Category: Machine Learning

The TrueAccord Difference for a Better Self-Serve Consumer Experience

By on October 18th, 2024 in Customer Experience, Industry Insights, Machine Learning, Product and Technology, User Experience

While many financial service institutions can offer basic payment portals, these are often limited when it comes to collecting on delinquent accounts. TrueAccord delivers a robust difference.

Self-serve options should be a key part of any collections operation. In fact, research from McKinsey found that consumers who digitally self-serve resolve their debts at higher rates, are significantly more likely to pay in full, and report higher levels of customer satisfaction than consumers who pay via a collection call.

At TrueAccord, we provide more than a basic payment portal—the power of our self-serve solutions gives your business and your customers better control over the repayment process. TrueAccord’s self-serve portal delivers less friction for delinquent consumers ready to manage their debt, while your organization determines the extent of account details to display, what flexible payment options you’d like to provide, and more.

Let’s look at how TrueAccord provides a superior consumer experience and better bottom-line results for your business through our self-serve portal and solutions.

Why Offer Self-Serve Options on Top of Traditional Collection Methods?

Two of the most prominent use cases for deploying self-serve channels are consumer preference and compliance—and both are success stories for TrueAccord.

The numbers cannot be ignored: 98% of delinquent consumers serviced by TrueAccord resolve their debt without any human interaction, which in turn saves time, resources, and headcount. When asked why they pay bills online, three in 10 consumer survey respondents said they like the flexibility to pay whenever and wherever they want—a convenience traditional call-and-collect methods cannot extend to consumers due to FDCPA’s “Inconvenient Times” rule under Regulation F.

The “Inconvenient Times” rule prohibits calls to consumers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the consumer’s local time zone, because calls made during those times are presumed inconvenient. But self-serve options put the power in the consumer’s hand 24/7. At TrueAccord, 29% of online payments are made outside of traditional FDCPA hours.

Self-Serve Success with Advanced Machine Learning and Omnichannel Engagement

Does your digital debt collection outreach strategy extend beyond email or SMS? A true omnichannel approach goes further to interweave self-serve options—and TrueAccord delivers.

Whether via email, text message, or even physical letters, there are several ways TrueAccord reaches consumers in debt collection and empower them to take charge of their repayment journey through the self-serve portal.

And even if the first engagement attempt is unsuccessful, HeartBeat—TrueAccord’s patented machine learning decision-engine—will adjust communication cadence, content, and even channel dynamically.

Studies show that 54% of consumers expect their financial provider to leverage the data they have about them to personalize their experience, so HeartBeat looks at individual account characteristics—like debt type, creditor, balance size, age of debt, etc.—and selects a message (written by experienced debt collection content creators) based on previous interactions with consumers that have similar characteristics. Thanks to our 35 million consumer interactions collected, HeartBeat drives both the optimal engagement and repayment rates while working within both our client’s guidelines and regulatory requirements.

Want to take an even deeper dive into the consumer experience-side of TrueAccord’s self-serve portal? Download our free eBook for more details and a visual walkthrough of the consumer experience when using our portal here»»

What Do TrueAccord Consumers Have to Say?

Don’t take our word for it—read testimonials and feedback from real consumers who have resolved their delinquent accounts through TrueAccord’s self-serve portal:

  • “This was a great experience for me. The portal was so easy to operate quickly and easily. Thank you.”
  • “Easiest to work with, never had to speak with a representative, was able to fully manage and pay off the account via their online portal.”
  • “I appreciated the zero harassment, easy portal interface. I have been stressed about this for a while, hardship came up, but you made it easy and less stressful to take care of.”
  • “Thank you for being patient and for having a portal that makes it easy to make the payment without filling out a bunch of stuff and having to make an account.”
  • “I appreciate you notifying me via email and having a great online payment portal. It made the process really easy.”

Ready to Get Started?

Empower consumers with a self-serve experience—and collect faster from happier people. Schedule a consultation and get set for a live demo of the TrueAccord self-serve portal»»

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Consumers Prefer Self-Serve Options for Debt Repayment—and Businesses Cannot Afford to Ignore Consumer Preferences

By on October 17th, 2024 in Customer Experience, Machine Learning, Product and Technology, User Experience

Self-service portals are an empowering way to get consumers back on track. In fact, research from McKinsey found that consumers who digitally self-serve resolve their debts at higher rates and are significantly more likely to pay in full. Just take into consideration that surveys have found that four in 10 have used an online portal supplied by a financial institution for bill pay, while only a quarter have paid by phone, mailing a check, or in person.

But along with helping your bottom line, consumers just prefer these kinds of self-serve methods for payments.

Let’s dive even deeper into consumer behavior and preferences when it comes to handling payments and account management via self-service—and why organizations cannot ignore the numbers.

