This study set out to ascertain the effect of credit management techniques on loan recovery efforts by microfinance banks. To guide the study, 3 objectives specific objectives, 3 research questions and three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 alpha levels were formulated. The study covers all microfinance companies operating in Akwa Ibom State. A descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. The population was 85 operations and marketers in microfinance banks in Akwa Ibom State that have been in existence from 2014 to 2017. The sample size was 60 and the stratified random sampling technique was employed. The research instrument used for the study was a researcher- made questionnaire tagged “Credit Management and Loan Recovery Questionnaire” (CMLRQ). The instrument developed by the researcher was face and content validated by three experts in the Faculty of Social sciences, Akwa Ibom State University. All corrections and inputs were built in to the final version of the instrument. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was determined using Cronbach alpha method after the instrument was trial-tested on 20 respondents who were part of the population but not part of the sample. The result showed reliability co-efficient of 0.78. The data generated was analyzed using regression analysis to answer the research questions and to test the null hypotheses at .05 alpha level. It was concluded that Credit appraisal, credit risk control and collection policy were found to be very important in influencing loan recovery. It was recommended among others that Microfinance banks should ensure that credit appraisal is carried out by the technical people who are experienced and competent credit officer in order to stem out those with intolerable credit risk at the earliest possible opportunity.
Keywords: Akwa Ibom State, Microfinance Banks, credit management systems, loan recovery
