Clients

Open Institution → Clients in the sidebar (or press Ctrl+K and type "clients"). You need client-viewing permission — if the menu item is missing, ask your administrator.

The client list

Clients appear in a table showing account number, name, mobile number, external ID, status, and office.

• Search by name, account number, mobile, external ID, or ID document — results update as you type (same matching as client pickers elsewhere).
• Sort by clicking the Account No, Name, or External ID column headers.
• Pages — use the controls under the table; you can show 10, 25, 50, or 100 rows.
• Open a client by clicking anywhere on their row.
• The address bar always reflects your current view — bookmark or share the URL and it reopens exactly this filtered, sorted page.

Exporting

The Export button downloads the entire filtered list (not just the visible page) as a CSV or Excel file. Searching first narrows what's exported. Exports are recorded for auditing.

Creating a client

Press New client at the top of the client list (you need client-creation permission to see it). That opens the same full-page layout as product wizards: close in the header, steps in a left rail on a large screen (across the top on a tablet or phone), and Previous / Next (then Create client) in the footer.

Registration takes four steps:

1. Basic details — pick the office, choose whether the client is a person (first and last name, optional gender, and whether they are a staff member) or an entity (business name, optional constitution, business line, and incorporation details), and decide whether to activate immediately. Active clients can open accounts right away; you can also leave them pending and activate later. You can also choose a default savings product: if the client is activated now, Fineract opens an active savings account on that product immediately; if they stay pending, the product is stored as their default and the account opens when you activate them.
2. Contact & identifiers — all optional: an account number (leave blank for Fineract to assign one), submitted-on date, an external reference ID (e.g. a national ID or legacy system number), mobile number, email, date of birth (incorporation date for an entity), assigned staff, client type, and classification.
3. Family — optional: add spouse, children, or other family members (name, relationship, gender, marital status, profession, date of birth, dependent status). You can also skip this and add family later from the client's page.
4. Review — check everything, then Create client. You'll land on the new client's page.

Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*). Each step checks your entries before letting you continue, so mistakes surface immediately, not at the end. You can jump back to an earlier step without losing what you typed.

Client details

Open a client from the list. The page keeps their name, photo, account number, status, office, external ID, mobile number, and email at the top, then splits into sections so the associated lists stay usable on a laptop or tablet:

• Overview — performance (loan cycles, active loans, last loan amount, total savings, shares, outstanding loans, overdue loans), then identity (including name parts, gender, date of birth, and age when a date of birth is on file, and entity details), office, staff, classification, and important dates. Age also appears under the name in the client header. Amounts show the currency code (for example KES 1,200.00), not a symbol. When a total mixes accounts or has no currency of its own, the first currency enabled for the institution is used.
• Loans, Savings, Fixed deposits, Recurring deposits, Shares — one section per product. Loan rows show the account number, product, status, and submitted date, with requested amount at the end. Outstanding balance and disbursement date (actual when disbursed, otherwise expected) are available from a column header under Columns — outstanding is on by default, disbursement is hidden. A loan in arrears keeps its usual status and adds an In arrears badge; outstanding is also emphasized when that column is visible. Click a loan row to open that loan’s own workspace (not this client page). Click a savings row to open that savings account’s own workspace. Click a share row to open that share account’s own workspace. Deposits show the account number, product, status, and balance, and open on this client. Turn on Show closed to include closed accounts — the control then reads Hide closed, and loans also show a closed date. The address bar updates so you can bookmark that view.
• Family — household members recorded at registration or later. Add, edit, or delete members from this section. When a date of birth is on file, the list also shows their age.
• Identities, Documents, Notes, Address — records attached to the client. Add, edit, or remove them from each section (addresses are deactivated rather than deleted). Download a document from its row menu. The client's signature is managed under Actions, not here. Sections you don't have permission to see never appear in the menu.

On a wide screen the sections sit in a left-hand list. On a tablet they become a top bar; if there isn't room, extra sections fold into a +N menu.

Editing and status

From the client's header you can Edit identity and contact details. That opens a docked sidebar over the client — Save and Cancel stay at the bottom, and the rest of the page stays put. Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*). Office changes use Transfer. Actions that need a date, reason, office, or staff member also open a docked sidebar. Delete and unassign staff ask you to confirm. Other actions depend on status and your permissions:

• Pending — Activate, reject, withdraw, or delete.
• Active — Close (only if they have no open accounts) or transfer to another office.
• Closed / rejected / withdrawn — Reactivate or undo the previous decision.
• Transfer in progress — Accept, reject, or undo the transfer.

