By Emma Peter, Abuja
Parkway Projects Limited has unveiled a digitalisation solution designed to help cooperative societies improve financial management, reduce loan defaults and expand access to financial services for members.
The Head of Business, Parkway Projects Limited, Dire Chidi, disclosed this while speaking with journalists shortly after his presentation on digitalisation of cooperatives at the 10th National Cooperative Summit, Exhibition and Awards organised by the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria.
Chidi said Parkway Projects, licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide financial inclusion services, developed the cooperative digitalisation solution to extend its capacity as a licensed payment operator and address challenges affecting cooperatives, particularly among financially excluded Nigerians.
According to him, the platform enables cooperatives to digitise their operations at little or no initial cost while creating opportunities for them to generate additional income through transactions.
“Our business is basically licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to provide financial inclusion. In order to extend our capacity as a licensed payment operator, we have pivoted into offering cooperative digitalisation solutions,” Chidi said.
He explained that cooperatives could come on board the platform at zero cost, with Parkway charging only transaction fees when members fund their cooperative accounts or transfer money out.
He said members could access their cooperatives through the Parkway self-service application, where they could make payments and funding transactions, while cooperative administrators would have access to members’ funding records and other relevant information.
Chidi added that the platform enables cooperative administrators to generate transaction statements and analytical reports, which could assist them in determining members’ eligibility for loans.
A major feature of the solution, he said, is its direct debit capability, which is designed to help cooperatives reduce loan defaults.
According to him, cooperative members applying for loans can profile their bank accounts for direct debit, allowing repayments to be automatically deducted from their accounts when due.
“For those who don’t have salary, salary cooperatives, informal sector and other cooperatives, they can say, ‘I don’t know if this person can pay.’ Before you pay, give me your BVN, and then the BVN will bring out the banks that he has,” he explained.
Chidi said the platform could provide a minimum of four banks associated with a member for direct debit, subject to the applicable arrangements, thereby giving cooperatives greater assurance of loan repayment.
He further disclosed that Parkway also works with salary-based cooperatives, enabling repayments to be deducted from members’ salaries through arrangements with their salary providers.
“We have a lot of salary-based cooperatives on our platform. We liaise and debit your account from the salary and then pay directly into the cooperative,” he said.
The Parkway executive also revealed that the digital solution could be used by credit cooperatives that provide goods to members on credit.
He said such cooperatives could require members purchasing items such as rice on credit to activate direct debit, ensuring that repayment is automatically made against the goods purchased.
Chidi said the system was designed not only to digitalise cooperative operations but also to reduce repayment challenges and improve the overall efficiency of cooperative societies.
He urged cooperatives and potential customers to take advantage of the technology and engage Parkway to understand how the platform could meet their specific needs.
He said the company remained open to feedback from cooperative societies on additional features that could be incorporated into the platform.
“Our message to customers is that information is democratised now. The way you hear about it, try it and engage us,” he said.
Chidi said more information about the company and its services could be obtained through Parkway Projects Limited’s online platforms, including its website and cooperative solution platform.
He emphasised that the ultimate objective was to make digitalisation accessible to cooperatives while helping them operate more efficiently, increase their earning potential and minimise loan defaults.