Self-Serve Preferences by the Numbers

The numbers don’t lie—more consumers want and use self-serve online portals for bill pay:

  • 60% of consumers prefer self-service options
  • 54% of surveyed consumers have used an online portal supplied by a biller
  • 47% prefer self-serve portals because of the convenience and flexibility

And businesses cannot afford to ignore these preferences:

  • 81% of customers want more self-serve options
  • 14% of bill-payers who prioritize at least one bill over others identified the ease of making payments as a key factor in that decision-making process
  • According to one study performed by McKinsey, a bank saw a 15% increase of cured accounts after implementing a self-service option
  • 70% of customers expect a company’s website to include a self-service application

Despite this data, a 2023 Transunion report shows that 64% of collections agencies don’t have self-serve capabilities, and simply increasing customer calling won’t improve contact and recovery rates.

But don’t worry—TrueAccord’s self-serve portal has proven to be a win for both businesses and their customers, with 98% of delinquent consumers serviced by TrueAccord resolving their debt without any human interaction.

TrueAccord’s Machine Learning Engine Powers a Better, Compliant Self-Serve Experience

At TrueAccord, we know that every consumer’s delinquency situation is unique and so are their repayment and engagement preferences. So from our initial outreach, we tailor our consumer communications using our patented machine learning engine, HeartBeat, to determine the right message, right channel, and right time to engage.

HeartBeat uses a machine learning model that looks at account properties and chooses a communication (written by experienced debt collection content creators) based on previous interactions with consumers that have similar characteristics.

This is important since studies show that 53% of consumers expect their financial provider to leverage the data they have about them to personalize their experience. From messaging that resonates to flexible payment options within our self-serve portal, TrueAccord uses advanced machine learning to drive the optimal engagement and repayment rates while working within both our client’s guidelines and regulatory requirements.

Our self-serve portal meets collections compliance rules while also meeting a consumer preference at the same time. When asked why they pay bills online, three in 10 survey respondents said they like the flexibility to pay whenever and wherever they want—a convenience traditional call-and-collect methods cannot extend to consumers due to FDCPA’s “Inconvenient Times” rule under Regulation F. The “Inconvenient Times” rule prohibits calls to consumers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the consumer’s local time zone, because calls made during those times are presumed inconvenient. But self-serve options put the power in the consumer’s hand 24/7. At TrueAccord, 29% of online payments are made outside of traditional FDCPA hours.

By following all compliance regulations and your business’s guidelines, our consumer outreach aims to drive the most engagement and commitment to repayment through the self-serve portal.

What Consumers Have to Say About TrueAccord’s Self-Serve Portal

We’ve looked at a lot of statistics supporting consumers’ preference for self-serve options, but let’s hear from real consumers that have used TrueAccord’s portal:

  • “This was a great experience for me. The portal was so easy to operate quickly and easily. Thank you.”
  • “Easiest to work with, never had to speak with a representative, was able to fully manage and pay off the account via their online portal.”

“I appreciated the zero harassment, easy portal interface. I have been stressed about this for a while, hardship came up, but you made it easy and less stressful to take care of.”

  • “Thank you for being patient and for having a portal that makes it easy to make the payment without filling out a bunch of stuff and having to make an account.”
  • “I appreciate you notifying me via email and having a great online payment portal. It made the process really easy.”

And put quite simply, our consumers “love this online payment portal.”

Want to take a peek at TrueAccord’s Self-Serve Portal? Download our free eBook for more details and a visual walkthrough of the consumer experience when using our portal here»»

Ready to see a demo in action and learn more about all of TrueAccord’s omnichannel, machine-learning powered collections? Schedule a consultation today»»

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The Low Friction Way For Consumers to Repay: Self-Serve Options for Debt Collection

By on October 7th, 2024 in Compliance, Customer Experience, Industry Insights, Machine Learning, Product and Technology, User Experience

After months of inflation woes, both economists and consumers are starting to see a glimpse of optimism.In the first interest rate cut since the early days of the Covid pandemic, the Federal Reserve announced in September 2024 that it is slicing half a percentage point off benchmark rates. So it’s not surprising that Americans are getting more confident that inflation is cooling off, but optimism for the U.S. economy doesn’t extend to personal finances—consumer expectations for going delinquent on their debt in the next three months hit their highest level since the start of the pandemic.

And the share of severely delinquent credit card debt rose to 10.7% during the first quarter of 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, compared to just 8.2% of credit card debt more than 90 days overdue in 2023.

But better customer engagement strategies can help businesses recover more debt—and self-serve portals are an empowering way to get consumers back on track.

What is a “self-serve portal” in financial services and collections?

In the financial services sector, a self-service or self-serve portal is a secure online platform or application designed to empower consumers to make payments and, ideally, allow them to manage their accounts and payment terms independently (although not all portals offer the same functionality). Self-serve portals aim to grant customers the ability to manage their finances without the help of a service representative.

For both businesses and consumers, reducing the need to engage directly with human agents to make payments or access account information saves time and resources. Overall, these self-service solutions represent a shift towards greater consumer control over their financial health, providing an efficient way for individuals to address and manage their finances—and debts specifically—on their own terms.

What are the benefits of offering self-service options in debt collection?

