New Features in BRM…Know what’s in the Store?
In this article, we will be discussing the BRM features. These features are part of BRM 12 Patch set 6 and are the new features.
- Loan Management
- Customer Deposit
Loan Management
Loan Management is a process where this feature provides currency or non-currency credit balance to a customer whose credit limit threshold is reached. Loan management is applicable for Prepaid customers.
For Example: If the customer has reached the credit limit threshold of zero dollars, then the system provides a credit balance to the customer based on the configuration.
There are three types of loan management:
Dynamic Loans
Dynamic loans are granted when a customer’s credit limit is crossed during the rating and purchasing of subscription products. Dynamic loans are enabled by configuring subscription charge offers in PDC.
Offered Loans
Offered loans are sanctioned when a customer’s balance falls below a threshold set in their credit profile and are granted after the customer confirms. Loans can be offered when the threshold is crossed during subscription or usage charging.
Channel Loans
Channel loans are granted when a customer uses an external purchase channel, such as an external app, an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) gateway, or an interactive voice response (IVR) system, to use a loan to purchase a package. These channels send the purchase and loan request to BRM, and BRM checks eligibility and grants the loan without considering or consuming the customer’s current balance.
Loan Threshold
A loan threshold is a configuration to decide when to provide a loan to a customer, for example, we can set a specific limit (below 5$) as a threshold, so when a customer’s balance goes below 5$ then we can offer a loan to customers.
When a customer falls below the configured threshold, then the system sends a notification
(/event/notification/threshold loan) to the customer until his balance is above the configured threshold.
Setting Threshold in Package
There are two types of loan threshold settings in packages, Percentage loan (when % of the balance is consumed) and Absolute loan (when the balance falls below a fixed number).
When a customer purchases a package with a threshold setting, the configuration is stored in “/config/credit profile”.
Configuring Loans
Loan-related configurations such as maximum and minimum amounts, minimum eligible account age, eligible locations, service fees, and tax codes are loaded in /config/loan objects in the BRM.
To configure loan parameters, we need to use the config_loan.xml file.
Below is an example of a loan Configuration object in the Database
Creating and Modifying Loan Profiles
Loan profiles are created under an account or service of a customer to connect the loan configuration. This profile holds the loan information such as loan amount, and the number of loans associated with the customer.
To create a loan profile, we can use the “PCM_OP_CUST_CREATE_PROFILE” opcode, and to modify the profile we can use “PCM_OP_CUST_MODIFY_PROFILE”. The below list contains the loan profile-related information which needs to be passed while creating a profile. You can pass this profile array along with the customer creation flist.
Below is the example of loan profile object in database
Granting Loans and Eligibility Check
To Grant a loan use PCM_OP_LOAN_APPLY_LOAN and calls PCM_OP_CUST_FIND_PROFILE opcode to retrieve the customer’s loan profile and checks the eligibility using PCM_OP_LOAN_ELIGIBILITY.
If a customer is eligible for the requested loan PCM_OP_ACT_USAGE will create the events and items and calls the PCM_OP_BILL_SET_LIMIT_AND_CR opcode to set the amount owed for the loan in the balance group and calls PCM_OP_CUST_MODIFY_PROFILE to update the loan profile.
Below is an example of event for loan fee object in database
Below is the example of item for loan fee object in database
Below is the example of event for loan credit object in database
Below is the example of event for loan debit object in database
Below is the example of item for loan debit object in database
Below is the example of item for loan credit object in database
Recovering Loans
This functionality is used to automatically recover the loans from customer top-ups. BRM uses “PCM_OP_LOAN_RECOVER_LOAN” Opcode for loan recovery.
If a customer has less balance to repay the loan, then we follow the below two processes to recover the loan,
a) Recover the loan using a Percentage of the top-up balance, credit the remaining amount to the principal account balance, and notify the customer of the remaining amount due.
b) Reject the top-up and notify the customer that they must pay the full amount.
If the payment associated with a top-up is reversed, the loan recovery is also reversed.
Opcodes
Customer Deposit
A customer deposit is collected from a customer to avoid credit risks. Deposits can be created for accounts, services, packages, and devices.
Deposit Specification Profile
We can configure the business rules for Deposit specifications and Deposits in Deposit Specification Profile. We can be able to search and update the Deposit Specification profile.
Below are the mandatory fields to be configured,
· End date
· Deposit Validity Value and Unit
· Deposit Release Type (Prepayment and refund)
· Business Attributes (Deposit will be transferable, overridden, exemptible, attracts interest)
Below screenshot shows to create the Deposit specification profile:
Deposit Specifications
We can define the behavior of associated Deposits in Deposit Specification. Before configuring, we need to create a package or bundle wita h charge offer that has a specific deposit event. We can also be able to search and update the Deposit Specification.
Below are the mandatory fields to be configured,
· Select the existing or create the new Deposit specification profile
· Permitted (Account, Service, Package or Device)
· Charge Offer Name (Create a charge offers that have a specific deposit event mapped to the charge)
· End Date
· Billing Preference (Bill immediately, Bill with next billing cycle)
· Increase credit limit based on deposit
Below screenshot shows to select/create the deposit specification profile in Create Deposit specification page:
Below screenshot shows to configure the details to create the Deposit specification:
Creating Deposits
We can create a deposit for Account, Service, Package, and Device. Customers purchase the package, bundle or device with the created deposit charge offer which is configured in Deposit specification.
Below screenshot shows to create Deposit:
Manage Customer Deposits
We can manage customer deposits for accounts, packages, devices, or services.
Below are the options to work on deposits.
· View Deposits
· Reverse Deposits
· Transfer Deposits
· Update Deposits
· Deposit Payments
· Deposit to Prepayments
· Refund Deposit
View Deposits
We can be able to view the created customer deposits in the account page by clicking the View All.
Reverse Deposits
We can be able to reverse a wrongly made deposits.
Transfer Deposits
We can transfer a deposit from one account to another account or one service to other service. Interest accrued on the deposit can also be transferred to other account.
Update Deposits
We can update the customer deposit information.
Deposit Payments
Deposit Payments can be done by below ways
· Immediate Payment: We can do Full/Part payment immediately.
· Pay with the next billing cycle: We can pay the amount with the next billing cycle.
· Pay with an advance payment: We can pay the deposit by getting the previous overpayment.
Releasing Deposits
Release types are configured in Deposit Specification profile.
We can release the deposit amount in below ways,
· Convert to Prepayment: customer can choose to convert the full/partial deposit into advance payments.
· Refunds: customer can choose to get the full refund. Customer can request a deposit refund and requires refund approval. Refund approval shows refund requests that are approved, partially approved, pending, or rejected.
Below screenshot shows the Deposit refund requests page:
Opcodes
