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Leveraging Technology in Credit Collection: Maximize Efficiency and Results

Leveraging Technology in Credit Collection: Make Every Invoice Work Harder

Why this matters now

Across Europe, late payments remain common, and bad debts are on the rise. Multiple industry surveys indicate that buyer liquidity is a primary cause—so even well-run finance teams feel the pressure. When less cash comes in, your job is simple: remove friction for customers who want to pay and focus effort where it moves the most cash. External benchmarks help: recent barometers from Atradius and Intrum both show elevated overdue levels and steady 31–60 day terms across many sectors. Those are the conditions your process must beat, not just meet.
External sources: Atradius Payment Practices Barometer • Intrum European Payment Report

The lever from our whitepaper

Our whitepaper, The Seven Pillars for Unlocking Cash Flow, shows that teams cut DSO and cost to collect when they connect four things in one flow: automation, personalized collections, smart payment processing, and risk-aware decisions. The shift is practical: less manual chasing, clearer next steps, and consistent policy you can explain. Put simply—you free cash without adding headcount.

Make work move itself

Manual follow-ups burn time and create inconsistent outcomes. Let journeys handle the routine so people handle the exceptions.

What good looks like

  • Rule-based steps for first/second/final reminders and pre-legal, with timing tied to risk bands.

  • Promises-to-pay pause escalation until the agreed date; if a promise breaks, the journey resumes automatically.

  • Disputes route to the right owner on day one with clear SLAs.

Result you’ll see
Fewer touches per account, faster time to cash, cleaner audit trails.

Put everything in one place

Scattered email threads, spreadsheets, and PDFs slow decisions. A single debtor view should join internal payment behavior with external ratings (e.g., D&B through Altares), open issues, and promise history.

What good looks like

  • A portfolio-percentile Payment Behavior Score beside PAYDEX/failure risk and a credit-limit suggestion.

  • Clickable history: invoices, arrangements, reversals, prior promises.

  • One action bar: call, message, hold, adjust exposure—without leaving the screen.

Result you’ll see
Fewer context switches, fewer mistakes, and faster, more confident decisions.

Write letters people will answer

Long, legalistic messages delay payment. Short, respectful notes win—especially when cash is tight across your customer base (a trend both Atradius and Intrum flag).

What good looks like

  • First two lines state invoice, amount, due date.

  • One primary action: pay now, propose a plan, or flag a dispute.

  • Polite tone, clear contact, and a portal link.

Where AI helps
Drafts on brand, per customer context; tests subject lines and send-times; proposes the next best action (email vs. SMS vs. call).

Let customers pay now

If paying requires extra steps, invoices age. Embed pay-now links and QR codes in reminders and portal views; support multiple rails where available.

What good looks like

  • One-click pay from email or SMS.

  • Smart retries for soft declines at the hours customers typically respond.

  • Clear confirmation and automatic reconciliation into your ledger.

Result you’ll see
Fewer cart-abandon-style failures, more first-contact collections.

See what to fix today

Guessing wastes time. Real-time reporting should highlight the few signals that actually move cash.

Track these five

  1. Promise-to-pay rate

  2. Kept-promise rate

  3. Time to cash after first reminder

  4. Recovery after smart retries

  5. Dispute cycle time (by reason)

Add a daily list of “10 accounts that move cash” so collectors start where impact is highest.

Play nicely with your stack

Collections spans ERP,, email, phone, print, payments and more. Your AR platform should sync, not duplicate.

What good looks like

  • Connects to major ERPs and accounting tools.

  • Pushes templates, tasks, and events without breaking your system of record.

  • Keeps a clean export when you must escalate to third parties.

Your cue

Many companies keep 31–60 day terms to support customers, yet overdues still rise (a pattern both Atradius and Intrum describe). That’s your cue: terms alone won’t fix cash flow. Operations will. Focus on clarity, timing, and risk.

What this looks like in MaxCredible

  • Journeys drive reminders and escalations by risk band.

  • Debtor view shows behavior plus external ratings side by side.

  • Promises become dated tasks; escalation pauses/resumes automatically.

  • Templates are brand-true, multilingual, and conditional (segment, region, language).

  • Payment links and smart retries reduce drop-off.

  • Dashboards surface the five KPIs and your daily “top 10” list.

FAQ (quick answers you can share)

How do I show leadership the cost of delay
Use: Average AR = (DSO × Annual Credit Sales) ÷ 365. Then translate days into cash and carrying cost.

Where should scores live
On the debtor view, in call lists, and inside journeys—not in spreadsheets.

Do I need AI to see results
No. Start with short, clear templates and automated timing. Add AI for copy, send-time, and channel when you’re ready.

How often do I refresh external risk
Follow your provider’s cadence so PAYDEX/failure risk stays current on every debtor.

What changes first
Shorten templates, add pay-now links, enable smart retries, route disputes with SLAs, and publish a daily “top 10” list.

Are you using AI to personalize your dunning and timing?
See how the Seven Pillars connect automation, personalization, payment processing, and risk into one daily workflow. Read our online whitepaper The Seven Pillars for Unlocking Cash Flow.

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Tags: #Account Receivable,#Blog,#credit management,#Nieuws,#Order-to-cash