Similar to any other financial institution or ecommerce business, self-service portals in collections intend to foster a sense of autonomy for the delinquent consumer to manage their debt without the pressure or inconvenience of interacting with a call center agent. Besides creating a more preferred experience for the consumer, organizations needing to recoup funds will reap several benefits by providing self-serve options as well:

Cost Savings:
In today’s digital world, call centers or full-time employees (FTEs) dedicated to late-stage collections have proven to be an expensive and less effective path for debt recovery. Employees often spend a significant amount of time arranging repayment plans, providing account details, and processing payments—and that’s if the consumer actually answers the collector’s call. So when it comes to cost savings, just consider this: the average cost of a contact center call is $8.01, which is 80x more expensive than a self-service interaction.

Scalability:
Unlike human agents who can physically only make a certain number of calls per day and are legally only allowed to call consumers during convenient hours (as defined by Regulation F), self-serve portals are available to consumers 24/7. These platforms can handle any number of collection cases at any time of day without compromising user experience, making it easy to scale your capacity as delinquency volumes rise—no additional headcount required.

Compliance:
Non-compliance can be costly in the collection landscape heavily regulated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Whether partnering with a third party or training FTEs, the risk of human error resulting in compliance violations is easily mitigated with digital self-serve solutions that have compliance controls built in—but this does require due diligence on the business or lenders’ part to ask and verify that the solution is keeping up with all necessary regulation and industry security standards.

Frictionless Consumer Experience:
Surveys have found that consumers both prefer and want more self-serve options to repay, but that is just the tip of the iceberg of what consumer preferences can mean for your recovery and resolution rates. Research from McKinsey found consumers who digitally self-serve (versus consumers who pay via a collection call):

  • Resolve their debts at higher rates 
  • Significantly more likely to pay in full 
  • Report higher levels of customer satisfaction

Proven Success with TrueAccord’s Self-Serve Portal

While many financial service institutions already offer basic payment portals, these are often limited when it comes to collecting on delinquent accounts. And traditional call centers typically cannot provide self-serve options, even if they can offer other digital options like email or SMS for consumer outreach.

But TrueAccord provides more than a simple payment portal—the power of our self-serve solutions gives your business and your consumers better control over the repayment process for better results.

TrueAccord delivers less friction and frustration for delinquent consumers ready to manage their debt, while your organization determines the extent of account details to display, what flexible payment options you’d like to provide, and more.

In fact, 98% of delinquent consumers serviced by TrueAccord resolve their debt without any human interaction, with 29% of online payments made outside of traditional FDCPA hours—saving time, resources, and headcount while meeting consumer preferences compliantly under Reg F’s inconvenient time rule and beyond.

Want to take a peek at TrueAccord’s Self-Serve Portal? Download our free eBook for more details and a visual walkthrough of the consumer experience when using our portal here»»

Ready to see a demo in action and learn more about all of TrueAccord’s omnichannel, machine-learning powered collections? Schedule a consultation today»»

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Understanding the Consumer Spending Split and How to Recover More Across the Divide

By on July 24th, 2024 in Customer Experience, Industry Insights, Machine Learning, User Experience

It’s becoming a familiar headline: US household debt keeps climbing and delinquency rates keep rising. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, household debt rose to $17.69 trillion in the first quarter of 2024. The report showed 6.9% of credit card debt transitioned to serious delinquency in the first quarter, with approximately 4.8% of consumers holding some debt in third-party collections.

Overall, 77% of American households have at least some type of debt, but that debt isn’t evenly distributed—and consumer spending habits can vary just as much depending on income level.

Understanding the split in consumer spending and its impact on household debt—and in turn, collections—is critical for today’s debt recovery strategies. While across the board debt may be climbing and delinquencies rising, your consumer engagement approach and communications to secure repayment cannot be one-size-fits-all for all consumers.

What is the Consumer Spending Divide?

Spending divide. Split-spending patterns. A tale of two consumers. Two-speed economy…all of these naming conventions describe the widening gap between income levels, spending habits, and inevitably types of debt accumulated.

While the last few years showed consistent spending rates across all income groups as a result of pandemic-era benefits, savings surplus, and wage growth, this is no longer the case. More recent data has revealed that as pandemic savings declined at the same time as both inflation and interest rates increased, lower-income households are becoming more financially strained while higher-income households are mostly unaffected.

Today, we see more affluent consumers continue to spend at consistent rates, while more middle- and lower-income consumers’ personal disposable income has not kept pace with rising prices and as a result, these households have become more indebted.

Even when there is a spending uptick in the lower-income sector, as seen in April 2024, what these consumers are spending on and how they are paying for it is still quite different from their higher-income counterparts. These spending patterns show that lower-earning consumers are putting more everyday bills on credit cards—and in turn, credit card delinquencies and charge-offs for these consumers are returning to their pre-pandemic levels faster than other groups.

Not surprisingly, the ripple effect of this deepening income-level divide impacts consumer sentiment along with spending. While surveys from June 2023 had shown similar levels of consumer sentiment between bottom-third earners and top-level earners, today higher-income households report a much more positive outlook compared to many lower earners who report feeling less confident in their own household finances.

And yet, 40% of consumers (across the divide) have expressed an intent to splurge over the summer months—so what different variations of delinquencies can we expect between the split of spenders? And how can businesses differentiate their approach to collections to more effectively recover debt faster?

