Seven checks that stop most field collection fraud
Most field fraud is not clever. It survives because nobody checks the same thing twice. These seven checks close the usual gaps.
The FinanceMe.lk team. . 6 minute read.
When owners talk about losing money, the story is usually the same. An officer collected cash, recorded less than they received, and covered the gap with the next borrower’s payment. It went on for months because every individual record looked normal.
These checks do not assume anyone is dishonest. They make honest mistakes visible quickly and make dishonesty hard to hide.
1. A receipt the borrower can check
Paper receipt books can be copied or kept back. Give every borrower an SMS with the amount and their new balance at the moment of payment. A borrower who pays Rs. 2,900 and receives no SMS will ask why.
2. A code on every printed receipt
A QR code or short code that anyone can check online confirms that the receipt exists in your system, for that amount, on that date. Fake receipts stop working when borrowers know to check.
3. Separate the person who lends from the person who approves
The officer who brings in a borrower should not approve the loan or hand over the money. Two people make a fictitious borrower much harder to create.
4. Close cash every day
Expected, collected and handed over, every evening, reviewed by a manager. See our guide to the day-end cash close.
5. Watch for back-dated entries
A payment entered three days after the date on it is often innocent: an officer had no signal. A pattern of back-dated payments from one person is the classic sign of one borrower’s money covering another’s arrears.
6. Know where each payment was taken
Recording the location of every collection takes no effort from the officer. A payment for a borrower in a village recorded from inside the branch office deserves a question.
7. Treat reversals as exceptions
Every system needs a way to undo a mistake. But each reversal should need a reason and a manager’s permission, and one person reversing many payments should stand out.
Rotate and visit
Two habits outside any system also help: move officers between centres from time to time, and have a manager visit a few borrowers each month to confirm their balance. Borrowers are usually happy to show their receipts.
How FinanceMe.lk handles it
SMS receipts, QR-verifiable printed receipts, separate approval and payout permissions, a daily cash close, location on every payment and a fraud alerts page for back-dated entries, distant collections and reversals are all built in, on every plan.