What’s the Difference? Agent-Facing vs. Self-Service Payment Portals

To make ARM (accounts receivable management) entities more efficient, merchant service providers offer various tools to make payments convenient and fast. These solutions fully integrate with your merchant account and facilitate debt collection payment acceptance.

In the debt collection process, there are two parties actively involved – the debtor and the agent. While both parties work together to satisfy a past due receivable, they each have distinct payment portals. If you don’t know the differences between agent-facing vs. self-service gateways – you should!

What are Agent-Facing Payment Portals?

Agent-facing payment portals allow collection agents to process debtor payments over the phone. These compliant gateways allow for various levels of secure user access. This allows each agent a custom set-up. Typical access can include customer account details, balance due, minimum due, and payment history. Most importantly, it will enable an agent to process a CNP payment securely. Agent-facing payment portals even tokenize payment data to store for future, frequent use.

Designed for speed of entry, agent portals must be fully customized to your agency’s needs. This translates to an easy boarding process. If working with an established collection payment processor, such as Payment Savvy, expect direct account manager support walking into the transition and beyond.

What are Self-Service Payment Portals?

Self-service payments portals are secure applications allowing debtors to manage their accounts and set up payment terms independently. These portals do eliminate the dependence on the agent for all things payment-related. This is a good thing! It means your agent representatives can spend their time helping the debtors best suited for their assistance.

Offering self-service e-payment solutions gives others a way to pay without having to speak to someone for guidance. Surprisingly, a large percentage of debtors want this easy and discreet access to their accounts. Self-service portals offer simple and secure payment abilities from literally anywhere with an internet connection. These consumer-savvy portals provide an easy way to set up payment arrangements, update contact information, or review all payment history on their account.

Typically self-service payment portals include web payments, pay by text, and IVR. All can be customized to your agency needs by a reputable debt collections payment processor, such as Payment Savvy.

In conclusion, understanding the difference between these two types of payment portals is crucial for ARM success. Whether an established agency or a start-up, it is never too late to update your payment game. If you require a new payment partner, give Payment Savvy a ring! Since 2010, our innovative and compliant payment solutions have taken agencies of all shapes and sizes to the next level.

We look forward to partnering with you to meet and surpass your agency payment needs!