VisaMi - User guide | VICOBA, savings groups and Microfinance

Quick start

VisaMi (VIcoba + SAving + MIcrofinance) has two parts. Choose yours:

VICOBA and small groups (group members): register a group, sign in with phone or email, record contributions, apply for loans and repay. See the VICOBA section.
Microfinance (an institution, its branches and staff): staff sign in with the Ingia (MFI) button. See the Microfinance section.

Customers of a microfinance institution do not sign in themselves. Branch staff serve them.

Open the sign-in page and press Sajili hapa (new group).
Fill in the group's details and those of the person starting it. That person becomes the group administrator.
Sign in with your phone number or email and your password. Never share your password.

Role	What they do
Chairperson	Gives the final loan approval and leads the group.
Treasurer	Records contributions and repayments, and verifies loan applications.
Secretary	Keeps records and passes loan applications at the second step.
Member	Sees their own contributions, applies for a loan and checks their balance.

Nobody can approve their own loan. A rejected loan does not go back a step; a new application is made.

The treasurer records repayments, and the member sees the remaining loan balance.
Fines are applied according to the group's own rule.
The group sees reports of contributions, loans and the yearly dividend (AGM).
Notifications appear on the bell at the top; opening them marks them as read.

Press Ingia (MFI) on the home or sign-in page, or open /mf/login.php.
Sign in with your email and the temporary password your institution administrator gave you.
The first time, you must change the password. Choose a long, unique one.
You will see a dashboard with the work waiting for you, based on your role.

Role	Main duties
Institution administrator	Adds staff and branches, sets up loan products, approves large loans, and decides cash-funding requests, payment reversals and till variances. Every major decision needs a second administrator.
Branch manager	Approves loans up to their limit, closes the day, and sees branch reports.
Loan officer	Registers customers, creates loan applications and follows up customers in arrears.
Teller	Disburses loans and receives repayments. The only role that handles customer cash.

The loan officer opens Wateja > Mteja mpya (Customers > New customer).
Enters name, phone, ID number and branch.
Confirms KYC (identity) after seeing the real ID. The system never confirms it automatically.

Application: the officer opens Maombi ya mikopo and creates an application with product, amount and term.
Approval: the manager approves up to their limit; above that an administrator approves.
Disbursement: the teller opens Utoaji wa mikopo and pays out. The product fee is deducted up front and the customer receives the amount after the fee.
Repayments: the teller opens Pokea malipo. A payment is split: penalties, interest, then principal. Extra money pays later instalments; what is left goes to the customer's credit.

The teller requests a reversal and gives a reason.
A manager or administrator decides. A teller can never approve their own request.
If approved, the payment is reversed and the books are corrected; the receipt shows "reversed".

The manager opens Fedha > Kufunga siku, counts the cash drawer and enters the amount.
If it differs from the books, they write a note and may pick the responsible teller. The variance waits for another administrator.
The other administrator decides under Fedha > Tofauti za till: a shortage becomes an institution expense, an overage becomes income.
After closing, no new cash transactions are allowed for that branch that day.

Adding cash to a branch: one administrator requests, another approves. Taking cash to the bank: the same.
Reports: trial balance, income statement, balance sheet, PAR and bank reconciliation. Only an administrator can download CSV.
Every action is written to a permanent audit trail that cannot be deleted.
If you forget your password, ask your institution administrator for a new one.

Never share your password, even with a colleague.
Sign out when you finish, especially on a shared phone or computer.
Do not write customers' names in short note fields.
Problem? Contact your administrator. Platform support: moescience@proton.me or +255 768 139 301.