SMS
- Reaches any phone, smartphone or not
- Your own wording on every event
- Up to 160 characters a credit
- Offered country by country; the Credits Dashboard shows the cost where you lend
Messaging and notifications
Repayment reminders by SMS, WhatsApp and email, sent on your schedule
Set the reminders once and Lendbox sends them for every loan: two days before an instalment, the day before, the morning it falls due, and after it is missed. Each event goes out on the channels you tick, in the words you write, at the hour you choose.
Start free trial- SMS07:30
Hi Mutale, your next loan instalment is due this Friday. Thank you for paying on time. Chipata Credit
- WhatsApp08:00
Your instalment was due yesterday and we have not received it yet. Please pay today to keep your loan in good standing.
- Email14:12
Payment received. Thank you, your loan balance has been updated.
Illustrations; Chipata Credit is not a real lender.
When reminders go out
- 2 days before2-day reminder
- 1 day before1-day reminder
- Due dateDue date reminder
- Up to 14 days afterMissed payment
- After maturityPast maturity
- Status
- Built in
- Channels
- SMS, WhatsApp and email
- Available in
- All countries; SMS availability varies
- Paid for with
- Prepaid notification credits
Every event Lendbox can send a message about
Each row is switched on or off per channel in Settings → Notifications, and saves the moment you click.
Reminders go out at the send time you set on each row, in the time zone from your General settings, so a 07:30 reminder leaves at 07:30 for your branches rather than at whatever hour the server keeps.
One row per event, one toggle per channel, and the hour each reminder leaves.
| Event | When it goes out | SMS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reminders | ||||
| 2-day due reminder | Two days before each instalment, at your send time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1-day due reminder | The day before each instalment | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Due date reminder | On the due date, at your send time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Missed payment reminders | After an instalment is missed, stopping after 14 days | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Past maturity reminders | After the loan’s final due date passes, stopping after 14 days | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Loan status | ||||
| Loan status updates | When a loan’s status changes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Loan active | When the loan is disbursed and becomes active | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Loan completion | When the loan is repaid in full | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Loan default | When the loan is marked as defaulted | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Payments | ||||
| Payment received | When a repayment is posted to the loan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Investors (sent to the investor) | ||||
| Deposit, withdrawal and bank fee | When money moves on an investor account | Yes | Yes | Yes |
There is also a Daily Account Summary for your own team: email only, and it uses no credits.
Set up reminders in five steps
Everything happens in the dashboard, and the whole setup takes about as long as writing the messages.
- 01Check your creditsOpen Billing and look at the Credits Dashboard. It shows your balance and roughly how many SMS, WhatsApp messages and emails it covers. Buy credits there if the balance is empty.
- 02Pick the events and channelsOpen Settings → Notifications → Channel Notifications and tick Email, SMS or WhatsApp on each event you want to send. Each toggle saves as you click it.
- 03Set the send timeChoose the hour each reminder leaves. The time uses the time zone in your General settings.
- 04Write the messagesSelect Templates on an event. Keep the predefined text or write your own, inserting placeholders for the borrower and the loan. For WhatsApp, pick one of the approved templates.
- 05Send yourself a testFrom the Credits Dashboard, send a test SMS, WhatsApp message or email to your own number or address, and read it as a borrower would before the first real reminder goes out.
Your words, with each loan’s details filled in
Every event has a Templates button. For email and SMS you either keep the predefined message or write your own, and insert placeholders for whatever changes from loan to loan: details of the borrower and the loan, the next instalment from the repayment schedule, past repayments, penalties and collateral. Lendbox fills them in for each borrower when the message goes out.
An SMS longer than 160 characters may be split in two and use two credits, and the template editor reminds you of that limit while you write.
Dear [borrower first name], your instalment of [amount due] is due on [due date]. Pay by then to avoid a late fee. [your institution]
Illustration. In the editor, placeholders are picked from a list rather than typed.
A custom SMS template, with placeholders picked from the list underneath.
What each channel is good for
- The first message asks the borrower to opt in, and reminders follow once they agree
- Sent from approved WhatsApp templates, chosen per event
- Need one that is not on the list? Request it from the Templates dialog
- Opt-ins and opt-outs are tracked per number
- Custom templates for every event
- Repayment receipts and status updates
- A free Daily Account Summary for your team
- Payment links sent by email use no credits
Paid for with prepaid credits, shared across the channels
Notifications draw on one prepaid balance. Each SMS segment, WhatsApp message and email uses credits at the rate for that channel and country, and the Credits Dashboard under Billing shows how many of each you can still send.
You buy credits on the same screen: by card everywhere, and in Zambia by mobile money or straight from your Lendbox wallet too. A banner appears on your dashboard when credits run low. Before you switch an event on, send a test SMS, WhatsApp message or email to yourself to see exactly what borrowers will get.
What it doesn’t do
- There is no bulk or broadcast SMS for promotions. Messages are tied to loan events, plus the one-off reminders below.
- WhatsApp only sends approved templates, so free-form WhatsApp text is not possible.
- SMS and WhatsApp messages go to the borrower’s primary phone number.
- SMS is not offered in every country. Where it is unavailable, email and WhatsApp still run.
- Notifications need credits. When the balance runs out, messages stop until you top it up.
Need to nudge one borrower right now? Every loan has Send SMS Reminder, Send WhatsApp Reminder and Send Email Reminder buttons, which send immediately and draw on the same credits.
Frequently asked questions
- Yes. Every event has its own SMS and email template, which you can keep as the predefined text or replace with your own, using placeholders for the borrower’s name, the amount due and the due date. WhatsApp is the exception: it uses approved templates only.
- Yes. The first WhatsApp message a number receives asks the borrower to opt in, and reminders follow only once they do. Lendbox records whether each number has opted in or out.
- Missed-payment and past-maturity reminders stop 14 days after they start. Reminders are about what is still owed, so an instalment that has been paid does not trigger one.
- It depends on the country and the channel. Notifications are paid from prepaid credits, and the Credits Dashboard shows the cost of an SMS, a WhatsApp message and an email where you lend before you buy. A long SMS that splits into two parts costs two.
- Yes. Open the loan and choose Send SMS Reminder, Send WhatsApp Reminder or Send Email Reminder. It goes out immediately and draws on the same credits as the automatic reminders.
- No. Lendbox sends messages about loans: reminders, confirmations and status changes. It has no broadcast tool for promotional messages.
Can I write my own SMS reminder text?
Do borrowers have to agree to WhatsApp messages?
When do missed-payment reminders stop?
How much does an SMS cost?
Can I send a reminder to one borrower right now?
Can I send a bulk SMS to every borrower?
Keep reading
- All integrationsLendbox integrationsMobile money in Zambia, SMS and WhatsApp reminders, Excel import, the REST API and webhooks, each marked with how it connects.
- RelatedLoan collections softwareArrears tracking, follow-ups and promises to pay, with reminders doing the routine chasing.
- RelatedBorrower repayment channelsWhere a reminder sends the borrower next: the portal, a payment link or a statement.
- RelatedMobile money in ZambiaRepayments that post to the loan the moment the network confirms them.
- RelatedMicrofinance loan softwareHow high-volume microfinance books keep reminders and collections running.
- RelatedLoan lifecycle managementSchedules, repayments and penalties: the record every reminder is built from.
Send your first reminder this week
Turn on the 1-day reminder, write it in your own words and send yourself a test.
No card required