How Does the Divide Impact Delinquencies?

Let’s start with the first question: what different types of debt are each income sector accumulating today?

Higher-income consumers: non-essentials and luxuries like travel, vacations, hotels, resorts, amusement parks
Surveys show that higher-income households are more optimistic about their ability to take trips and spend on luxuries like full-service hotels and resorts—in fact, 74% of respondents with annual household incomes of $100,000 or more plan to take a summer vacation and, across income levels, 36% anticipate taking on debt to pay for it.

We can even put a microscope to this ‘YOLO’ attitude towards spending on experiences by looking at Disney amusement parks. Surveys find:

  • 45% of parents take on debt for Disney vacations
  • $1,983 is the average amount of debt for those parents
  • 75% report that their Disney trip did or would take six months or less to pay off
  • Total respondents who went into debt during a Disney trip also increased 33% from a 2022 survey

Lower-income consumers: essentials like rent, utilities, everyday necessities
Conversely, the delinquencies for lower-income households start at home: 25% of low-income renters (defined by a Community Solutions survey as those with an annual income of less than $50,000) are 4-7 months behind on rent. And the New York Fed reported 57% of households are rent burdened in low-income areas, where they pay more than 30% of their monthly income on rent.

Even with wage gains over the last several years, 40% of consumers say they earn insufficient incomes and struggle to keep up with inflation and interest rates. And with approximately 75% of low-income households reporting living paycheck-to-paycheck, to bridge the gap there is an increasing reliance on credit cards to cover bills, so it is not surprising these consumers are falling behind on their credit card payments.

The spending divide leads to a divide on what consumers are going into delinquency for—so what’s the best way to engage and secure repayment when consumers’ financial situations and outlooks are so split?

How Can You Recover More Across Each Side of the Divide?

Regardless of where your customers fall in the divide, businesses must face facts: overall delinquent balances increased by 3.46% in June 2024 and then again in July by 0.51%. This paired with the fact that 1.11% of consumer accounts rolled into higher stages of delinquency marks an uptick in the roll rate in June compared to the improvement (decreases) seen in the past several months.

But with delinquency rates continuing to rise, it’s important to tailor your recovery approach to each consumer you seek to collect from with customized, omnichannel engagement.

A successful collections strategy goes beyond the simplified “tale of two consumers” and actually engages with individuals uniquely with the right message delivered through the right channel at the right time for them.

While getting payment reminders is beneficial for consumers across the divide, hovering between roughly 40% to 50% from the under $50,000 cohort all the way to the $100,000 and above bracket, the preference for how these reminders are sent varies across all consumers:

  • 36% prefer text
  • 32% prefer email
  • 4% prefer a paper letter mailed
  • 1% prefer receiving a phone call

But for most businesses, executing an advanced outreach strategy can be a major undertaking, especially for those used to relying on traditional call-and-collect methods. Partnering with TrueAccord can alleviate the potential strain on resources and simultaneously help you collect more faster.

TrueAccord not only engages your delinquent customers through this proven effective omnichannel approach, but also leverages our patented machine learning engine, HeartBeat, to effectively ​​reach out to every account placed with a goal of getting them to repay on their own terms when they are ready. HeartBeat dynamically optimizes the next best touchpoint for every consumer in real-time, including the content, timing, and channel for each customer.

No matter where your customers fall in the consumer spending divide, TrueAccord has the right message, right channel, and right timing to recover more across the board.

Ready to get started? Schedule a consultation today»»

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Developing with Empathy: TrueAccord’s Mission-Driven Approach

By on December 21st, 2022 in Customer Experience, Industry Insights, Machine Learning, Product and Technology, User Experience
Developing with Empathy

When most people think of debt collection, the word “empathy” rarely comes to mind. As a mission-driven company, we at TrueAccord, are trying to change that. We know life happens and financial anxiety has become more common than ever—especially when it comes to dealing with debt. By understanding and anticipating a customer’s needs, TrueAccord takes an empathetic approach which enables us to tailor our message and help the consumer’s journey back to financial health. With this in mind, it’s crucial for us to understand how a consumer might feel when they fall into debt.

Understanding and Engaging with the Customer

Life happens and so do delinquencies. So far, most fintechs have been good at focusing on customer experience by investing in user research and making sure that their products resonate with their target audience. However, a customer’s situation can change at the drop of a hat and with it their financial status, priorities, and motivations. When a customer, whom you thought you knew well, has an account that goes delinquent, they essentially become a stranger. Now a whole new approach is required in order to engage with this consumer. 

In order to adopt the right approach to engage a delinquent account, the first thing we have to figure out is who the customer is. What are their needs? What problems do they have? Do they have special circumstances? Not only is every customer different, but every interaction you may have with that customer could be different depending on what life situation they find themselves in. So it is very important to have a broad communication strategy and be ready to meet the customer when and where they are ready to engage. This means don’t limit communication channels and have options that consumers can explore, evaluate, and select on their own time.

