Oolu Solar increased its solar equipment adoption by bundling it with device financing
About Oolu Solar
Oolu Solar is one of the fastest-growing off-grid solar companies in West Africa. It is headquartered in Senegal with 5 more offices located in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Cameroon. It has expanded as an Asset Financing company that provides high-quality solar products and other assets on an affordable financing plan with a Buy Now Pay Later model.
Business Goals
The mission of Oolu Solar is to provide energy solutions and innovative services that improve the lives of customers, communities, and the planet. They strive to build a future where Africans have access to clean and affordable energy as well as key technologies like smartphones to power their aspirations.
The primary goal of Oolu Solar was to increase the adoption of solar equipment. Africa had a huge potential to produce solar energy, and it wanted to capitalize on renewable energy sources to fuel growth in Africa.
Value proposition of smartphone and solar equipment financing bundle
The bundled solution of smartphones and solar equipment financing presents a promising proposition for Africans. The smartphone market boasts substantial growth potential, with individuals typically replacing their devices every 3 to 4 years. By bundling smartphones, Oolu Solar can incentivize individuals to invest in solar equipment. This approach not only drives digital adoption but also appeals to a broader audience for solar products. However, the success of this strategy hinges on ensuring a secure and revenue-generating device financing process.
Challenges
When Oolu Solar started financing smartphones alongside its specialized solar equipment, it faced several challenges that hindered it from leveraging the benefits of the bundled proposition fully. The major problem was customers defaulting on timely payments. Without a proper technology platform in place, it became difficult for them to lock the devices in the absence of repayments. Smartphones, being convenient, portable, and easy-to-carry devices, were impossible to retrieve in case of payment defaults.
This presented the impending need to have a suitable technology platform that mitigates the risks associated with device financing.
Solution
Oolu Solar zeroed down to NuovoPay to solve their device financing riddles. NuovoPay’s Device Financing Risk Management provided a technology ecosystem to protect the financed devices and ensure timely payments from customers. By installing NuovoPay on smartphones and tablets that they sold, they gained access to the smartphone remotely and could lock or unlock it at a distance. They integrated NuovoPay with their own internal platform to build a seamless experience for their customers and staff. Customers used to make payments through local mobile money platforms, so they linked it to NuovoPay. The customers would initially get a locked phone. After they make payment, they would receive a code on their phone that would unlock it. This process would repeat every time the user delays making payments on time.
Oolu Solar was able to safeguard and manage its financed smartphones and scale financing for its customers who wanted a smartphone. This encouraged Oolu Solar to enable more people to own smartphones. This helped them maintain a strong customer portfolio, out of which they found a subset of customers that buy solar home systems.
Major Features
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Remote locking
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Payment notifications
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Automated payment reminders
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Phased locking
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Security restrictions
Transformative Results
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Default rates reduced on monthly repayments.
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1000 solar systems purchased on every 10000 smartphones.
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Repayment rate increased from 55% to 85%.
Customer Testimonial
“Helping someone purchase their first smartphone is a very fulfilling experience. We were able to do that for thousands of individuals because of NuovoPay. We received prompt assistance from their support team and so our overall experience has been great!”
Abderehmane Sow,
Financial Product Manager, Oolu Solar