You can also assign or unassign staff. On an active client with a mobile number or email, Actions includes Self Help user when you signed in through a registered application-code server that has Self Help identity configured. That creates or updates the member's mobile-app login. Overview shows whether Self Help access is configured. Address-only servers (typed URL and tenant, no application code) do not offer Self Help.

The client's photo sits in the header, large enough to recognise them — click it for a closer look. Buttons under the photo upload a file, capture from a camera, or delete. Signatures live under Actions. Actions you don't have permission for never appear.

Associated records

Family, identities, documents, notes, and addresses each have an Add button when your role allows it. Edit and Delete (or Deactivate for an address) sit in the row menu. Add and edit open a docked sidebar over the list — Save and Cancel stay at the bottom. Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*).

Account detail

Click a fixed deposit row to open the fixed deposit workspace. Click a recurring deposit row to open the recurring deposit workspace. Click a loan row to open the loan workspace. Click a savings row to open the savings workspace. Click a share row to open the share workspace.

Loan repayments and other loan operations are on the loan workspace. Savings deposits, withdrawals, charges, and other savings actions are on the savings workspace. Share apply, redeem, and lifecycle actions are on the share workspace. Fixed deposit deposits, interest, and closure are on the fixed deposit workspace. Recurring deposit installments, interest, and closure are on the recurring deposit workspace. Deposit charges and statements (including cash receipts) are on those workspaces — the same pattern as savings. Fineract does not expose hold or officer-assignment commands on fixed or recurring deposits.

Opening an account

On an active client, each account section has an Open button when your role allows it. Loans open a full-page wizard (the header shows this client's name). Savings, share, and deposit accounts open a docked sidebar on their list.

• Loan — product (with optional external ID, account number, and note), dates (a standing instruction collects each installment from the linked savings when it falls due), then principal, interest, repayments, and product-gated extras (fixed EMI, equal amortization, monthly nth-day repayment, tranches, down payment percent and auto-repay, top-up, progressive-schedule fields when the product allows them), then charges, then the repayment schedule those terms produce, then optional collateral and guarantors, then review. Collateral rows pledge client-registered units of types from Products → Collateral. A charge collected by account transfer needs a linked savings account. Group-only loans do not show linked savings. On the first step you can also assign an officer, a loan purpose, and a fund (the donor, programme, or internal pool that finances this loan). External ID is optional and sits beside the product, as a reference from another system. Purpose is always on this step and is optional — leave it blank if none apply, including when the list is empty. Fund is also always on this step and is optional — leave it blank if none apply, including when the list is empty. Funds are named under Organization → Funds. If the product has a fund, Bankayo copies it onto the application as the default; officers can still pick a different fund or No fund. A fund is not required. If the product sets a minimum or maximum principal or interest rate, that range appears under the field. You cannot continue until the amount is inside it. A floating-rate product asks for a differential instead of a nominal interest rate, and can track later published rate changes when the product allows it. The schedule step is a preview — recalculate after you change terms or charges if you want updated figures. It does not persist, and it does not send linked-account or standing-instruction fields. Fineract still calculates the repayment schedule when you submit. Collateral must already be registered on the client. Add a guarantor from the docked form: an existing client (optional savings hold), a staff member, or an external person (name required). Guarantors are saved after submit.
• Savings — a docked sidebar with two tabs. Required is the product, submitted date, and optional officer and external ID. Optional starts from the product (interest, balances, lock-in, overdraft, lien, tax, and charges) so you can override those for this account. Submit and Cancel sit at the bottom of the sidebar.
• Fixed or recurring deposit — a docked sidebar with two tabs, like savings. Required is the product, submitted date, optional officer and external ID, amount, and term. A fixed deposit needs the deposit amount. A recurring deposit needs the recommended installment and how often it collects (or inherit the group's meeting calendar). Amounts use the product's currency — there is no separate currency picker. The product's minimum and maximum amount and term appear under those fields. Optional starts from the product: interest compounding and posting, lock-in, withhold tax, and product charges. A fixed deposit can link savings so posted interest transfers there, and can set what happens at maturity (withdraw, transfer to savings, or reinvest when Fineract offers it). The product does not store a maturity instruction — leave At maturity as Decide at close to choose when the account is closed. Submit and Cancel sit at the bottom of the sidebar.
• Share — a docked sidebar: product, submitted and application dates, requested shares, and the savings account shares are paid from.

Close (X) on a wizard returns to the account list. Back and Continue (or Submit) sit at the bottom of the page. A docked sidebar's Submit and Cancel sit at the bottom of the sidebar instead. After submit you land on the new account (a loan opens in its own workspace). The client must be active.

Troubleshooting