Leveraging Digital-First Channels

Most consumers prefer using digital channels over talking on the phone with research showing 94% of unidentified calls going unanswered. Digital channels allow people to choose when to respond without being put on the spot. 

But starting a digital-first approach is not easy—it’s not just about sending emails or SMS messages to consumers. At TrueAccord we try to find the right communication channel to use for a specific consumer. We might start with a combination of email and SMS but once we get more engagement with one or the other, we’ll primarily focus on using the channel the customer engaged in. 

We make sure that they’re aware of their debt and their options from obtaining more information, disputing, or evaluating payment plans all through a portal where the consumer is in control.. 

For consumers who do choose to set up a payment plan, we work to make sure that they have everything they need to be successful in their plan – whether that means changing the plan, the payment date, or amount, we monitor and provide content so that the consumer can effectively stay in control of their plan through successful completion – putting the consumer back in control of their own financial health while at the same time recovering for the creditor.

Using Data for a Personalized, Empathetic Experience

To truly engage consumers a successful digital strategy should go beyond a simple campaign that pushes out emails to all of your consumers at the same time every week or every other week with a generic message. Not only do you have to overcome the inboxing challenge to avoid spam filters, you need to deliver the communication at the optimal time for the consumer to open the message. And you have to have the right message, a personalized message that causes the consumer to act – to communicate back to you their intentions related to the account (dispute, full payment, payment plan, hardship, etc.). 

But how do you personalize? 

This is where it’s vital to leverage an understanding of your consumers. This can be done with experimentation in A/B testing consumer research, and machine learning. A/B testing and consumer research help identify what resonates with consumers and what does not. Machine learning allows personalization at scale. At TrueAccord, we rely on machine learning to continuously improve our models. We can see what digital channels, timing, and messaging each individual consumer responds best to and tailor those specific preferences to the individual journey for each consumer. We also make sure that compliance is included from the start as it needs to be regulated throughout. 

For example, the best payment option is different for everyone. We provide a lot of flexibility, but we also know that showing them that flexibility up front, something that they can actually afford, will engage the customer to take the next step. Depending on the size and the age of the debt, we may show a couple of payment plans that we believe will be the most attractive to that customer along with the option to build their own payment plan. Once a customer sets up their payment plan, we send reminders when payment is due. We also have models that predict if a consumer is likely to break their payment plan based on past behavior and offer options to help keep them on track, like pushing the payment if they’re unable to pay on that date (because we understand that life happens, just like delinquencies). And as they make their payments, we celebrate their progress with them and acknowledge that they are making an effort to improve their financial situation!

The End-Product:

TrueAccord has worked with over 20 million consumers and sends over one million communications per day. For each of those communications, we’re making decisions on what to send, how to send it, and when to send it all in accordance with the legal and regulatory compliance obligations. We then use that data to continuously optimize and improve our communication method for each consumer. We’ve learned that if you’re building for the downtimes, it’s critical to realize that debt collection is a part of a consumer financial service. While our creditors are our clients, if we do what is right for the consumer (our clients’ customers), they are more likely to pay back to those creditors. A better consumer experience leads to better outcomes for all. 

By incorporating an empathetic approach to debt collections, TrueAccord is able to collect more money while helping consumers with their financial situation.

Want to learn more about how your business can integrate more empathy into your collections communications? Schedule a consultation today!

TrueAccord Digitally Serves 20 Million Consumers on Path to Financial Health

By on July 12th, 2022 in Company News, Customer Experience, Machine Learning, Product and Technology

With more than 20 million consumer accounts serviced through intelligent, digital-first collections products, results show better repayment and happier customers than “call to collect” agencies

LENEXA, Kan., July 12, 2022 — TrueAccord Corp, a debt collection company using machine learning-powered digital recovery solutions, today announced that it has served more than 20 million customers in debt with a digital-first experience. TrueAccord’s customer-centric approach and commitment to creating a positive consumer experience is reflected in its 4.7 Google customer satisfaction rating, customer feedback, and an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

TrueAccord’s collection solutions harness machine learning and digital-first communications to deliver a personalized, consumer-friendly experience for those in debt. As is the nature of machine learning, the system dynamically analyzes and refines the approach used for each customer based on their interactions combined with years of previous engagement data in order to deliver the most effective communication treatment. The patented system, HeartBeat, which is now 20 million customer engagement interactions strong since its 2013 inception, continues to optimize with each new customer interaction.

“Machine learning is only as good as its data sources, and with more than 20 million accounts’ worth of engagement data that informs the HeartBeat system, we’re confident that the experiences being delivered are as streamlined and as aligned to consumer preferences as possible,” said Mark Ravanesi, CEO of TrueAccord Corp. “As a mission-driven company, we prioritize creating better experiences for consumers in debt, and based on our high customer satisfaction and repayment rates, it looks like we’re making significant progress.”

Powered by TrueAccord’s industry-leading tech stack, the product suite includes Retain, a client-branded early-stage consumer engagement platform for managing pre-charge off debt, and Recover, a full-service debt collection solution. Key benefits of both products include a simple, intuitive and effortless-to-use digital platform leading to great user experience, constant A/B testing and optimization to reduce friction and boost conversion rate, infinite scalability, and second-to-none channel deliverability. 

