FROM POLICY TO CODE: ALGORITHMIC ENFORCEMENT OF COOPERATIVE LENDING RULES IN UNIVERSITY COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS

Abstract

Digitisation of cooperative commodity management systems often begins with automating reservation, inventory, and transaction recording processes. However, post-deployment experience often reveals governance and policy-enforcement gaps that are not evident at the design stage. Building on a previously deployed web-based system for the KASU Majlis Cooperative Society, this study presents an algorithmic decision framework that embeds cooperative lending policy directly into system logic. The framework operationalises lending and repayment eligibility rules through cumulative obligation modelling, time-aware assessment of repayment behaviour, and automated decision enforcement. Using live operational data from the deployed system, the study demonstrates how policy-driven decision logic improves repayment discipline, reduces reliance on administrative discretion, and enhances transparency through structured, automated notifications to members. Rather than introducing new user-facing functionality, the contribution of this study lies in showing how cooperative governance policies can be translated into executable rules within an operational information system. The proposed framework offers a replicable and explainable approach for university cooperatives and similar organisations in developing contexts seeking to strengthen post-deployment policy enforcement in digital lending environments.