The role of AI in debt collection

AI, artificial intelligence, is becoming a ubiquitous part of the armoury of customer engagement and management. Companies can see improved efficiencies and stronger engagement through using AI, provided it is implemented appropriately.

AI also has a strong role to play in debt collection, including enforcement. In this article we look at the advantages, how and where to use it.

Customer behaviour change

Customer behaviour has changed significantly over recent years. Consumers are now accustomed to being able to engage with an organisation, a business or a brand at the time of their choosing. That might be in the evening or the weekend, away from the workplace – especially for something sensitive.

According to Daniel Pearce, director of business development at Telsolutions, we have become a chat society, largely driven by WhatsApp. Retailers and banks have learned that customers open up and give more information when talking on a chat, which enables them to make sales from chats.

How AI chatbots can assist

For customers in debt, chat allows them to approach their creditor from behind the safety of a screen, avoiding the discomfort and embarrassment of talking on the phone.

As it is not cost-effective to employ staff to be available on chat platforms 24/7, AI can provide that engagement

Instead of a 20 to 30-minute conversation with an agent on the phone, an AI chatbot can manage routine tasks such as setting up payment arrangements. The decision-making logic would be the same as for an agent, but without taking up human time. A chatbot can also be setting up arrangements and taking payments from multiple people simultaneously, even in the middle of the night.

This leaves the agent available to handle the calls that do need human contact, perhaps due to vulnerability issues or complexity.

By creating additional capacity within the team, service levels are improved and complaints reduced.

Welfare support

Dan explains that AI chatbots use “natural language processing”, which measures and reacts to intent, especially relating to potential vulnerability. For example, if a customer mentions that someone is deceased in the chat, the chatbot can be programmed to escalate the contact through to an agent. It is even possible for the AI chatbot to schedule a video call for the customer with the welfare team.

The other benefit is that actually reaching a customer with an outgoing call can be hit and miss. AI can identify trends, preferred channels and times of contact to optimise engagement and outcomes.

Getting more from Live Chat

Live Chat has been used within the industry for some time now, however normally it is only used on the website. This limits engagement, even if an AI chatbot is being used.

Dan recommends incorporating the chatbot into all letters, text messages and emails that are sent to customers, to make contact easier. This might be via a link or QR code.

How to get started

Dan says that there are two ways of implementing AI – the first is to integrate with the organisation’s CRM (customer relationship management) and the second, quicker to set up, is to give the AI provider a case data feed for their platform to implement the contact strategy.

In summary, the four main benefits for adopting AI are:

• Better understanding of the customer journey
• Providing a channel that works with customer behaviour
• Reduced customer complaints
• Better outcomes for both parties