Title: INFOMAN: Your Total Solution Provider – Savings and Loan Manager (SLM)

Author: INFOMAN Developers

Date: 2012

According to the website of INFOMAN (2012) which offers Savings and Loan Manager

(SLM), SLM is an integrated and comprehensive online software system that mechanizes

savings and loans activities. It is a software produced for the associations that have savings and

loan services, credit unions, and cooperatives. The software caters transaction processing and

information needs for such firms that make it a comprehensive one.

The following items are the industry features of the said SLM system developed by the

company:

1. Members Information System

- Allows the monitoring of members’ profile, membership and employment status,

number of times a member has co-made a loan, type and number of the member’s

account, classification of such account, member statistics and monitoring of a

NSSLA’s board of Directors.

2. Teller Information System

- Designed to perform all transaction the teller received from the member such as,

deposit, withdrawal and over-the-counter loan payments. With this feature, the user is

allowed to do individual cheque down floating, printing of unclear cheques, reversing

cleared cheques, interest computation and posting, dividend computation and posting,

monitoring the accounts payable, and a summary of the member’s lowest/average

daily balance.

3. Loan Information System

- Can be used to process loan transactions and monitoring of current loan, past due

loans and loans on litigation.

4. Collection and Remittance System

- This feature permits a certain association to collect deposits and loan payments via

company remittances. It enables the association to review the members’ loan

negligence status, past due loans, and loan litigation. Also, permits a user to collect

advisement, download, upload, distribute and post remittance, print demand letters,

and many more.

5. Accounting Module

- This feature includes general ledger, accounts receivable and accounts payable. The

general ledger included will summarize all the transaction in other modules. Also, this

module will be updated whenever adjustments have been made.

6. Election and Canvassing System

- Speeds up the election and canvassing of board of directors that held every two or

three years.

7. Short Message Services (SMS)

- The association has the choice to use SMS to send loan payment information to

irresponsible members.

The information about the Savings and Loan Manager gathered by the proponents is

somewhat similar to the project being proposed in the sense that the project includes financial

transaction and processes as the presented features on the system discussed before may be

included to the project to be developed. Features such as the Member Information System may

become one of the modules of the entire system which will allow the administrator to view the

members’ profile which contains information needed to be considered in the financial processes.

Furthermore, the project proposed may adopt the Teller and Loan Information System to provide

functionalities needed by the members and the teller in transacting loan operations. The

Accounting Module will also be implemented since the whole process pertains to financial

concerns. A general ledger will be produced to easily record the transactions being processed.

Title: Crystal Clear Software Ltd. – Loan Performer

Author: Crystal Clear Software Developers

Date: 2012

Based on the overview and features of the Loan Performer software created by the

Crystal Clear Software Ltd. Company (2012), Loan Performer is a Multi-User MIS application

for micro-finance businesses or organizations. It includes the Client data such as shares, savings

and loan transactions which for every entry, the general ledger generated by the system us

updated. The software also has an Assets’ and Debtor/Creditors’ module together with its other

modules such as the Savings, Loans and Accounting Module. Among the modules said before,

the savings, loan and accounting module are being emphasized to the website of the company.

The savings module provides and allows the teller to define balance and interest information

such as rates, Date and Time information, and the calculation of such business transactions.

Moreover, all the transactions taking place at the savings module will be posted on the general

ledger however; the Loan Performer has the ability to (de-) activate the automatic booking of

transactions into the general ledger. Also, the module provides the calculation of interest based

on the factors considered by the company. When it comes to the Loan module, the system

facilitates a loan repayment scheduler which allows extending the payment schedule, however,

includes interest or commission on the original amount. The interest can be set based on the loan

period in number of days or to the instalment period. The commission for the penalty can be

chosen by the administrator that it can be a percentage of the loan amount or just a fixed amount

to be added to the original loan amount. Lastly, when it comes to the accounting module, the

Loan Performer provides the general ledger which will record all the transactions happening into

the system. Also, the system can provide the definition of automatic transactions and post it

every month.

The features developed in the Loan Performer software can be also implemented and

created to the proposed project as it contains the savings, loan and accounting modules. The

project to be developed can adopt or pattern such modularity such as the calculation of interest

to be imposed to the penalty of a certain user. Also, the loan repayment scheduler can be

implemented because there’s a possibility that a certain loaner can’t pay his debts to the

company, thus, the payment schedule must be moved together with the implementation of penalty

that can be set as a percentage of the total loan amount or a fixed amount being defined.

