A Mobile Banking App Prototype for Rural Cooperative Societies in Kebbi State

Rural cooperative societies in Kebbi State, North West Nigeria, manage significant financial flows through informal cash systems, exposing members to fraud, loss, and audit irregularities. This study develops a mobile banking application prototype for rural cooperatives in Kebbi State, targeting agrarian communities in Birnin Kebbi and Argungu local government areas. The app is built using Flutter with a Dart backend connected to a Node.js REST API and MySQL database, designed to operate on low-end Android devices. The prototyping development model is applied, with two iterative cycles validated through usability sessions with 40 cooperative members and 6 society treasurers. Features include member savings tracking, loan application and approval workflows, contribution reminders, group ledger visibility, and biometric-secured login. The app was evaluated on transaction accuracy, ease of use, and offline transaction queuing performance. Results show that loan processing time decreased from an average of 2 weeks to 3 business days, and member contribution default rates dropped by 29 percent following SMS reminder activation. The study notes that women-led cooperatives showed higher adoption rates than male-dominated groups, a finding with implications for financial inclusion policy. Recommendations include partnership with microfinance institutions to provide backend licensing and regulatory coverage. Keywords: mobile banking, cooperative society, Kebbi State, financial inclusion, Flutter