4 Simple Methods for an Effective Collection Agency Payment Strategy

Running a collection agency is tedious. Just the industry regulations alone are enough to make one bonkers. It’s important to make processes as efficient as possible to concentrate on the crucial matters that make your agency successful. One area you shouldn’t be worried about day and night is a useful collection agency payment strategy.

Many well-versed ARM business professionals know collecting payments shouldn’t be complicated. Even with thousands of debtors, a streamlined collection agency payment strategy allows revenue to come in the door consistently. Are you struggling with implementing a successful payment plan for your agency? Are you receiving pressure from the companies you collect on behalf of to generate income faster? Don’t stress out – we have four simple methods your collection agency can easily adopt to boost payments quickly and compliantly!!

Accept Multiple Forms of Payment – Electronic Included

No one person is the same. We each prefer various payment methods that best suit our needs and preferences. This may mean paying with cash in hand, snail mailing a paper check, having a debit card on file for recurring and automatic payments, or logging into a site to make one-time payments without talking to an agent.

As a collection agency, rigidly sticking to a select few payment options can significantly inhibit the rate at which you receive payment on a debt. It’s imperative to offer a wide variety of payment methods when planning your collection agency payment strategy.  For instance, adopting electronic payment acceptance can significantly boost payments. To do this, you must have a collection agency merchant account.

Many traditional banks consider the debt collection industry high-risk due to its’ highly regulated nature and excessive chargeback ratios. Being such, they avoid entirely such dealings. However, partnering with an established high-risk payment processor easily allows you to adopt innovative payment methods such as recurring or web payments via debit cards, credit cards, or electronic check. These affordable solutions not only increase a positive consumer experience but also minimizes human error through automation.

Segment Your Debtors

As an agency, you most likely collect on past due receivables for a wide array of medical, automotive, utility, or insurance sectors. Having the same collection agency payment strategy for each industry can be a significant downfall. Consider what makes a debtor in each sector unique and tweak your collection approach to increase the likelihood of receiving timely and consistent payments.

You can also segment debtors by payment history or age of the original past due receivable. Honing in and utilizing different collection methods based on debtor segmentation easily allows your agency to boost payments received quickly and affordably.

Adopt a Robust Collection Software

Using an outdated collection solution or software could easily reason slowed down and hinder your collection efforts. Software technology is ever-evolving and the options available now as compared to even five years ago is significant. Easily pull real-time reports or compliantly send debtor correspondence are just a few options available with modern collection software.

It’s always essential to work with a merchant service provider that can directly integrate into your collection software. This allows for the seamless integration between your CRM and payment portal. No more jumping around to different platforms to take a payment!  Payments process immediately from your collection software, and outstanding balances are automatically updated.

Create Multiple Reminder Channels

Before elaborating on this point, we must advise all collection agencies to be FDCPA compliant. This Act protects debtors from abuse and harassment when collecting debts. Stick to professional hours when sending reminders – whether it be by phone, email, or text. Do not send reminders in the middle of the night or advertise the debt to the debtors’ colleagues and families. There are severe consequences for an agency not within FDCPA compliance.

Develop professional and simple payment reminders. Whether adopting an easy-going phone script for agents or sending a payment reminder email, it’s essential for debtors to feel your agency is there to help them better themselves. Send reminders a couple of days before the payment due date to help the debtor prepare for the financial obligation or make your agency aware if they cannot meet it currently.

Be courteous and polite – always! Most people think of collection agencies as rude and aggressive. If you start the collection process aggressively, then the consumers might get defensive and look for ways to avoid paying you. Remember, the objective for all reminders is to maximize collections and reduce frustrations on both ends.

In conclusion, receiving payments can be a piece of cake as long as you have the correct collection agency payment strategies in place. Hopefully, adopting a few of the suggestions can boost payments received significantly. If you need help boarding a stable and robust collection agency payment strategy – give us a shout! We are always available to help and with over 75 years of experience in the payments realm, rest assured you are in knowledgeable hands!