Ndege chai Sacco has it origins in the James Finlay Company, the giant tea and flower producing company in Kericho. The Sacco was formed before the company changed its’ name from the African Highlands Produce company to what it is called currently .Today, the Sacco is the biggest in the district.
Membership to the Sacco is open to everyone at a fee of only one hundred shillings and those who are intending to join the Sacco shouldn’t be members of any other Sacco’s elsewhere that carry out the same kinds of business and they should carry with them a copy of their ID cards.
There products include Savings accounts which include personal accounts ,medical accounts, holiday accounts, group accounts ,fixed deposit accounts ,retirement savings account, children’s accounts ,Christmas accounts ,joint accounts, and Akiba kuu accounts .All these savings accounts are not charged ledger fees .
They also give out a variety of loans to their members .They include the normal loans that last for a total of forty eight months with an interest rate of 14% p.a ,additional loan that lasts for the same period with the same interest rates ,emergency loan that lasts for twelve months with an interest rate of 14% P.a ,housing shares and investment loan that lasts up to thirty months with an interest of up to 10% pa ,they give their customers a salary advance loan that lasts for only one month with an interest rate of 8% p.a ,they also give their customers a special advance that has an interest rate of ten percent per month, and finally ,they have the jipange loan that last for six months with an interest rate of 3% per month with a maximum amount allowed of two hundred thousand shillings and a minimum amount of ten thousand shillings .
All these loans are formulated on a reducing balance and every loanee meets 1.2% the insurance of cost of his or her loan .The normal and additional loans are paid within thirty days, emergency loans within five days from the day of the receipt of the loan forms provided the applications are filled correctly and all relevant documents attached. The |FOSA advances are processed within fifteen to thirty minutes provided that all requirements are fully met.
The Sacco’s’ services to its’ members include what they call safe custody where they charge two hundred shillings per annum ,Bankers checks where they retail the co-operative banks’ bankers’ checks at four hundred and forty shillings and society Bankers’ checks at one hundred shillings .They also have a service that they call the company bill. They pay company bill at a fee of only fifty Kenya shillings.
The Sacco is connected to the co-operative bank network of Sacco link ATMs’. Members can access their cash at any co-op bank ATM country wide and any VISA branded ATM or merchant outlets like supermarkets .They also offer M-Pesa services which apart from sending and receiving money through all M-Pesa outlets, the members can also deposit cash to their FOSA Accounts, make loan repayments and savings using the pay bill option of M-PESA. Using the Sacco’s’ business number 637 637 .It is a simple process of indicating your membership number and the account you are depositing to –whether shares ,loans or FOSA and the account is upgraded automatically .
The Sacco also has the SMS alert services for its’ member which give alerts to each credit to the FOSA accounts .Guarantors of loanees will also get who default will also get alerts immediately a loanee starts defaulting. Balance enquiries are also possible via SMS by simply texting the word ndegechaisacco to 8004.
The Sacco also has M-Banking services for its’ members .The members are able to make withdrawals from their own FOSA accounts to M-pesa anywhere /anytime by simply dialing *245 harsh and follow very simple steps provided.
On shares and deposits, the Sacco’s Members earn dividends on shares and interest on deposits .This is calculated on a pro-rata formula. The members are also eligible to withdraw loan amounts equal to three times their shares and deposits. The Sacco is committed to provide the best services possible to it’s’ members. They pledge that they will always maintain the back office (BOSA) open from 8.30 am to 5.00pm during the week days and 8.30 to 1.00pm on Saturdays. They also pledge to maintain Front Office (FOSA) open from 8.30 am to 4.00pm on weekdays and from 8.30 am to 1.00pm on Saturdays. They pledge to establish customer care counters at which all enquiries will be attended to; and the necessary documents availed. They also intend to offer excellent services with courtesy, respect, honesty, integrity and impartiality when dealing with membership matters .Customers will be served within fifteen minutes of their visits .All the customers concerns and any information provided will be treated with utmost confidentiality including your personal account details.
On complaint re-dressal, all the Sacco’s customers and general public are advised to lodge genuine complaints and suggestions trough the Sacco’s official contact addresses and phone numbers.
In the event of not being able to receive desired service or feedback from ndege chai office staff, customers can directly lodge their complaints with the chief executive officer, either via written mail, e-mail or phone for prompt resolution either in person or through their elected delegates