iMasFinance is South Africa’s largest primary financial services co-operative, serving members working at more than 600 employer partners.
Last year, the company embarked on a re-positioning and re-branding journey to better meet the needs of modern customers.
For almost 85 years, iMasFinance, established as an employee loan society within the former Iscor back in 1937, has been providing affordable and convenient financial solutions to employees at its contracted employer partners.
As a co-operative, iMasFinance is founded on the principles of democracy, equality, and social responsibility. Its business model promotes shared value for its members by enabling them to share in the profits of the co-operative through an annual member reward payment based on their patronage.
Rebranding Journey
In October of last year, the co-operative, well known for helping South Africans with personal financial solutions conveniently at their places of work, announced that it had embarked on an exciting re-positioning and rebranding journey. The former Iemas Financial Services Co-operative Limited has since been known as iMasFinance Co-operative Limited.
The new brand epitomises the co-operative’s accelerating digital capabilities, among other initiatives, and will be implemented over the next 12 to 18 months. This involves the rebranding of all iMasFinance assets, including 27 national branches and its digital presence. iMasFinance’s commitment to its customers and employer affiliates remains a key strategic focus.
“With a rich legacy spanning over eight decades, iMasFinance has been helping employers with affordable employee benefits by providing solutions that promote financial inclusion. Our business excellence model prides itself on offering solutions that are almost unmatched when it comes to affordability and personal financial services offered in the work environment.”
— Banie van Vollenhoven, Group CEO, iMasFinance
He explains that the rebranding strategy reflects the co-operative’s purpose: to empower and protect members to live well financially while creating shared value.
“Our refreshed iMasFinance brand strives to get closer to our members through digital solutions and to fulfil their financial needs. We will also continue to empower them with financial health while creating the kind of shared-value proposition that is relevant for the African market.”
— Banie van Vollenhoven
Diverse Offering
The co-operative is synonymous with providing affordable and trusted financial products and services for employees at many corporates and organisations across various sectors and industries.
iMasFinance’s diverse offering includes:
- Vehicle finance
- Pension-backed home loans
- Debit and credit cards
- Educational and personal loans
- Comprehensive insurance solutions through Iemas Insurance Brokers (soon to adopt a similar trading name)
The iMasFinance business model works by entering into agreements with progressive companies that want to invest in their employees by providing financial wellness solutions. In essence, iMasFinance invests in its members’ employees by offering:
- Complimentary financial wellness training
- Short-term financial advisory services
- Housing solutions
- Personal loans
- Payment cards
- Vehicle finance
At the workplace level, iMasFinance gives employees the opportunity to take up its products while also sharing in the co-operative’s profits through its rewards programme.
In terms of personal lending, the co-operative offers a number of products, including:
- iCar
- iLoans
- iHome
- Insurance
- Financial wellbeing workshops and life-file training at all affiliated companies and organisations — at no cost to the employer or employee.
Navigating Turbulent Times
“Our purpose is to empower people to live well financially while creating shared value for our members. As we have navigated the last two challenging years, it has re-ignited our passion for what we do, as we believe that it is the reason for our existence.”
— Banie van Vollenhoven
The focus over the past two years has been stabilising the business and then enabling operations for growth while maintaining profitability ahead of GDP growth.
“The theme over this period has been enablement in relation to IT system development, digitisation, process improvements, support function readiness, and people empowerment. COVID-19 not only forced the shift to remote work, but it also forced us to engage virtually with members and employer partners, increasing the urgency to leverage IT as an enabler for our business.”
Looking ahead, iMasFinance plans to focus on customer excellence by improving the customer experience and increasing the ease of doing business.
“While we have implemented many initiatives to simplify processes and improve efficiency, the ongoing impact of the pandemic meant that we had to prioritise back-office execution and enablement in a virtual world first. This was essential before shifting focus to customer service.”
The co-operative’s strategy prioritises four key areas:
- Product enhancement
- Employer diversification
- Digitisation
- Operational efficiencies
“While operational expenditures were well controlled year-on-year, we exceeded our planned investment in IT to accelerate the digitisation journey. The goal of our process improvement initiatives is primarily to improve customer experience by increasing the speed and efficiency of service. Some cost benefits will also be realised as these improvements compound.”
Customer-Centric Identity
The purpose of the rebranding journey was to ensure that the co-operative remains relevant to the evolving needs of its members, drive growth in new member segments, and align branding with its expanding business.
“The initiatives implemented over the last two years have established the necessary platforms, systems, and structures to return the organisation to growth once the economic situation stabilises. Our investment in our people has improved capacity and alignment to support improved service delivery and performance. Recent trends in both the insurance and lending businesses show improved monthly volumes, although a strong rebound in financial performance is only likely once interest rates revert.”
— Banie van Vollenhoven
Going forward, iMasFinance’s passionate, competent, and innovative workforce of 550 employees will continue to deliver excellent service to its members.
“We are excited to present our new identity, which underpins and drives enhanced member value propositions and digital innovations – all focused on a customer-centric service offering.”