Mobile Collections
Provide customers with simple to use tools for making and arranging payments on mobile devices, while also increasing conversions and automating the collections process
Winner of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation
Esendex’s Mobile Collections solution has been recognised for its creative and sensitive approach to effective debt collection.
The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is one of the most prestigious awards a UK business can win, and while we’re delighted, we could not have achieved this without our similarly forward thinking customers – thank you.
What is Mobile Collections from Esendex?
By sending out a single SMS or Email to your customers, they’ll be able to make payments and arrange repayment plans at their preferred time and place in a rich, branded and engaging environment. Customers can even choose to speak with an agent through their preferred channel if they need to chat.
Mobile Collections also allow you to fully automate your whole collection strategy by sending out reminders and notifications when payments are due, or when plans are not kept up to date.
All this allows your customers to self-serve, which in turn increases your collection rates and significantly lowers your cost to serve.
Who can use Mobile Collections?
Here are just some of the industries that can benefit from more intelligent ways to collect and arrange payments from customers.
In-house teams
Any organisation with a sizeable number of customers who can each generate small value debt will inevitably face resource challenges, given the cost of collecting this debt through in-house collections teams. Mobile Collect helps with this by providing an engaging and convenient “appless app”.
Our Mobile Collect is intuitive and grows with your business needs – it is not a closed development. The platform allows for multiple identify verification steps, and a bespoke UI for your end user to engage with. System integrations are also made simple as our Professional Services teams ensure our platform can “talk” with your CRM and PSPs in realtime.
DCAs
DCAs who have acquired large volumes of small value debt face a big challenge to provide great ROI, given the cost of using traditional communication methods.
Mobile Collections helps with this by providing an engaging and convenient “appless app” which, requires no continual development and uses communication channels that are significantly cheaper than traditional methods.
Mobile Collections also provide a number of options for your customers to engage with you to discuss their situation and make a repayment arrangement, where they previously would have been forced to make an expensive phone call, giving your customer a better experience and reducing your cost to serve.
What are the benefits of Mobile Collections?
Implement with
speed and ease
Transition to your new Mobile Collections strategy by using your existing payment providers
Reduce
cost to serve
Reduce expensive paper communications and calls by allowing customers to self-serve
Maximise
security
Validate customer’s identity by requesting security information as part of the collections process
Completely
scalable
Our Professional Services team provide a managed platform making it easy to up/downscale campaign sizes
Recoup
more debt
19% of customers made payments using Mobile Collections, compared with 4% via legacy systems
Self-serve
facilities
Provide convenience to your customers, and save staff resource by supplying intelligent self-serve facilities
24/7
support
Payments can be taken around the clock, and not limited to when agents are available
Non-intrusive
prompting
Debt repayment can be prompted in a more discrete way, which encourages more payments taken
Who can use Mobile Collections?
Here are just some of the industries that can benefit from more intelligent ways to collect and arrange payments from customers.
Utilities
In the water sector alone, the total number of unpaid bills in the UK totalled £2.2 billion in 2015, which was an almost 20% increase on the figure from 2011. This number means that the cost of attempting to recover and write off those debts, added roughly £21 to the bill of every household in England and Wales. (Source)
Mobile Collections offer a tailored approach to resolving this problem, by providing the tools to treat every customer uniquely and fairly depending on their circumstances, which in turn greatly improves the chances of them making a payment.
Local government
Local authorities are under greater financial pressure than ever before to save on costs and recover more outstanding council tax. Recent estimates put the amount owed at £2.8bn, however, approaches to debt recovery vary from area to area, with the majority of councils still relying on more traditional approaches like sending paper reminders and bailiffs. (Source)
Mobile Collections give citizens more flexible ways to pay and could see fewer debts being incurred, a reduction in the stress and anxiety experienced by those with financial difficulties, a greater percentage of debts paid off, and councils spending less in the long run.
Retail
According to a recent study, the average UK shopper now owes an average of £432 across 3 store cards. Yet many consumers don’t see this as “real debt” with 9 out of 10 viewing it as “nothing to worry about” (Source). This attitude can often make collecting retail debt very difficult when combined with ineffective recoupment strategies like sending paper letters and making manual calls.
By using a mobile-focused collection strategy which is far more likely to reach the customer, retailers can not only stress the importance of the customer’s outstanding debt but also provide the convenient tools to make and plan payments.
Insurance
Few industry sectors will have to collect quite as many payments from customers as the insurance sector. While a large percentage of customers choose to make an annual payment, many choose the convenience of a monthly payment – but this, in turn, poses a problem for insurers. I.e. how to most effectively collect and arrange payments from those that miss a payment.
Mobile Collections provide a simple, engaging and cost-effective way for insurers to automate this collections process, while at the same time providers interactive payment scheduling tools which allow the customer to self-serve.
Motor finance
New car deals are being offered with 0% deposits and low monthly payments to entice more new buyers into showrooms – and it’s working! 80% of new car sales in 2017 were registered through personal contract plans, bringing the total amount of UK finance owed on car finance to over £60billion. (Source)
Inevitably, numbers this big will lead to many customers missing payments which would previously have been a massive undertaking to chase. Mobile Collections offer a completely automated way to collect these payments. By providing self-serve, flexible payment tools you’ll be increasing the chances of collecting more debt, and saving your in-house resource.
Personal loans
At the end of 2018 personal debts had risen in the UK to the highest level since before the credit crunch, reaching £239bn – with credit cards accounting for more than £70bn of the total. (Source)
Mobile Collections provide a simple, engaging and cost-effective way for insurers to automate this collections process, while at the same time providers interactive payment scheduling tools which allow the customer to self-serve.
How will Mobile Collections help us recoup more debt?
Here are just some of the tools that will help your business collect more debt by automating processes.
Leading payment
provider integration
Your existing payment processor can be quickly and easily integrated into your new collections solution
Personalised for
each customer
Use your customer’s name and unique account details for a more engaging journey
Modular
solution architecture
Choose from a variety of customer payment options to include (E.g. make a payment, set up a repayment plan, promise to pay, etc)
Maintain your
corporate identity
Create a consistent experience for your customers by including all your logos, colours and imagery
Measure
collection rates
Interrogate each customer collection journey, with simple to understand feedback and reports
Use as part
of a multichannel strategy
Combine with SMS, Voice, Email and other web-based channels to maximise the recoupment potential of your campaign
PCI DSS
compliant platform
Esendex will process credit card information securely
Adaptive decision
engine
Collection strategies can adapt based on communication outcomes and customer interactions, facilitating a low-touch process.
Keen to know more? Read our Mobile Collections eBook
There has never been a better time for businesses to switch to a digital, self-serve collections strategy. When combining the range of solutions available, with an increasing customer appetite, businesses using traditional collection channels like post and manual calls should certainly be considering the switch, if they haven’t already.
Our new eBook (The Problem with Payments) explores the implications of not going digital, the options available, and how you can make your customers happier by providing a convenient, self-serve platform.
We’re integrated with all major payment merchants
Let’s start sending, together.
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