Furthermore, the savings module is similar to the proponents plan as it provides both the

administrator or the teller and the member user to view the financial information about the

savings of the whole group which depicts a transparent monitoring of money among the group

members. Finally, as the proposed system process financial transactions, there will be an

automatic calculations of amounts being processed to ease the manual way of doing it thus,

making the system convenient in the accounting process.

Title: Information Systems Development with Generic System

Author: Bansler, J.P., Havn, E.

Date: n.d

The article of Bansler and Havn in the internet entitled “Information Systems

Development with Generic System” (n.d) states that a generic system is a system designed and

created for general use as it opposes custom systems which is designed for specific user or group

of users. This kind of system is a commercial product manufactured for the market place.

Examples include software packages for payroll, order processing, inventory management,

scheduling, and purchasing. Theses generic systems may vary in sizes from small to large

mainframe systems with varying prices. The generic systems may differ as to the extent they can

be “tailored” or customized to specific applications. According to Davis, there are three stages of

tailoring: first is the package installed with no tailoring which the vendor may provide options to

be selected during operations, but the user must essentially adapt to the package rather than

changing the package to suit the existing procedures. Second are packages that are installed with

pre-specified options for tailoring of features and selection of procedures. Lastly, are the

packages installed with custom tailoring which the customer or the vendor may perform as a

separate contract. Generic systems are designed for a market and not for a specific customer or

user, however, the development begins with some idea of the intended customers, but the actual

users remain unknown until the system is marketed. The idea is that the developers of such

systems don’t want a close affiliation with a single user organization when designing their

products, because it may become designed for a peculiar organization and therefore not

marketable.

The article of Bansler and Havn is similar to the proponents’ project which pertains to a

generic system. The information stated before gives the proponents the idea on how to create and

conceptualized the said generic system. The proponents will follow the idea of the second stage

that Davis said, and that is to develop a system with a pre-specified options for tailoring of

features and selection of procedures that allows the user or the administrator to select the

options and procedures first, before operation, that will suit the company or group of users’

needs and wants. Furthermore, the article clears the concept of a generic system that such

project must be marketable or in general, rather than being subjective to a particular user. The

proponents must consider the generic idea of the system that it must provide solution to the

problems presented to any user that needs the system in such a way that it will give the user

options to choose needed by the company or group of users.

Title: Financial and Managerial Accounting: The Basis for Business Decisions

Author: Bettner, M., Haka, S., Williams.J.

Date: 2007

Financial accounting provides information about the financial resources, obligations, and

activities of an enterprise that is intended for use primarily by external decision makers, investors

and creditors (Bettner,M., et.al, 2007). Since financial accounting involves exchange of

monetary values, it is needed to comply primary financial statements. One of the statement is the

balance sheet that shows where the company stands in financial terms at a specific date. Bettner,

et.al also maintains income statement as an activity statement that shows details and results of

the company’s profit-related activities for a period of time. The last financial statement is the

statement of cash flows that shows the details of the company’s activities including cash during a

period of time. Said authors also added financial accounting information designed primarily to

assist investors and creditors in deciding where to place their scarce investment resources.

Financial accounting information is also used by managers and in income tax returns. As time

passes by, it is used for as many different purposes that it often called as “general purpose”

accounting information.

Financial accounting is just a chunk of module that applies on a savings and credits

system. For a business to operate and earn income, financial information should be given an

importance. Administrators and other users of the system should at least capable of knowing the

terms and processes involve on the said system. Investors and creditors are two important

individuals to form a “paluwagan system” for a business to operate continuously and earn an

income. Balance statements, income statements and other financial statements also comply with

the system features and its operations.

Title: Management Information Systems

Author: Oz, Effy

Date: 2007

According to Oz, E. (2007), Financial Information systems play a vital role to the

company through the tracking of finances that flows into it. These systems save a record for each

payment and cash receipt to portray or show the movement of cash within the enterprise. The

expected information will come from cash receipts on sales contracts, cash outlays from

purchasing contracts, payroll, and benefits schedules. This system that deals with cash is often

called cash management systems (CMS) that executes cash transactions in which financial

institutions transfer using electronic funds transfer. EFT is an electronic transfer of cash from

one customer’s account to another.

