System Case Study — Full-Stack Development — Fintech CRM

Salaam Microfinance Bank Social CRM

Role

Full-Stack Engineer — Design, Build, Deploy

Stack

React, Node.js, PostgreSQL

Status

Live in production, 4 branches

Period

Mid-2025 — Mid-2026

Contents

Problem Statement

Salaam Microfinance Bank is a Kenyan Islamic microfinance institution with four branches serving thousands of customers across digital channels. As the bank's digital presence grew, three internal teams — Marketing, Relationship Management, and SalaamPay Customer Service — ended up managing customer conversations in silos: separate apps for WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, email, and the SalaamPay app, no structured lead follow-up, no broadcast tooling, no audit trail, and no visibility into agent performance or SLA adherence.

The bank needed a purpose-built, bank-grade CRM — not a generic SaaS tool — that matched its brand identity, complied with Kenyan data regulation, and was operated entirely by its own team.

Solution Overview

I designed and built Salaam CRM — a full-stack, multi-channel social CRM tailored exclusively for Salaam Microfinance Bank. It's an internal web application used daily by agents, relationship managers, and administrators across all four branches.

Core Philosophy

  • One inbox, all channels. WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, Email, SalaamPay, and web forms surface in a single inbox. Agents never switch tools.
  • Bank-grade access control. Every data access is scoped by role and department — an agent in the SalaamPay team cannot see Marketing contacts.
  • Built for Kenyan context. Phone numbers, time zones, branch structure, and tone-of-voice all reflect the bank's Kenyan identity.
  • Compliance by default. Kenya Data Protection Act 2019 controls are woven into the product, not bolted on.

Interactive Demo

A manager's command-center view of the CRM — the kind of overview a bank director gets in one glance: conversation volume by channel, pipeline health, and SLA performance. Switch the time range and click into a channel or pipeline stage to see it respond.

Salaam CRM — Command Center (Demo) Simulated
Salaam Microfinance Bank Social CRM v3
Inbox
Dashboard
Contacts
Pipeline
Reports
Salaam Microfinance Bank — Social CRM
Conversations by Channel
Pipeline Health
Select a channel or pipeline stage above to see it in focus.

Note — this is a self-contained front-end simulation built for this portfolio page, running on illustrative data. It mirrors the shape of the real dashboard without exposing Salaam Bank's actual production data or internal system design.

Feature Set

Multi-Channel Inbox

A single inbox with a conversation list, message thread, and contact profile — no more switching between eight separate apps to serve one customer.

ChannelInboundOutboundBroadcast
WhatsApp
Facebook Messenger
Instagram DM
Twitter / X
TikTok
Email
SalaamPay App
Web Form

Pipeline Management

Leads promoted from the inbox move through a Kanban pipeline — New → Contacted → Qualified → Converted → Closed — with a mandatory notes step at every tag, creating an automatic qualification trail.

WhatsApp Broadcast Campaigns

Admins compose campaigns using Meta-approved templates, filtered by channel, department, and contact attributes, with delivery tracked per recipient — built to handle large audiences without slowing down the person sending it.

Email Marketing

A drag-and-drop email builder, HTML import from external design tools, audience targeting by opt-in status and branch, and open/click/bounce tracking on every campaign.

SLA Enforcement

PriorityFirst ResponseResolution
Urgent30 min4 hours
High1 hour8 hours
Medium2 hours24 hours
Normal4 hours48 hours

Every conversation carries a live SLA countdown, and breaches surface automatically to managers rather than going unnoticed.

Team & Access Management

Role-based access (Admin / Agent / Viewer), department scoping, and per-agent channel grants — an agent only ever sees the conversations relevant to their team.

Auto-Replies, Chatbot Flows & Audit Trail

Keyword-triggered auto-replies and guided chatbot flows handle first contact before an agent takes over. Every action in the system — logins, tags, broadcasts, password resets — is captured in a full audit trail for accountability and compliance review.

Reports & Analytics

Agent performance, SLA adherence, channel volume, and pipeline conversion — all rolled into reporting that gives managers visibility they never had with the old, siloed setup.

Design System

The CRM ships with its own purpose-built design system, derived from the bank's brand — navy and peach, distinct from this portfolio's own amber-and-crimson palette. Hierarchy is built with type weight rather than size, and the product favors information density over whitespace, since agents live in this interface all day.

NavyPrimary
Navy MidGradient
Navy LightTinted rows
PeachAccent

Security & Compliance

A full security review was carried out across authentication, access control, and data handling — every finding was remediated before go-live, and the system now runs on hardened role-based access, parameterized data access, and transaction-safe account management.

Kenya Data Protection Act 2019

  • Opt-in enforcement: marketing emails only reach contacts who've explicitly consented
  • Suppression handling: bounces and unsubscribes are honored automatically, sitewide
  • Data export & erase: contacts can request a full data export or erasure on demand
  • Audit trail: every data access and change is logged with agent identity and timestamp

Outcomes & Impact

MetricBeforeAfter
Channel management tools8+ separate apps1 unified inbox
Agent response timeUnmeasured, no toolingTracked per-conversation with SLA enforcement
Broadcast capabilityManual, no trackingAsync campaigns with open/click/bounce analytics
Lead pipeline visibilityNoneFull Kanban pipeline with qualification notes
Data compliance postureNo controlsKenya DPA 2019 compliant
Email marketingNot possibleFull campaign suite with deliverability tracking

Deployed to production, serving agents across Marketing, Relationship Management, and SalaamPay Customer Service at all four branches.

Project Timeline

Phase 1Mid-2025Core inbox (WhatsApp, Facebook), contacts, basic team management
Phase 2Mid-2025Instagram, Twitter/X, and SalaamPay channels; pipeline module
Phase 3Late 2025Auto-replies, chatbot flows, canned responses, SLA engine
Phase 4Early 2026Email marketing, broadcast campaigns, reporting suite
Phase 5Mid-2026Security hardening, full design system overhaul, HTML template import

If this is you

If your team juggles WhatsApp, Instagram, and email in three windows, I build you one system that pulls them into a single inbox, shaped around how you work.

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