04/09/2024
What has Uganda come to...
So, I manage a SACCO in the outskirts of Masaka. Like most SACCOs, we rely heavily on keeping our members informed—whether it’s sending loan reminders, transaction alerts, or marketing new products to our community.
A few years ago, SMS was the backbone of our communication. It was affordable, reliable, and the perfect way to reach every single member, no matter where they were. But lately? The costs have become ridiculous.
Just last month, we needed to send out reminders for loan repayments to about 1000 members. When I checked the rates, I nearly fell off my chair—it was going to cost us 120,000 UGX just to send those SMS alerts. That’s more than we make in interest from some of the loans!
I called up our usual service provider to ask if there was any way to cut down the cost. But all they could offer were minimal discounts, and still, the pricing felt insane for such a basic service.
Frustrated, I started talking to other SACCO managers and lending institutions to see how they were handling this.
One of them told me, “Don’t rely on those big providers. I have been using Pandora SMS, and their bulk SMS rates are way cheaper. You can send automated alerts, reminders, and even marketing messages for half the price!
At first, I thought it was too good to be true. But after hearing the same thing from a few others, I decided to check it out.
I logged onto www.pandorasms.com, and within minutes I had access to their rates. To my surprise, I could send the same 500 loan reminders for just 10,000 UGX—way less than what I was about to pay!
Excited, I signed up and tested it right away. And you know what? It worked perfectly! Now, we are saving big on our SMS alerts, and that means more money stays in the SACCO, benefiting our members.
I have even started using Pandora SMS for our marketing campaigns, and the response has been great.
If you are tired of overpaying for SMS alerts and reminders, do yourself a favor and check it out. I wish I had found it sooner.
See how much you can save with Pandora SMS at
www.pandorasms.com
Don't let high SMS costs eat into your SACCO’s profits!