The Financial Information System mentioned above will serve as the key to the

administrator to track the flow of cash inside the system or is being saved by the treasurer of the

group that do this “paluwagan”. It will be very essential to put such feature to secure the

information that each member needs specifically their financial information. Also, the said

system provides benefit schedules that is somewhat similar to the ledge that will be developed

wherein each member of the paluwagan can see when they were able to get the money from the

group. The CMS mentioned above will be just like the transfer of financial information

throughout the system.

Title: Enterprise Information Systems

Author: Dunn, C.L., Cherrington, J.O., Hollander, A.S.

Date: 2007

As a preventive measure, enterprises should properly maintain computer equipment and

facilities operate equipment in an appropriate physical environment (Dunn, C.L., et.al, 2007).

For larger systems, specially prepared rooms are sometimes necessary to house computer

equipment. Some enterprises have backup systems components so that if a component fails,

processing can quickly be transferred to another component without interrupting the flow.

In a system, it is a must that computers that serves as servers must be thoroughly

managed for better performance. Once it malfunctioned, business operation stops, therefore it is

a loss for that company or organization. There would be no transactions or processes once it is

down. It is indeed necessary that files must have back-ups for future problems. There would be

lesser problems if there are still file histories. Since the system researchers will develop a

generic system, several client and consumers will use the system. Data that are processed in the

system must be available so that once problem occur, administrator can still solve and continue

the system process.

Title: LenderSuite-Loan Servicing Software

Author: LenderSuite Developers

Date: n.d

According to LenderSuite (n.d), loan servicing software information and loan control

system is powerful and innovative that does the job. It targets the needs of enterprises that have

any mortgage loans, lines of credit, commercial, auto and construction loans; land sales and

developers, governmental agencies and virtually all others. The special features are:

Loan Servicing Software Management System.

Collection Management.

Home Equity Lines (HELOCs).

Construction Loans including C-squared Accountability and Management.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs).

Investor Participation, Tracking, Reporting and Servicing.

Automatic Task and Report Scheduling.

Commercial Loan Servicing.

Automobile Loan Servicing and Dealer Reserves.

Monthly, Bi-weekly and all other standard types of payment scheduling, plus

Seasonal and Irregular.

Economic Development Loan Agencies Software.

Complete loan history on-line does not degrade system performance.

Available Services include:

Implementation, customization, data conversion and training.

The proponents have got some important ideas in the article above that may use in

developing the Generic Online Savings and Credit System. The article of Lendersuite gives the

idea to the proponents that the system that to be developed must include Loan Servicing Software

Management System to make it more encouraging to the users to use the said system. The

features listed in the article before gives the proponents the idea of having such features that will

be operated by the administrator and users. However, considering the difference between the

clients, some functionality of the features adopted will be changed and modified.

Title: BCSAS Integrated Credit Coop System

Author: BCSAS Developers

Date: 2009

BCSAS Integrated Credit Coop System is a complete system designed to help

cooperatives manage their members’ share capital, savings, loans, dividends and patronage

refunds (2009). BCSAS ICCS helps credit cooperative employees and officers keep track of their

members’ list. 

The BCSAS Integrated Credit Coop System has the following features:

Savings Module – offers automatic computation of quarterly interest, regular savings deposits,

regular savings withdrawals, time deposits, regular savings passbook printing, share capital

passbook printing, and void savings transactions.

Loans Module – has the capabilities of having new loan, automatic computation of interests,

service fees and other charges, automatic computation of fines of overdue amortization, loan

payments, loan passbook printing, and unlimited types of loans.

Members Module – allows the administrator to manage member profiles, capture their pictures

live using cheap web cams, easy to use search tool to find particular member from your tens of

thousands of members, filter member list according to member type, and gender or account

status.

Tools Module – this module has cash voucher, journal voucher, cash receipt journal, manage

your chart of accounts, pre-loaded with chart of accounts endorsed by CDA, compute patronage

refunds, and compute annual dividends

Reports Module – this module includes schedule of savings deposit, quarter interest, time

deposit, share capital, average share capital, dividends and patronage refunds, and loans

receivable. Also, this module will have loan collection list, aging of loans, general ledger report,

BCSAS Integrated Credit Coop System will serve as a guide for developing the sales and

credit system. Since it is similar to the system the researchers are working, it would lessen the

complexity through some ideas that the website is giving us. Furthermore, like the BCSAS

Integrated Credit Coop System, the system that will also use PHP scripts, database system and

other scripting language that will serve as the backbone for the system. This is to keep history for

all the transactions within the system for future purposes.

