Automating microfinance customer support in Uganda

Reaching customers beyond the branch

Branch staff at FINCA Uganda were spending a significant portion of their time handling routine requests – balance checks, account queries, and product FAQs – that customers could be served faster through digital channels. With a customer base that spans urban centres and rural areas, the challenge was finding a cost-effective way to deliver reliable support without adding headcount or expanding the physical network.

Flora handles these high-volume requests automatically across the messaging apps FINCA's customers already use. Customers on WhatsApp, Messenger, or webchat can check wallet and goal balances, retrieve account information, and get answers to product queries in real time, day or night. The result is less congestion at branches and a faster experience for customers who no longer need to travel for simple service needs.

Keeping account access secure

With access to real-time account data comes the responsibility to protect it. Uganda's data protection regulations require that financial institutions verify the identity of customers before allowing access to sensitive information – and FINCA needed a solution that met that standard without adding friction to the customer experience.

Flora prompts customers to verify their identity before any sensitive transaction is processed. Verification uses a one-time code sent to the customer's registered mobile number, with additional checks against account details such as phone number, sex, and district of residence. Only once a customer has been confirmed does the agent retrieve or act on account data, all through a secure API connection to FINCA's core banking system.

To further protect customer data, Proto's hybrid hosting configuration keeps all financial consumer information within FINCA's own database, while the AI platform operates in the cloud. This approach ensures full compliance with national data protection requirements at a predictable, fixed cost.

Simplifying account opening

Opening a new account with FINCA previously required customers to visit a branch, complete manual eligibility checks, and submit physical documentation – a process that could take days and posed a significant barrier for customers in rural or remote areas. Digital onboarding was identified early as a high-impact opportunity to improve access.

Flora now guides new customers through the full onboarding process via chat. This includes eligibility screening against identification and account requirements, instruction on the initial deposit needed to finalise account creation, and setup of security questions for accessing FINCA's mobile app and USSD short code. Each step runs across all three digital channels, making account opening accessible to customers wherever they are.

Answering the most frequent questions

FINCA's live agent team was handling a steady stream of repetitive inquiries every day – questions about loan eligibility, repayment schedules, mobile money limits, branch hours, and contact details. These queries are important to customers but straightforward to answer, making them strong candidates for automation.

Using Proto's no-code platform, FINCA's team built and maintains a library of FAQ flows covering its most common support topics. These are available around the clock across all three channels, with no agent involvement required. The team can update content directly within the platform as products and policies change, without needing engineering support.

Supporting financial literacy

Financial literacy sits at the core of FINCA's mission. Many of its customers are first-time savers or borrowers, and helping them understand how to manage credit, plan repayments, and make the most of available products is as important to FINCA as the transactions themselves.

Flora delivers educational content proactively and on request. Customers can receive tips on budgeting, saving strategies, and responsible borrowing, as well as guidance on services they may not yet be using. This deepens engagement with FINCA's product range while reinforcing the institution's commitment to long-term financial wellbeing for its customers.

Seamless escalation when it matters

Not every conversation can or should be resolved automatically. Sensitive issues, complaints, and complex queries require a human response – and the experience of escalating to a live agent should feel continuous, not disjointed.

When Flora cannot resolve a customer's request, the conversation is passed directly to a member of FINCA's support team within Proto's unified Inbox. Agents see the complete conversation history and customer profile before they respond, giving them full context without requiring the customer to repeat themselves. Around 500 conversations per month are handled this way, with FINCA's team trained on the platform to manage escalations efficiently alongside automated traffic.