While holding customer experience as a priority, TrueAccord products continue to prove more effective than competitors, as evidenced by client case studies showing 25-35% better performance on accounts using Recover when compared to those placed with traditional agencies, and recovering $17 million in delinquent bills with a 44% paid in full rate using Retain.

To learn more about TrueAccord and its digital-first recovery solutions, visit www.TrueAccord.com and follow on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About TrueAccord

TrueAccord is the intelligent, digital-first collection and recovery company that leaders across industries trust to drive breakthrough results while delivering a superior consumer experience. TrueAccord pioneered the industry’s only adaptive intelligence: a patented machine learning engine, powered by engagement data from over 20 million consumer journeys, that dynamically personalizes every facet of the consumer experience – from channel to message to plan type and more – in real-time. Combined with code-based compliance and a self-serve digital experience, TrueAccord delivers liquidation and recovery rates 50-80% higher than industry benchmarks. The TrueAccord product suite includes Retain, an early-stage recovery solution, and Recover, a full-service debt collection platform.

Elevate Your Collection Strategy with Machine Learning and HeartBeat

By on July 7th, 2022 in Industry Insights, Machine Learning, Product and Technology

Debt recovery and collection look quite different in 2022 than it did ten, five, even just a year ago: new channels to reach consumers, larger data sets to analyze, complex regulations that can vary state by state, and so much more.

So when it comes to deciding the best way to engage consumers and effectively recover debt, has your strategy evolved to keep up? Machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science—these terms are thrown around a lot, and for good reason.

But how does it tactically improve the experience for both lenders and members?

Decoding Machine Learning for Debt Collection and Recovery

To help decipher real differences between a machine learning strategy versus the traditional call-and-collect, we have designed a highly visual guide to cut through the jargon and help you understand the basics of machine learning in collections. Decoding Machine Learning for Debt Recovery and Collection provides straightforward definitions, clear diagrams, and bottom line benefits make this eBook your at-a-glance guide to machine learning in debt collection.

Download your complimentary copy of the new eBook Decoding Machine Learning for Debt Recovery and Collection here»

From delivering a better experience in-line with what consumers expect from businesses to streamline communications, machine learning has gone from a “nice to have” to a “must have” for collection efforts.

Upgrade Debt Recovery & Collection With HeartBeat

Although this type of technology is a step in the right direction, it’s only one step forward—your debt collection strategy can go even further with TrueAccord’s patented decision engine, HeartBeat.

Integrating machine learning into your practice is certainly important—but how does this technology know what the best choice is to engage all of your delinquent accounts now and in the future?

Say hello to HeartBeat, our intelligent decision engine, and say goodbye to missed debt recovery opportunities left on the table by basic machine learning models. See exactly how HeartBeat upgrades your collection strategy in our new eBook, Upgrade Debt Recovery & Collection With HeartBeat—the more in-depth companion piece to our visual guide to machine learning (detailed above).

While HeartBeat utilizes machine learning in its decision-making process, it is not limited to it. This decision engine is continuously evaluated for performance, and adjusted to align with the current economic situation, changes in consumer behavior, and updates to compliance rules.

If you are switching from a more traditional outbound approach then a basic machine learning model can provide a short-term lift in recovery rates, but will hit a dead end when it comes to optimizing, adapting, and improving over time. HeartBeat is set up for the long game and recovers more because of it.

Download your complimentary copy of the new eBook Upgrade Debt Recovery & Collection With HeartBeat to learn how to start recovering more»

Elevate Engagement, Recover More

Together, these two companion eBooks, Decoding Machine Learning for Debt Recovery & Collection and Upgrade Debt Recovery & Collection With HeartBeat, serve to be the ideal introduction into machine learning in debt collection and then a deeper look beyond the basics to see what even more advanced technology can do for your recovery operation.

Discover how an intelligent, digital-first collection strategy drives overall improved performance, better member experience, and the more effective recovery of delinquent funds—without implementing more manual processes or adding headcount to your team.

Schedule a consultation today with one of our experts today to learn more about how you can elevate your debt collection practice today.

Bridging the Gap Between Machine Learning and Human Behavior with HeartBeat

By on June 27th, 2022 in Industry Insights, Machine Learning, Product and Technology

When it comes to engaging consumers in debt collection, behavioral science helps us to understand and respond to an individual’s situation, motivations, and contact preferences.

For example, we know that consumers don’t like being called by debt collectors. With that knowledge, behavioral science then helps us determine the optimal way to meet consumers where they are, contact them when they want by using their preferred channels, and lastly sending a message that resonates with them enough to engage.

It starts with a lot of engagement data. At TrueAccord, we’ve been collecting data about how consumers engage with us for nearly 10 years to determine the optimal ways to engage with consumers, and then use that data to generate a special collections experience just for them – from best time, best channel, and best language to engage that individual consumer.

Take content for example, each person is unique and different people respond differently to different communications. They are driven to action by different words and are convinced for different reasons. In writing content, it’s our goal to write content that responds to these individual needs.

