September 25, 2023
4 Ways to Improve Your CU’s Collections Process
Debt collection may feel like the elephant in the room (or, in this case, the credit union), but all the same, it’s an integral part of a financial institution’s day-to-day operations and mustn’t be ignored. To keep up with the competition and provide members with the best experience, credit unions need to implement modern collection strategies. Today’s credit unions need technology that quickly adapts to the ever-changing requirements and procedures, can handle increased volumes, mitigate risk, and enhance the productivity of collections staff. If, like many other credit unions, your institution struggles with streamlining the collections process, here are a few improvements to consider.
1. Gain a 360-degree View of Member Debt
To truly understand a member’s financial situation, you need a 360-view of their financial activities and debts. By having access to multiple disparate systems in one place, you can more quickly and easily decide how to approach collections on a by-member basis. When a collector reaches out to a member regarding an initial missed payment, it’s imperative that regular follow-ups are scheduled to avoid further debt.
2. Let Members Take the Reigns
Debt isn’t necessarily something people are proud of or want to discuss in-depth, so why would your members want to talk to the CU about it? By providing a self-service portal, members can work on managing their debt in their own way, and on their schedule. A self-service portal would allow members to view their balance and transaction history, arrange payment plans, use an affordability calculator, or even make a one-off payment. Members will be empowered by the ability to manage their debt on their own terms. Plus, this service frees up valuable collector time!
3. Provide Payment Alternatives
Traditional payment methods, whether it be for debts or going out for dinner, just don’t cut it in today’s transactional world. Expanding your debt payment options to include both individual and recurring card payments will drastically increase your ability to collect debt. With robust security measures in place, credit unions can now offer secure payment options via SMS, email and self-service.
4. Modernize Member Communications
Sorry, but your members don’t want to talk about debt (remember the elephant in the room?), so you must communicate via your members’ communication channel of choice. According to a recent study, email communications are typically opened just 20% of the time, whereas text messages are opened 95% of the time! Implementing a system that allows for email integration as well as individual or batch text messages will drastically increase your response rates.
Now that you’ve uncovered how to improve your collections procedures, it’s time to find out where you can get all these tools, plus some! Discover Rocket Collector – a specialized collection software that provides secure, modern, cost-effective technologies. Rocket Collector software solutions help credit unions reduce costs, collect more, and save time. Their self-service portal also helps to eliminate a lot of the extra work and effort experienced by debt collection staff. Find out how Rocket Collector can help your credit union achieve effectiveness and efficiency in the collections process!