Turning Adversity into Opportunities News & Articles
These are very difficult and trying times for all of us. Never, in our lifetime, have we experienced a situation as what we are facing today. The whole world is literally paralyzed and gripped with fear on the ongoing spread of the Corona Virus of 2019 (COVID-19) as to cause it to isolate itself from its own self.
Nowadays, our movements are severely restricted. The ordinary things we do in life like going to work, shop, or even taking a walk in our public streets or parks are now prohibited under the pain of expensive fines and in some cases, imprisonment.
Never in our wildest dreams have we thought that the day will come when one can be penalized for going out to earn a living for his hungry family. But that day has come, believe or not and whether you like it or not.
Our government is determined to enforce its lockdowns and community quarantines that it has even deployed soldiers with guns and artillery to show its resolve to fight the invisible enemy, the COVID-19 virus.
In the midst of all of these restraints, we are aware of the consequential difficulties faced by our members. Stretching a strained family budget is not only a monumental challenge but a daunting task as well.
Now, more than ever, we cannot fail our members in their hour of need under these extreme circumstances. Thus, aside from giving relief by declaring a loan moratorium and interest rate reduction, we worked 24/7 to improve our systems and processes so that its services can be delivered efficiently and without interruption at our member’s convenience.
First. We have completed the computerization of our operations so that from the time the member submits an application for a loan or withdrawal of deposit, it is processed from one department to another electronically, completely paperless., and with minimal human discretion.
It has also enabled us to monitor every transaction on real time up to the last second. Thus, we can now identify points of delay and the responsible department as well as personnel.
The computerization also enabled us to continue our operations without interruption despite the enforced lockdowns and expanded community quarantines (ECQ). Today, our CFI employees are working in their respective homes through our secure online computerized system.
Second. Aside from opening our services in the 2,500 outlets of MLhuillier, we will be embarking on a brand of service that will literally put it at the fingertips of our members and in the comforts of their own homes. Soon our members, through our online services, will be able to:
- view their individual statement of accounts and their history,
- apply for a loan, renew their loan, or submit a deposit withdrawal slip, under a verification process as good as personal appearance,
- monitor the status of their transactions with CFI on real-time up to a single second
How? Our members will just go to our website, register, login and all the above services will be available to them at their fingertips anytime and anywhere. Count the days by your fingers when this new brand of service will soon be launched by us.
Third. We have installed a computerized help desk so that a member’s concern relayed to us through email, facebook or messenger can be properly recorded, forwarded to the appropriate department for resolution and tracked and monitored in real-time.
Today, when a member has a concern which he wanted to be addressed, all he has to do is to email it to us through [email protected], provide his full name and birth date, write his concern or problem. After we received it, the concerned member will be given a ticket number as his reference number to enable him to monitor and follow up on its status. This ticket number will also enable us to properly record and monitor its resolution.
Fourth. We will, in the coming days, launched a call center manned by qualified agents in order to take direct calls from our members. The call center will also be supported by our computerized help desk so that member’s concerns can be properly recorded and monitored up to their final resolution. This kind of service will be ready very soon.
Finally, before the end of May of this year, CFI will launch the most exciting project it will embark in the 50 years of its existence. It is a project that will revolutionize and redefine service using present technology as its platform to enhance it.
We call this the CFI Virtual Card. It is not an ATM, debit or credit card but will have all of their features and much, much more. We await its launching with bated breath and excitement. Atangi ninyo!
These innovations are engineered and configured under very restrictive conditions, coming at a time when businesses have closed and people are locked up in their homes due to the ECQs. But rather than curse the darkness and do nothing, we have found a way to turn these adversities into opportunities to serve our members better than we have served them in fifty years of service by our cooperative.
True to what it now stands for, these innovations will assure our members their CFI will always be there for them anytime and anywhere at the first instance they will need its services.
Indeed, it will always be, as it has always been, our COOP of First Instance.
We hope and pray that each and every one of our members will stay healthy and strong during this COVID crisis.