There are 2 things we consider when writing content for collection communications: content type and content dimensions.

  • Content type is what we send based on a user’s actions. As an example, following up on a page view—if a consumer is viewing a payment plan, disputing a debt, or thinking about unsubscribing but drops off the page, we will try sending a follow up email or SMS with other plan options, information about the account, a description of how to unsubscribe or dispute for them to view. We will continue to try different content types until we find the right one that engages the consumer.
  • Content dimensions are more established behavioral science frameworks used to ensure that our communications vary in style and tone so that we are speaking to consumers in a unique way that will motivate them to engage. Everyone responds to different motivations so we use a variety of different frameworks until we find the one that connects with the individual

Each piece of content is tagged depending on the content type and dimensions so it can be easily used by HeartBeat, our powerful and intelligent patented-machine learning engine. Good content will lend itself well to automated, data-driven prioritization done by HeartBeat to present customers with the best possible content item at each given time.

How can technology personalize the debt collection experience?

By using technology and behavioral science to determine the best way to communicate with consumers, we are able to personalize each user’s unique experience. Our patented machine learning engine mentioned above, HeartBeat, allows us to do just that. HeartBeat collects engagement data and then, after analyzing multiple solutions, suggests the best possible treatment depending on the individual and their engagement. HeartBeat also uses a real-time feedback loop so the technology can adapt to a consumer’s engagement right as it happens.

Instead of relying on data like age and location, HeartBeat uses engagement data to personalize the communication process. The engagement data is collected every time a consumer engages in a certain way, whether it’s clicking on an email or SMS, visiting a webpage, and/or viewing payment plan options. Our system learns what motivates the consumer and responds with content or payment options that will resonate with them.

For example, if the consumer clicks on an email that uses likable content mentioning “short term cash flow,” our system may determine to send a friendly follow up email letting them know that they can set up a payment plan that starts on a later date when they’ll have the ability to make a payment. We know what motivates an individual may change from day to day depending on their circumstances, so we treat them based on their active engagement and behavior with our system rather than construct a specific profile for each consumer and treat them based on that basic account profile.

By combining behavioral science and machine learning, the best-possible payment options are offered to customers based on their debt situation, previous communication, and engagement data. Whether their actions show that they would benefit from a long-term payment plan, or if it shows that they’d prefer to pay in full, HeartBeat will suggest the best option for that customer. The power of using behavioral science and machine learning is anticipating the needs and preferences of our customers and using that to help them as seamlessly as possible.

Overall, there is no one way of communicating that will work for everyone across all situations, and tailoring communication and collection strategy to align with consumer preferences is better for both the consumer, lenders, and our business. That’s why building the bridge between machine learning and human behavior is essential.

Discover how HeartBeat can help humanize your collection process in our new in-depth eBook, Upgrade Debt Recovery & Collection With HeartBeat, available for download here»

Learn more about behavioral science from TrueAccord’s User Experience Director, Shannon Brown in a new interview in Collector Magazine here»

Technology in Collection: 21 Must-Know Buzzwords

By on May 24th, 2022 in Industry Insights, Machine Learning, Product and Technology

Your Guide to Key Terms for Today’s Debt Recovery Strategy

Reaching consumers today requires a more sophisticated process than simply dialing the phone or sending a generic email, especially when it comes to debt recovery and collection. But reviewing potential strategies can often leave you lost in a sea full of acronyms and buzzwords. Between terms like AI, machine learning, and data science, it can be difficult to keep up with the different definitions—and understand how they impact your business and bottom line.

To help keep this word salad straight, we’ve compiled a glossary of helpful terms, definitions, and examples to help differentiate them:

