SERIES: Three Firms Offer Three Versions of Online Collection Systems

Online collections systems have been bubbling up for several years as important additions to creditors’ arsenals of user-friendly and convenient solutions for debtors seeking to make payments. This year, several of the providers of these systems announced milestones in the amount of debt collected and in expansion plans. InsideARM decided to profile three of the most prominent firms in this intriguing and growing field, Apollo Enterprise Solutions, Debt Resolve Inc., and Online Resources Corp.

First up is Irvine, Calif.-based Apollo Enterprise Solutions.

Online payment engines are popular with debtors for several different reasons, according to G. Christopher Emory, Apollo president and CEO. Customers may not be available during business hours, may have moved or changed phone numbers or may feel embarrassed about talking to a collector. Emory points out that the firm has some of its best collection results late at night, Sundays and on holidays – times that collectors typically can’t call debtors.

Emory acknowledges that there are those debtors who need to be encouraged by a human collector in order to pay. However, any communications involving a live agent is much more costly to complete than one via an automated system. Collection costs are also increasing because telecommunications, infrastructure (facilities and IT) and mailing costs continue to rise, according to Apollo, hence the popularity of online collection systems.

Apollo claims its online system can lower collection costs by as much as 60 percent when compared to live agent costs. 

The lower cost also can be the difference between the creditor selling off the account for several cents on the dollar and losing its relationship with the customer. Some debtors will be good long-term customers, even if they are currently behind in their payments.

Apollo, which started business earlier this decade, offers a hosted application for Web-based collections and payments that now is processing more than $3.5 million a day in debtor payments for collection firms, banks, payment card companies and several other firms.

Apollo’s Web-Based Debtor Self-Settlement System enables the debtor to pay what he owes based on his ability to pay.

That ability to pay is determined through Apollo’s home-grown decisioning engine, which pulls credit bureau information and makes one or more “intelligent” offers for repayment plans depending on the individual’s financial circumstances and the rules set by the creditor or collector. The Apollo client can tweak those rules at any time and the system and future underlying offers are adjusted in line with the new parameters. If the debtor doesn’t like any of the offers, he has the option to request other arrangements via a mouse click.

According to Emory and Jeff Dickey, Apollo’s chief marketing officer and executive vice president of sales, the decision engine is what separates the Apollo application from other online debt collection systems.

More details on how the decision engine works as well as a look at some of Apollo’s newest capabilities in Friday’s insideARM.com.