A leading national electronics retailer in South Africa, operating a large network of premium retail stores, offers customers in-store credit financing for device purchases. To support this, the business needed to modernise and scale its credit application process, which involved multiple stakeholders, verification steps, and external systems.
The Challenge
The existing credit workflow was complex, fragmented, and heavily manual.
Disconnected processes
Applications moved across consultants, credit analysts, and third-party providers with little system coordination. This created delays, duplication, and avoidable errors.
Inefficient communication
Teams relied on email and informal messaging to manage applications and request documents. This often led to missed updates, slow responses, and poor traceability.
Limited operational visibility
There was no central view of:
Applications awaiting review
Analyst workloads
Turnaround times
Approval outcomes
This made it difficult to manage performance or scale operations effectively.
Complex integrations
Credit approvals required multiple external checks, including identity verification, income validation, credit scoring, and contract generation. These integrations were not centrally orchestrated, making the process difficult to track and manage.
The Solution
A modular, multi-layered platform was implemented using Zoho Creator, Zoho Desk, and Zoho SalesIQ. This architecture separated backend processing, operational review, and communication into distinct but integrated layers.
A custom platform was built in Zoho Creator to manage the full credit application lifecycle. This system acts as the central engine, automating:
Identity and liveliness verification
Income analysis via bank statement OCR
Credit scoring and affordability checks
Address verification
Contract generation and e-signature
Final approval and product release
It integrates directly with the retailer’s in-store system, where consultants capture customer applications.
Zoho Desk was introduced as a structured environment for the credit vetting team. When manual review is required:
A ticket is automatically created
All application data and documents are attached
Tickets are assigned based on workload rules
SLAs track response and resolution times
Credit analysts review, approve, or decline applications directly within Desk, with decisions synchronised back to the backend system.
This transformed credit vetting into a clear, trackable queue with full visibility.
To improve collaboration between stores and the credit team, an internal communication layer was built using SalesIQ. A custom widget embedded in the consultant interface allows staff to:
Retrieve applications using a customer ID
View real-time application status
Engage with credit analysts via chat
Using automation:
Application context is pulled from the backend
Queries are routed to the right analyst
Escalations to live support happen seamlessly
This significantly reduced communication gaps and response times.
Centralised backend platform built in Zoho Creator to orchestrate all workflows
Seamless front-end integration with the retailer’s in-store system
Automated external integrations for verification, scoring, and contracts
Structured review queue managed entirely in Zoho Desk
Operational chat interface powered by SalesIQ with embedded controls
The system also allows analysts to trigger actions, such as rerunning checks or requesting documents, directly from within their workflow.
Results
The transformation delivered a scalable, fully digitised credit operations platform.
Key outcomes:
Replaced fragmented manual processes with a unified system
Centralised and automated the full credit lifecycle
Introduced a structured and measurable credit review workflow
Improved communication between stores and credit teams
Reduced operational friction and handovers
Increased visibility into performance and workloads
Successfully scaled from a small pilot to a nationwide rollout