Use of IT enhances student loan services
04 - 04 - 2000

The government service of providing non-means tested loans to students has been further improved with its efficiency largely enhanced following the adoption of information technology (IT) in its operation.

The processing of loan applications by the Student Financial Assistance Agency (SFAA) has been speeded up following its implementation of the Non-means Tested Loan Scheme Computer System (NLSCS) with the full support rendered by a project team of the Information Technology Services Department (ITSD).

"The NLSCS automates the loan repayment, refund, recovery and deferment cases under the Non-means Tested Loan Scheme which was introduced by SFAA in 1998," said a spokesman for ITSD today (April 4).

The system supports SFAA in the processing of applications and the processing of loan repayment, refund, recovery and deferment cases. The NLSCS also automates interest calculation and generation of repayment schedules. The application data and repayment data is now centralized to facilitate retrieval of data and reduction of document flow.

The NLSCS, which came into full production last November, supported SFAA to handle more than 15 000 applications for loans amounting to over $300 million in 1999.

The computer system was developed at a cost of $9.43 million.

The computer system has facilitated the SFAA management in allocating resources and detecting errors as the status of all activities involving applications, payments and loan repayments can be tracked by the computer system.

SFAA can also respond to students' enquiries instantly by using the on-line enquiry function of the computer system.

"The successful implementation of the NLSCS by SFAA is one of the examples demonstrating the mission of ITSD in promoting the wider use of IT in the Government," the spokesman said.

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