Title: Customer Financing: Turning today’s declines into tomorrow’s approvals

Author: Anonymous

Date: 2011

Creative Credit Systems online merchant center includes easy-to-use application and fast

credit modules which require less work on your part. No hand-written forms, no faxing, no

waiting to receive the decision. Get your customers approved within minutes in most cases and

close your sale right on the spot. We offer merchants small, medium, large, multi-locations &

franchise’s a revolutionary finance system never before advertised. This new system has the

ability to explode your income streams with one of the most lucrative and financially rewarding

web-based lending solutions that has ever been released to Merchants Nationwide.

The said system offers a lending platform designed to connect businesses with private

capital using equity based lenders who desire to offer fair and affordable consumer financing that

complies with our strict guidelines. To participate, the lender must offer only flat, simple interest,

unsecured installment loans with no unfair terms to include escalating interest rates, hidden fees,

recurring charges or early payment penalties.

Generic sales and credit system is a computer based system. Like the creative credit

system, the system that the developers aim to develop is an easy-to use application so that it

would be easier for the clients to use the system. Retrieving and updating the information about

every member’s loan and saving would much easier. Furthermore, since the system is connected

to lending money, interests and other charges for members that plan to have loans have to abide

rules. Every transaction will be secured and confidential. Creative Credit Systems will serve as a

guide in the system flow and computations like interest rates for members who loan to the system

and increase their savings.

Title: Rotating Savings and Credit Association or ROSCA

Author: Anonymous

Date: 2011

A Rotating Savings and Credit Association or ROSCA is a group of individuals who

agree to meet for a defined period in order to save and borrow together. "ROSCAs are the poor

man's bank, where money is not idle for long but changes hands rapidly, satisfying both

consumption and production needs.

Meetings can be regular or tied to seasonal cash flow cycles in rural communities. Each

member contributes the same amount at each meeting, and one member takes the whole sum

once. As a result, each member is able to access a larger sum of money during the life of the

ROSCA, and use it for whatever purpose she or he wishes. This method of saving is a popular

alternative to the risks of saving at home, where family and relatives may demand access to

savings.

Savings and credit system involves cash flow within the system. Money revolves around

the organization. Like the ROSCA’s concept on their system, only the person-in-charge or

administrator will be the one responsible for the system. Likewise, each member can loan in the

organization and use it for their own purpose. Once they lend money, there would be

corresponding interest rates and charges if they did not pay on or before the due date . There

would be meet ups whenever a transaction between the members and the treasurer of the

organization lends cash.

Title: Savings-and-Credit as a Regional

Author: United Nations

Date: 2008

United Nations (2008) maintains that savings-and-credit initiatives have become a trend

both at the regional and global level. The issue of "mainstreaming" savings-and-credit has been

actively discussed among development agencies. The key in expanding savings-and-credit to a

large scale operation can be summarized in the following points (a) There is no need for a

sophisticated system; (b) Experience of dealing with money helps communities to develop skills

in dealing with other issues in their daily lives such as slum eviction and housing. In addition,

savings-and-credit schemes nowadays help the urban poor to alleviate the need for money

lenders and provide access to credit. The essence of the online community-based savings-and-

credit schemes is community participation. The systems have been developed to fit the lifestyle

of the urban poor. They are designed by a small group, for the community and managed by the

cooperative. Community based schemes develop incrementally. The system grows and evolves

with the process. It grows out of the daily life in communities. In other words, the initiatives

revolve around the common issues and needs of the communities.

Savings-and-credit activities are used as a penetration point for mobilization of

communities for broader development issues. Proponents designed and limited the system to fit

the capability of those who used the system traditionally. Since it is designed for the urban

people, proponents need not installed sophisticated process but ensures fast, secured and easy to

access online transaction. Proponents also used an approach to the system that suits urban

cooperatives to maintain their trust and strong relationships with each other. In the process, the

activities showcased by the system provide a platform to share and discuss the issues perceived

as important in the communities.

Title: A Generic System Architecture for Strategy-Based Software Development

Author: Heisel, Maritta; Santen, Thomas ; Zimmermann, Dominik

Date: 2009

IOSS (Integrated Open Synthesis System) is an instantiation of the described architecture that

supports synthesis of provably correct imperative programs by application of strategies. Heissel

et al. consider the following properties as crucial for a generic system that supports the

development of correct software:

The system should be interactive, i.e. the user must be able to control the development

process. This requirement holds at least as long as it is not possible to replace human

creativity.

