Category: Case Studies

  • TUHF Holding (Pty)

    Founded in 2003, TUHF is a South African specialist commercial property finance company that empowers entrepreneurs to develop affordable rental housing, with a focus on revitalising inner-city and suburban neighbourhoods. TUHF has seen significant growth in its loan book, expanding from ZAR 2.5 million (USD 388,000) in 2004 to ZAR 4.3 billion (USD 242 million) in 2024, a thousand-fold increase over fifteen years.

    TUHF’s success story is built on strategic partnerships, with Astech playing a key role in transforming its operational processes.

    The Challenge

    As TUHF’s loan portfolio expanded, its operational complexity grew. The company initially relied on the standard Sage 300 product, a standalone microfinance application, and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for its financial transactions. This approach became increasingly inefficient as the company scaled, necessitating a more robust, integrated system.

    The Solution

    In 2006, TUHF partnered with Astech to optimize and integrate its business processes. Astech customized Sage CRM to align with TUHF’s complex workflow requirements, enabling efficient loan origination, approval, and customer management. Additionally, Astech developed a custom Loan Management Solution (LMS), seamlessly integrating with Sage CRM to provide end-to-end management of TUHF’s loan processes.

    The new system offered a unified platform for handling everything from loan applications and approvals to post-approval support and customer administration.

    The Results

    With Astech’s customized solution, TUHF gained a world-class platform that enabled them to scale operations while maintaining efficiency. The integration of Sage CRM and Astech’s Loan Management Solution allowed TUHF to manage its loan book effectively, even as it grew exponentially.

    Paul Jackson, CEO of TUHF, highlighted the impact of this partnership:

    “The enterprise-wide business solutions developed in partnership with Astech have provided us with a world-class platform and supported us in achieving significant growth over the past 10 years.”

    Conclusion

    Astech’s tailored solution empowered TUHF to handle its growing portfolio seamlessly, ensuring the company could continue supporting South African entrepreneurs with efficient, scalable financial processes. As TUHF’s needs evolved, Astech’s proactive approach ensured the system adapted, enabling sustained business growth.

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  • Ziada Credit Solutions Limited

    Ziada Credit Solutions Limited is a prominent credit provider specialising in Factoring and Reverse Factoring services. Headquartered in Mauritius and regulated by the Financial Services Commission, Ziada serves medium-sized businesses across Africa. By enabling clients to accelerate cash flow from receivables, Ziada empowers businesses to navigate cash flow constraints while avoiding reliance on traditional bank loans.

    The Challenge

    Managing invoice factoring and loan-related processes at Ziada posed significant operational challenges. Invoice factoring, a process where Ziada advanced funds to suppliers against invoices pending from buyers, required precise tracking of:

    • Advance Payments: Determining upfront funding (typically 80–90% of invoice value) for suppliers.
    • Interest Calculations: Automating accurate interest rates and charges associated with invoice repayment timelines.
    • Reconciliation and Payment Tracking: Ensuring accurate linkage between invoice payments from buyers and associated loans. The necessity of having a loan per invoice and a non-interest bearing client reimbursement loan type were critical requirements to accurately administer their product offering (and very different from standard loan products). These are non-standard industry offerings amongst other loan management systems providers and factoring-orientated fintech platforms as Ziada has confirmed post multiple demo’s with other credible fintechs and loan platforms observed routinely over the past 4-years. Additionally, the loan features required by Ziada also assist with their achievement of more efficient audits.
    • Scalability: Handling growing transaction volumes as Ziada’s client base expanded.
    • Affordability: Initially, Ziada relied on manual workflows using spreadsheets to manage these processes. This approach proved cumbersome, prone to human error, and time-intensive, particularly as the organisation scaled its operations.

    The Solution

    Ziada Credit Solutions partnered with Astech to deploy AstechLMS, a tailored Loan Management System designed to meet their specific requirements for managing both Invoice Factoring and Loan Management seamlessly.

    “LMS, as hosted on the Sage CRM platform and developed by Astech, addresses Ziada’s operational needs by providing clear workstreams and professional outputs for its administrators, managers and clients.” – Neo Montja

    How AstechLMS Addressed the Challenges

    1. Invoice Factoring Automation
      • Advanced Funding Management: AstechLMS automated the calculation of funding amounts, providing Ziada with a streamlined process to disburse funds to suppliers efficiently.
      • Interest Rate Automation: The system dynamically applied interest rates based on pre-defined terms, reducing manual input errors and ensuring compliance with Ziada’s policies.
    2. Loan Management Integration
      • Unified Platform: AstechLMS consolidated the management of invoice factoring and related loan workflows, reducing duplication of effort across disparate systems.
      • Repayment Reconciliation: The system linked invoice repayments from buyers directly to their associated loans, ensuring real-time updates and accurate financial tracking.
    3. Enhanced Reporting and Visibility
      • Customisable Dashboards: Real-time data on outstanding invoices, interest earned, and repayment schedules allowed Ziada to make data-driven decisions.
      • Regulatory Compliance: Built-in reporting tools simplified regulatory submissions, meeting requirements of the Financial Services Commission.
    4. Scalability and Efficiency
      • AstechLMS scaled alongside Ziada’s growing transaction volumes without compromising performance, providing long-term operational reliability.
      • Time Savings: Automated workflows reduced administrative burdens, freeing up Ziada’s team to focus on strategic growth initiatives.

    “The reliability of the system, our ease of access to the developers and to Anthony, and the willingness of the Astech team to brainstorm with us about how to achieve ever-shifting requirements and requests in a timely manner, is why Ziada has maintained and grown its relationship with Astech as one of its strategic partners.” – Emily Adendorff and Hardi Wilkins

    The Results

    The implementation of AstechLMS transformed Ziada’s operations:

    • Efficiency Gains: Transaction processing times decreased, allowing Ziada to handle more clients with the same resources.
    • Accuracy Improvement: Automated interest calculations and reconciliation eliminated errors previously common with manual workflows.
    • Enhanced Client Experience: Faster transaction processing and accurate reporting strengthened Ziada’s relationships with suppliers and buyers.
    • Strategic Scalability: The solution provided the infrastructure necessary for Ziada to expand its footprint across Africa.

    AstechLMS proved instrumental in addressing Ziada’s complex needs for managing invoice factoring and loan workflows. By automating and integrating key processes, the solution enhanced efficiency, reduced errors, and empowered Ziada to support its growing client base effectively.