Operations
A multi-branch operating model for growing MFIs
How to scale from one head office to a branch network without losing cash control, credit quality, or a single customer view.
Michael Addo, Implementation Director · 30 March 2026 · 6 min read
The first extra branch is a cultural event. Cash leaves the building, officers report to a new manager, and suddenly nobody is sure whose PAR is whose. Software should encode the operating model: branch cash, officer assignment, dual control, and a head-office overlay.
Assign people to places
Staff, tills, and clients belong to branches. A collector from Kumasi should not accidentally post Accra receipts. Managers see their branch; regional heads see a set; executives see the group. OrbitMFI enforces this with branch-scoped roles and RLS.
Credit policy is still central
Products, rates, and exception matrices belong to head office. Branches originate; they do not invent products. That split keeps pricing consistent and makes audit sampling possible.
Cash is a branch sport
Tills, vaults, and inter-branch transfers need dual control and same-day reconciliation. A head-office accountant who only sees a weekly dump cannot catch a teller issue while it is still small. OrbitMFI scopes cash to the branch and still rolls a group view for executives.
Do not clone products per branch
Kumasi does not need a secretly different interest rate because a manager was persuasive. Products and exception matrices stay central. Branches originate and collect. That split is how you keep pricing fair and sampling possible.
