With an Azure-powered digital platform, Agricover empowers small farms and approves loans 90% faster

Agricover is a Romanian agribusiness group supporting more than 10,000 farmers with tailored solutions. Its subsidiaries, Agricover Credit IFN, Agricover Distribution, and Agricover Technology provide financing, distribution, and digital tools aimed at transforming the way farmers manage and grow their businesses.

There are around 800,000 registered farmers in Romania, of which almost 700,000 are small farmers cultivating less than 100 hectares and receiving direct payments under the Single Area Payment Scheme (SAPS), a subsidy program implemented by the European Union. These are often family businesses, working small plots that are passed down through generations. “However, small farmers are underserved because the banking sector still sees agriculture as a risky industry,” shares Oana Tatar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Agricover Credit IFN. “While it’s easy to help the big ones because there’s less risk, it’s crucial to support the small farmers with financing to help them grow and nurture the agricultural landscape of Romania.”

Traditionally, Agricover would contact farmers directly in the field through its commercial team to offer its services. However, the company soon realized that this approach didn’t work with small farmers. “The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that we could do things differently. Within the new adapted regulatory we could reach small farmers with digital solutions. And since there was no fully digital platform in the banking sector for e-lending to companies in Romania, we decided to build our own,” shares Tatar.

Building for scalability

Once Agricover decided to build a digital platform for small farmers, it partnered with Avaelgo to ensure the platform would be easy to use and secure. The company had recently finished another project with Avaelgo and was impressed with the collaboration. “Given the ambitious nature of the application and Avaelgo’s expertise with transformative business solutions, we wanted to continue our collaboration,” shares Tatar. “The Avaelgo team often challenged us by putting themselves in the client’s shoes. They frequently presented different scenarios that made us reconsider our approach and find solutions that would be seamless and useful for the client, not just for Agricover.”

When deciding on technology, Agricover’s internal expertise with Microsoft products, paired with Avaelgo’s technical recommendations, led it to Microsoft Azure. “Our entire infrastructure is already based on Azure, and we have an internal team in Agricover Technology for support,” explains Dan Agapie, Chief Information Officer, Agricover Technology. “This made Azure a natural choice for us, given its security features and ease of implementing all necessary security measures.”

When creating the MyAgricover platform, Agricover used Azure and robotic process automation (RPA) to gather information from various internal and external databases and streamline the application verification procedures. “Our goal was to automate as many processes as possible, so we could scale up the number of credit requests easily. With Azure, we have the capability to scale to thousands of loans per month,” shares Agapie. “We also used Microsoft Teams to support video calls with the client when they apply for credit through MyAgricover. For anything we wanted to do, we had a solution or service for it within the Microsoft ecosystem.”

Faster, simpler access to credit

MyAgricover made access to credit easier and faster for small farmers. Traditionally, Agricover’s commercial team goes to each farm to collect and scan application documents and send them to the office to be analyzed for credit. After it is approved, the commercial team member would have to visit the farmer again to sign the contract. The financing disbursement also involves a lot of back-and-forth communication which is usually done at the farm. “With MyAgricover running on Azure, the entire process—from application to disbursement—is fully digital,” highlights Agapie. “Now, farmers simply download the app, create an account, and complete the identity verification procedure, which takes them about ten minutes. The platform uses algorithms to determine the loan amount, and contracts are signed digitally as well. The customer then receives a credit line accessible through a card, thus giving them immediate access to the money.“

Such speed and convenience are especially valuable for farmers. “While the traditional loan process would take ten working days, with MyAgricover, this has been reduced to a maximum of 24 hours,” shares Tatar. MyAgricover has been positively received by farmers, many of whom expressed appreciation for its speed and ease of use. “For many, it's their first experience receiving financing, but even those who have had a loan were surprised at how fast they got it and how smoothly the application works,” remarks Tatar.

Expanding capabilities for future growth

With seamless access to sustainable financing, small farms can now invest in equipment and consolidate and grow their businesses. “Almost 30% of land in Romania is not cultivated.We see people every day who are not currently engaged in agriculture but wish to return to their land,” Tatar shares. ”In the current climate, with fluctuating conditions and severe droughts, farmers are significantly impacted and require financial support to navigate these challenging times. They need funds to pay their suppliers, even when the crop yields fall short of expectations. That’s why it was crucial to provide them with this tool that allows quick access to credit.”

Looking ahead, Agricover plans to extend MyAgricover’s capabilities and increase its efficiency, bringing more features to its traditional frontline staff like integrated document gathering and contract signing. Agricover also intends to use Azure AI Services to forecast crop yields, prioritize support for farmers in weather-affected regions, and develop the app to benefit more customers.

Ultimately, Agricover has brought themselves closer to small farmers by providing them with a simple, clear, and fast way to access the money they need for their businesses, delivering on its commitment to generate financial inclusion for the small farmers. Besides gaining new clients and enhancing overall profitability, it also demonstrates how farmers can get access to sustainable financing, suited to grow their businesses. “This project has a significant impact from both a business and social responsibility perspective, as we are addressing the needs of small, vulnerable, and underserved farmers,” says Alina Nicolescu, Head of Microfinance at Agricover. “I believe we are building something truly transformative here, and I look forward to seeing how this will shape the agricultural market over the next year or two.”