Lauren Vanegas

Lauren Vanegas is the Director of Revenue Growth at Payment Savvy, where she helps connect agencies with payment solutions that make collections simpler, faster, and more consumer-friendly. With more than a decade of experience across payments, chargebacks, fraud prevention, and revenue growth, she understands how payment strategy impacts both business outcomes and consumer experience.

Lauren specializes in turning complex topics into clear, practical content that helps accounts receivable management teams improve payment adoption, reduce friction, and create better experiences at the moment that matters most: payment.

That $3.95 Fee: Surcharge or Convenience Fee?

By Lauren Vanegas / September 15, 2026 /

A consumer is looking at a receipt. Their balance was $210.00, but the card was charged $213.95. So they call and ask a reasonable question: what is the extra $3.95?…

AI Terms for Collections: A Plain-English Glossary

By Lauren Vanegas / August 31, 2026 /

I’ve been going through the Brainstorm agenda, deciding which sessions to catch in Denver. I started to notice the same thing kept happening while I read. A word I’d seen…

Visa and Mastercard Interchange Settlement: What the Terms Say

By Lauren Vanegas / August 27, 2026 /

If you saw the Visa and Mastercard settlement headlines in June and came away thinking merchants were about to split a $38 billion payout, or that card acceptance costs were…

Your Payment Channel Mix Is Only Half the Job

By Lauren Vanegas / August 21, 2026 /

Somewhere in the last few years, the industry settled a question it had been arguing about for a decade. Consumers want options. So give them options. Portal. Pay-by-text. IVR. Digital…

Payment Data and AI Tools: What the Published Standards Say

By Lauren Vanegas / August 10, 2026 /

AI is moving quickly across the accounts receivable management industry. According to TransUnion’s latest Debt Collection Industry Report, AI and machine learning adoption among collection organizations increased from 73% in…

The Drop-Off Nobody Measures: Payment Abandonment in Collections

By Lauren Vanegas / August 6, 2026 /

Most agency dashboards can tell you the contact rate. Many can also break down promises to pay by campaign, collector, or time of day. But few can answer two basic…