Previously bundled for clients as part of the company’s CMS outsourcing and advisory services, SmartAgent will now be offered as a standalone SaaS to help clients maximise their collection efficiency through smarter profiling and targeting of borrowers with unsecured debt ranging from personal loans and credit card debt to consumer or motorcycle loans. 

SmartAgent is set to upend what was once a traditional, highly manual debt collection industry by introducing to the industry some of the most advanced innovations such as AI and machine learning capabilities in addition to current technologies that include interactive voice machine recordings (IVMR), predictive auto-dialing systems, SMSs, emails, and communication via social media. Through AI and machine learning capabilities, SmartAgent analyses the behavioural and emotional psychology of borrowers, thereby enabling call center operators to more effectively communicate with different personality types. The aim is to increase not only the likelihood of reaching the borrower, but also the recovery rates for each targeted individual. 

AsiaCollect founder and CEO Tomasz Borowski, said, “The FinTech industry in Emerging Asian markets is replete with some of the most groundbreaking innovations, where banks and digital lenders are continually reinventing faster, more convenient ways for people to obtain access to financing. Innovation in the region’s debt collection sector is less common and still quite basic. We believe we can help change this through SmartAgent whereby lenders have access to highly-automated, predictive tools that enable them to recover debt more efficiently.” 

SmartAgent is designed according to a lender’s loan book size and targeted borrower profiles. Small-scale digital lenders and collection agencies can start with the Basic or Lite version, while full-fledged collection operations, such as those of banks and non-bank financial institutions, with larger and more diverse borrower profiles will benefit from Optimise, Augment or Intel. 

The SmartAgent series features: 

• SmartAgent Basic A fundamental customer relationship management (CRM) system that acts as a first step towards automating debt collections. This SaaS solution is suitable for small-scale digital lenders and collection agencies with up to five call center operators. 

• SmartAgent Lite A step-up from Basic; includes proprietary automated dialer technology and the ability to interact with borrower through a combination of channels such as SMSes, emails, social media, and IVR. Interactions can be viewed real-time on a single dashboard. This version is suitable for medium-size digital lenders and collection agencies with five to 15 call center operators. 

• SmartAgent Optimise Lenders can customise interaction strategies according to borrower’s profile, and type and size of loan. This version is suitable for banks and financial institutions with 15 to 1,000 call center operators. 

• SmartAgent Augment / Intel A cutting-edge, AI-driven debt management system that incorporates behavioural psychology to analyse the psychological and emotional state of a borrower during a call/SMS/email and determine the best method for debt recovery. 24x7 chatbots are also offered to answer borrowers’ queries. The SmartAgent product range will be progressively rolled out across the company’s core markets through the year, starting with Basic and Lite. In addition to offering its SaaS solution, AsiaCollect also provides bespoke advice to clients with nascent in-house collections processes, carries out collections on behalf of clients, and purchases non-performing consumer loan portfolios from clients.