, Smartcents (www.smartcents.co.za) was developed. With the assistance of a digital design agency, the system that Astraia developed was made more visually appealing, and in a few short months it went live.

Today, Smartcents has revolutionised debt management and debt review in South Africa and has given IDM further prominence as the market leader in the country. Smartcents is a fully mobile, responsive, visually appealing tool that makes sense of the debt review process. With in-depth reporting with clear and informative charts and diagrams, debt review becomes visual and helpful rather than confusing and painful.

For the user struggling with debt, Smartcents creates an easy-to-use space where applying for debt review is simplified with online document submission and a clearly defined, step-by-step take on process that guides the user through the entire application process. Smartcents builds up a clear financial profile of the individual and the information provided is fed back into the proven operational processes of IDM, creating a seamless link between the person in debt and the debt counsellor or debt review company.

Everything required by anyone under debt review is covered within the system, making Smartcents a real one-stop shop. Obtaining an up-to-date credit report can be done from within the system, knowing how much is owed on debt and seeing the debt reducing graphically, and a host of reports that are not only useful for the user, but also create peace of mind, are just some of the features Astraia Technology built into Smartcents.

Technology that makes sense of debt
Technology that makes sense of debt

Working closely with IDM, Astraia Technology was able to understand the bigger picture of debt management and Smartcents includes a financial education component that helps the user understand a little more about financial management. A number of reference articles, infographics and videos provide important information that help to ensure users stay out of debt once they are out of debt.

Smartcents is an extremely versatile and tremendously powerful solution developed by the Astraia Technology Development division. Using many years of experience in developing solutions around technology such as Sage ERP, Sage CRM and flowcentric BPM, Astraia Technology has the expertise to build custom business solutions that are not only technologically advanced, but also push the levels of technology to drive home a real competitive edge for customers such as IDM.

Written by Matt Newnham

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Editorial contacts

David Bryant
Astraia Technology
(0861) 40 40 56
info@astraia.co.za