Technology Record - Issue 22: Autumn 2021

135 F I NANC I A L S E R V I C E S date is approaching. If customers do not repay the loan on time, the system can send additional reminders by text, email or push notifications. If the borrower intends to pay, the system can send a payment link, but if they do not respond, the system can initiate an investigation or take other remedial actions. Financial institutions can also create and assign new tasks, such as a follow-up phone call from a collections officer, or set up trig- gers that will initiate a new collection workflow. Banks and credit agencies can expedite loan repayments by migrating to self-service chan- nels, such as banking apps, web pages or digital collection portals, and offering various digital payment options, including bank transfers, dig- ital wallets and mobile payments. Instant and automated reminders delivered through self-service channels lead to near real-time interactions with customers and can prompt them to send payments sooner. To ensure loan collection success, financial institutions must effectively segment their cus- tomers into different ‘debt buckets’ based on their account profile and history, the amount due, and various other factors. VeriLoan’s Collection Engine provides them with access to detailed insights into the customer lifecycle, allowing them to build both a 360-degree overview of individuals and a holistic 720-degree view of the accounts, services, personal preferences and other information about members of their household. The objective is to identify potential customers who develop a long-standing relation- ship with the bank and implement a collection strategy per segment. Otherwise, organisations risk damaging the relationships with customers in high net-worth households who could bring a lifetime of business. Contacting customers via their preferred chan- nel(s) is also crucial. Different customer segments use different channels and tools – those that are tech-savvy tend to read emails frequently and keep smartphones within close reach, whereas others need assistance from customer support agents. VeriLoan’s digital collections solution helps financial institutions to create and execute a personalised communications plan for each tar- geted audience, optimising their communication schedule and tools. VeriLoan’s digital collections module also enables creditors to gain a single consolidated overview of a consumer’s financial situation by combining customer information with open banking data from multiple institutions. This allows them to carry out thorough affordability checks and apply relevant rules across multiple products to ensure loan collection processes comply with regulations and the terms of the cus- tomer agreement. Selim Hasan is sales director for VeriPark UK and Canada