Streamline Collections & Recovery Through Data Transparency

The billing department flags a delinquent account and transfers it to collections. Collections delegates the account to its telecommunications team. When recovery attempts are unsuccessful, it’s relayed to legal, which makes a recommendation to collections. Collections then update accounting on the account status.

Collections and recovery often involve disparate teams across telecommunications, external agency management, legal and more. With so many stakeholders involved across the loan lifecycle, visibility can become clouded and communication fragmented. Now more than ever, full transparency is required to maximize reclaimed revenue and streamline collections.

Below we discuss strategies to improve your organization’s internal communications and data transparency during the collections and recovery process.

Achieve Data Transparency

Recent events like the global rise in non-performing loans have put collections and recovery departments to the test and forced them to become more inventive. The organizations that have risen to the challenge have either restructured their internal collections and recovery teams or rethought their collection strategies. At the centre of both is the free flow of data throughout the organization.   

1. Create Uniform Data Standards 

If account information is tracked under different names and in different formats, it becomes impossible for internal teams to communicate with one another. Develop universal nomenclature and data formatting for all account information, particularly that used in the recovery process. That way, an account can be passed from one handler to the next seamlessly.

2. Centralize Data

Similarly, fragmented collections data muddies organizational visibility, impedes efficiency and threatens recovery success. Some organizations still rely on semi-manual processes that require importing and exporting data into spreadsheets for analysis.

Centralize data to give all involved parties shared access to delinquent accounts. Designate levels of access to control who can modify account data. Keep in mind that the more information users have access to, the more efficiently they can execute their role in the recovery process. 

3. Systematize Processes

Standardization and centralization of data set the stage for replicable recovery processes. Previously, collectors owned accounts from delinquency through resolution.

Today, collectors’ roles are more specialized. They become experienced in their assigned segments and proficient at identifying solutions to bring an account up to date. This creates consistent, yet flexible, processes that help you increase repayment likelihood, track performance and understand process inefficiencies. 

4. Implement Automation 

Once full loan lifecycle visibility and collections processes are in place, it’s possible to achieve greater efficiencies through automation. Adopt a solution that provides robust scoring capabilities to assess your delinquency portfolio. This way, you can select specific segmentation strategies that strategically maximize the number of self-cure accounts, allowing your organization to acquire more returns with less effort.

Set up automated workflows to send outbound calls and emails, trigger follow-up actions for collectors or prioritize workloads. Workflow automation increases collectors' capacity, allowing them to handle more accounts and focus their efforts on the most collectable.

5. Track Performance

By removing the variances of incomplete information and inconsistent processes, collection agents’ performance can be measured and evaluated. Through monitoring, clear benchmark metrics can be established. Supervisors can then recognize collectors’ strengths and identify opportunities for improvement, improving productivity and increasing collections potential.

Achieving internal data transparency is the first step in systematizing processes, streamlining operations and reclaiming revenue through collections.

Improve Collections Performance

Mauritius Commercial Bank needed sophisticated tools, insights and processes to better manage the entire credit risk cycle, from loan origination to delinquency.

Using end-to-end collections and recovery software, the bank gained actionable loan insights and improved recovery performance. Download the case study to learn how Mauritius Commercial Bank increased collections and recovery performance with EXUS Financial Suite.