When someone receives a bill reminder, emotion often plays as much of a role as logic. Stress, avoidance, uncertainty, or embarrassment can shape what happens next. That insight is reshaping collections, as AI agents step in to engage borrowers in ways that feel more human and deliver better results.
Emotional and behavioral cues can be leveraged to create more effective collections strategies. Channel and tone play a critical role in shaping how emotion translates into action. A text that reads, “Your bill is late” triggers a very different psychological response than a phone call from an AI agent. A person’s voice feels more social and human, and is often perceived as more empathetic. Combining outreach methods creates a more effective connection with customers.
“Collections systems are built around what’s convenient for the lender, not what’s actually happening to the person trying to pay. The industry has spent decades optimizing the chase and roughly zero minutes on the reason someone came up short, and that’s most true for the people the banking system already treats as an afterthought,” said Robyn Burkinshaw, CEO of Blytz. “So here’s the question nobody asks: what if collections were designed to help people succeed instead of punishing them for failing?”
Understanding the Emotional Response
There’s no doubt about it: Companies that engage customers where they already are, on their phones, see higher response rates. Layering outreach gives borrowers time to process the situation, consider their options, and decide what action to take. That opportunity for reflection is an important part of driving repayment.
“There’s a difference between hearing a voice and getting a text. A voice listens and responds. It can actually have a conversation, and for someone dodging collection attempts because every call has meant getting squeezed, being talked with instead of talked at changes what that moment is,” said Burkinshaw.
Even when a borrower doesn’t answer, the call still creates awareness. Then, when it is immediately followed by a text with a secure link, they have a simple way to take action on their own terms.
“Compare that to what people actually get: a voicemail or a text that boils down to ‘you’re late — pay up.’ That message doesn’t collect anything. It just delivers dread, and now the debt lives in their head, following them around all day with nothing they can do about it at that moment,” continued Burkinshaw. “We built the opposite: the message that explains what happened comes with the fix attached. Tap, resolve, done. Off their plate, out of their head.”
While organizations often focus on timing, accessibility matters even more. As long as a borrower can return to a message later and act, the system works. The most important factor is providing a seamless path to action.
Meeting Users on Their Terms
Effective collection strategies prioritize the borrower’s convenience, not the collector’s. Flexibility and a sense of control are key to increasing repayment rates.
Outreach should be simple: a clear message with a direct link and streamlined authentication. Users shouldn’t need to remember new passwords, download apps, or navigate unnecessary friction.
From there, borrowers should be able to access multiple stored payment methods, choose how to pay, split payments if needed, and control timing.
“Show people the full picture and let them choose. It sounds basic, but collections has never done it,” said Burkinshaw. “When someone can see what’s due, pick what works for the week they’re having, and adjust when life throws a curve, they’re not being chased anymore. They’re managing. And people who are managing, pay.”
AI Is Becoming More Human
AI voice technology continues to improve in its conversational ability. Users can ask questions and express concerns, and AI can respond dynamically, creating a more natural back-and-forth instead of forcing rigid scripts.
Data shows that borrowers respond well to agents that are calm, knowledgeable, and respectful. For many, missing a payment is already uncomfortable—they don’t necessarily want to discuss it with another person. An AI agent can provide a reminder without adding embarrassment or unnecessary pressure.
“When you interact with the chatbot, you find yourself speaking the way you would speak to a friend,” said Christopher Miller, Lead Analyst in Emerging Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research. “The system often does the hard work of translating that into what you really meant. In a search box, you are typically constrained by things like Boolean operators or the correct use of quotations or the fact that if you type in a sentence that’s a question, you get back instances of that question and not an answer to that question. The sort of literalism that characterizes robotic interactions is obliterated by the conversational capabilities that the most up-to-date systems can offer.”
In some cases, AI can deliver more consistent empathy than human collectors. Human agents operate under significant pressure, balancing quotas, high call volumes, and emotionally taxing conversations, all of which can affect tone and interactions.
A well-designed AI agent, by contrast, maintains a consistent, respectful tone across every interaction. This allows human collectors to focus on cases that truly require human judgment and support, creating a better outcome for both staff and customers.
“I live in Seattle and the number of languages spoken in the city is tremendously high compared to some other areas of the country,” said Miller. “Having a call center that can handle all of those with equal aplomb is a real challenge. These AI systems can automatically detect the language being spoken and…begin having the conversation in a language that is most comfortable for the borrower.”
Underbanked and unbanked consumers need flexible payment options, yet many collection systems fail to meet them where they are. Expanding access is critical.
For instance, Blytz provides a network of more than 88,000 retail locations nationwide that accept cash payments and are often closer and more accessible than traditional bank branches. This gives borrowers more time and flexibility to complete payments, especially when digital options aren’t practical.
Final Takeaways
It’s understandable that collections teams design processes around what’s most efficient for their organizations. But that approach doesn’t always produce the best repayment outcomes. The most effective collections strategies make it as easy as possible for borrowers to take action.
“The people we serve aren’t avoiding payments because they don’t care; they’re working two jobs and running a family, and there’s no slack in the day. Collections cost them more time,” said Burkinshaw. “We designed the opposite. Ten minutes back on a Tuesday night doesn’t sound like much until it’s your Tuesday.”
Burkinshaw sees the industry shifting away from systems designed only around what is most efficient for the merchant and toward experiences built around the person making the payment. That more human-centered approach can create better outcomes for both consumers and businesses.
The industry has one explanation for a missed payment: the borrower wasn’t paying attention. That’s almost never the real story, but entire collections departments were built around this theory. The real story is $180 on one card, $95 on another, and $60 in cash from a side job, and no way to get all of it to the person they owe in one shot. The money exists. The path doesn’t.
“If you’re paying attention, your customer is telling you to shut up and take their money, on their terms, where they are, and when they’ve actually got a minute,” added Burkinshaw. “And the merchant couldn’t care less how it comes in, as long as it comes in. So that’s what we built: take the payment however life assembled it, whenever the person can actually deal with it. That’s not just a nicer experience. That’s more money collected.”
