From IT Web

A recent survey completed by senior managers at South African financial services and retail companies highlights the need for a new and innovative response to the rocketing numbers of indebted consumers.

Current economic conditions combined with increasingly indebted customers mean financial services and utility companies are expecting their consumer debt write-off levels to increase significantly over the next year, a situation which, if left unaddressed, will directly affect their bottom line. The survey highlighted the need for companies to make changes to adapt to their customers’ changing profiles and increasing use of the Internet.

The survey was completed by attendees of recent workshops held in Cape Town and Johannesburg by two pioneering companies in the payments and collections field, who have joined forces to help tackle South Africa’s growing consumer debt problem.

The Emerging Markets Payments Group (EMP) has partnered with CMC (Collections Marketing Centre) to help companies manage customers in arrears and enable individuals to take control of their repayments schedules through the intelligent use of agent-based collections, customer self-service via the Web and mobile channels. This increased control results in improved collections rates, reduced cost to collect and greater customer satisfaction.

The goal of the research was to gauge expert views on the current state of consumer lending and trends regarding the number of consumers experiencing repayment difficulties as well as to understand the industry’s view of techniques and processes being deployed to assist, manage, and collect consumer debt (customer experience management).

Read more at itweb.co.za