  • Accounts per employee (APE), account to collector ratio (ACR): The number of delinquent accounts that can be serviced by an individual recovery agent – often used to measure cost effectiveness.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI is a blanket term describing a range of computer science capabilities designed to perform tasks typically associated with human beings. Machine learning (ML) is a subset of AI. Through AI, processes like debt collection can become more efficient by developing better outreach and deployment strategies.
  • Big Data: This term means larger, more complex data sets . Big data can save collectors a lot of time by using many variables for analytics-based customer segmentation, insert, insert..
  • Coverage: The percentage of users for whom organizations have digital contact information, such as email addresses or phone numbers.
  • Customer Retention Rate: Measures the total number of customers that a company keeps over time. It’s usually a percentage of a company’s current customers and their loyalty over that time frame.
  • Data Science: ‍A cross-discipline combination of computer science, statistics, modeling, and AI that focuses on utilizing as much as it can from data-rich environments. Data science (which includes machine learning and AI) requires massive amounts of data from various sources (customer features such as debt information or engagement activity) in order to build the models to make intelligent business decisions.
  • Deep Learning (DL): A subset of machine learning. Deep learning controls many AI applications and services and improves automation, performing analytical tasks with human intervention.
  • Delinquency rate: The total dollars that are in delinquency (starting as soon as a borrower misses as a payment on a loan) as a percentage of total outstanding loans.
  • Deliverability: The percentage of digital messages that are actually reaching consumers (e.g., as opposed to ending up in email spam filters).
  • Digital engagement metrics: A range of KPIs that capture how effectively digital channels are reaching and engaging consumers.
  • Digital opt-in: The percentage of users who have indicated their preference to receive digital communications in a particular channel.
  • Efficiency: Measures a company’s ability to use its resources efficiently. These metrics or ratios are at times viewed as measures of management effectiveness.
  • Machine Learning (ML): Technology that uses algorithmic modeling techniques to observe patterns and trends, reassessing the best approach to achieve a goal, and adapting behavior accordingly. It continuously, automatically learns and improves at a massive scale as more data is observed. With the help of machine learning, companies can make sense of all their data and take on new approaches to debt collection processes from better customer experience to more efficient delinquent fund recovery.
  • Net loss rate: The total percentage of loan dollars that get charged off (written off as a loss).
  • Open rate, clickthrough rate: The percentage of users who are actually opening and clicking digital communications.
  • Predictive Analytics: Predicting outcomes is one specific application of machine learning. It allows companies to predict which accounts are more likely to pay sooner and allows them to better plan operations accordingly.
  • Promise to pay kept rate: The percentage of delinquent accounts that maintain a stated commitment to pay.
  • Promise to pay rate: The percentage of delinquent accounts that make a verbal or digital commitment to pay.
  • Right party contact rate: The rate at which a collections team is able to establish contact with the consumer associated with a delinquent account.
  • Roll rate: The percentage of delinquent dollars that “roll” from one delinquency bucket (e.g., 60 days past due) to the next (e.g., 90 days past due) over a given timeframe.
  • SMS: An acronym that stands for “Short Message Service” referring to text messages on cellular devices.

For more information on how to get started integrating innovative technologies into your debt recovery strategy, schedule a consultation today.

TrueAccord Announces Results Confirming Effectiveness of Digital-First Retain Product for Early-Stage Delinquencies

By on January 25th, 2022 in Company News, Machine Learning, Product and Technology

With more than 1 million consumer accounts now managed through the intelligent, client-branded product, results show 40% more effective than leading “call and collect” vendors

LENEXA, Kan., Jan. 25, 2022 — TrueAccord Corporation, a debt collection company offering machine learning-powered digital recovery solutions, today announced results following the September 2021 rollout of Retain, the client-branded product that addresses early-stage recovery challenges for organizations with customers with delinquent accounts. TrueAccord Retain is now being used by creditors to manage more than 1 million consumer accounts and has shown to be 40 percent more effective at repayment than traditional “call and collect” debt collection vendors. 

TrueAccord Retain, which harnesses digital technology and machine learning to deliver a personalized, effective early-stage recovery strategy, significantly outperformed three traditional “call and collect” agencies across several of an anonymous client’s portfolios. Relative to the best-performing “call and collect” vendor for each product portfolio, TrueAccord Retain drove a 24 percent improvement in roll rate, a 28 percent improvement in early-stage gross flow through rate and a 40 percent improvement in late-stage gross flow through rate*.  

“With more than 1 million consumer accounts now being managed through Retain, we’re able to see the robust results of the product on improving early-stage delinquencies for our clients,” said Mark Ravanesi, CEO of TrueAccord Corp. “The results of our client’s evaluation were unambiguous: Retain’s machine learning-powered, digital-first approach resonated with consumers and drove significant growth for the early-stage recovery business. With a lingering worker shortage, especially in the call center space, we expect these performance numbers to continue to grow as more consumers are brought into the Retain ecosystem in 2022.”

Powered by TrueAccord’s industry-leading tech stack, key benefits of Retain include a simple, intuitive and effortless-to-use digital platform leading to great user experience, constant A/B testing and optimization to reduce friction and boost conversion rate, infinite scalability, and second-to-none channel deliverability. Retain implements e-commerce-based innovations like the focus on digital experience and outreach, machine learning-based personalization, and deliverability at massive scale for early-stage use. 

To learn more about TrueAccord and its digital-first recovery solutions, visit www.TrueAccord.com and follow @TrueAccord on Twitter and LinkedIn.

*This data comes from an anonymous client’s evaluation of performance of different delinquency  approaches  side-by-side. The client randomly assigned credit and retail card accounts to TrueAccord Retain and the other vendors. Key success metrics included roll rate, or the percentage of dollars that became progressively delinquent, and gross flow through rate, or the percentage of dollars that flowed from one delinquency category across multiple subsequent categories.

About TrueAccord

TrueAccord is the intelligent, digital-first collection and recovery company that leaders across industries trust to drive breakthrough results while delivering a superior consumer experience. TrueAccord pioneered the industry’s only adaptive intelligence: a patented machine learning engine, powered by engagement data from over 16 million consumer journeys, that dynamically personalizes every facet of the consumer experience – from channel to message to plan type and more – in real-time. Combined with code-based compliance and a self-serve digital experience, TrueAccord delivers liquidation and recovery rates 50-80% higher than industry benchmarks. The TrueAccord product suite includes Retain, an early-stage recovery solution, and Recover, a full-service debt collection platform.