When the users control the development process, they will be confronted with system

generated intermediate states of a development. In this situation, they must be able to

make sensible decisions. Therefore, all information that is important for the development

process must be represented explicitly and not in encoded form.

A system that imposes severe restrictions on the procedure to be followed in the

development process will not be accepted. Hence, the system should be flexible and

support different ways of developing a program.

Openness is one more requirement to guarantee flexibility. It should be possible to add

new development methods in a routine way, and the evolution of the system should take

place gradually, without invalidation of former work.

The system should visualize the development process in an appropriate way and provide

an overview of the progress of development. It should be easy to use, making program

synthesis feasible for users who did not invent the formalisms used, and enabling the

programmers to concentrate on the task at hand.

Since the proposed system is generic, it should apply flexibility and based on the standard

given by the client. Microfinance institutions nowadays developed using standard principles,

guidelines and frameworks for the cooperative movements. These guidelines are being

considered by the proponents for the system’s capability. Proponents based and considered at

least three clients to produce a generic system and to apply processes and transactions involve

therein. Standardization of processes also is being featured by the proposed system since it

encompasses financial aspects.

Title: Microfinance in the Philippines

Author: Country Analysis Unit, Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco

Date: 2010

The Philippines central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), defines microfinance as

the provision of a broad range of financial services such as deposits, loans, payment services,

money transfers and insurance products to the poor and low-income households and their

microenterprises. Roman (2004) maintains that the microfinance is provided in the Philippines

by three types of institutions, the banks, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and

cooperatives. With the increase in the number as well in the types of institutions involved in

microfinance, an appropriate regulatory framework is of paramount importance. The regulatory

framework aims to see the further development of the microfinance sector by ensuring the

soundness of the financial system, by protecting the clients of microfinance and by establishing

an accurate, reliable and transparent set of financial information for all types of microfinance

institutions.

With the three types of institutions in the field of microfinance, proposed system is only

limited with cooperatives and non-government organizations (NGOs) and is purely subjected to

a small group of people. The banks as it have already a large-scaled system of financing, are

catering people who are in middle and upper class. The system is for community run by a small

group whom they trust. With a “Paluwagan”-like system, it can form an online microfinancing

environment which all investors, creditors and other members can cooperate and make

transactions in a convenient way.

References

Bansler, J.P., Havn, E. (n.d.). Information Systems Development with Generic System.

Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen: Copenhagen, Denmark.

Bettner, M. et.al (2007). Financial and Managerial Accounting: The Basis for Business

Decisions. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Companies Inc: New York, USA.

BCSAS Developers (2009). BCSAS Integrated Credit Coop System. Retrieved on June 13, 2012 from http://www.bcsas.com/default.aspx?pg=69ba5056-ab18-48c5-bd81-789d04cc881b.

Country Analysis Unit, Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco (2010). Microfinance in the Philippines. Retrieved June 12, 2002 from http://www.frbsf.org/publications/banking /asiafocus/2010/january.pdf.

Crystal Clear Software Ltd. Company (2012). Crystal clear software ltd. – loan performer.

Retrieved on June 14, 2012 from http://www.loanperformer.com/lpf-Features.php.

Customer financing: turning today’s declines into tomorrow’s approvals (2011). Retrieved June

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Dunn, C.L., Cherrington, J.O., Hollander, A.S.(2007). Enterprise Information Systems. McGraw-

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Infoman (2012). Infoman:Your total solution provider – savings and loan manager. Retrieved on

June 14 from http://www.infomaninc.com/savings_and_loan.html.

LenderSuite (n.d.). LenderSuite-loan servicing software. Retrieved on June 14, 2012 from

http://www.loanservicingsoftware.com/.

Oz, E. (2007). Management Information System. Thomson Learning Asia: Shenton way,

Singapore.p.74.

Rotating Savings and Credit Association or ROSCA (2011). In Wikipedia. Retrieve on June 15,

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United Nations (2008). Urban community-based savings-and-credit systems in Cambodia, the lao people’s democratic republic and viet nam. Retrieved on June 12, 2012 from http://www.unescap.org/huset/publications/community%20saving.pdf