Voice AI in lending: 5 things borrowers should know about EMI calls and loan collections
By Google News Personal Finance ·
A borrower misses an EMI, receives an automated call and is asked to make the payment.
But what if the borrower wants to explain why the payment is delayed, understand the available repayment options or ask a question in a regional language?This is where Voice AI could change how lenders interact with borrowers.Moving beyond pre-recorded messages and scripted payment reminders, conversational AI systems are being developed to understand queries, interpret responses and guide borrowers through different
stages of the lending process.In India, where borrowers often switch between Hindi, English and regional languages within the same conversation, the technology could make financial interactions more accessible.
However, understanding the language is only one part of the challenge.
Systems also need to interpret the context, protect borrower information and know when a human representative should take over.Here are five things to know about the emerging role of Voice AI in lending.It can do more than make EMI reminder callsVoice AI could be used across several stages of the lending lifecycle, including customer onboarding, loan servicing, repayment queries and collections.During loan
onboarding, conversational systems could ask borrowers follow-up questions about their income patterns and existing financial obligations.
During collections, they could attempt to understand why an EMI has been missed, respond to repayment-related queries and provide information about options permitted by the lender.Gautam Rege, Co-founder and Director of Josh Software, a software development and IT services company, said conversational AI could also help borrowers understand how changes in loan tenure may affect their monthly repayment obligations.
Such interactions would depend on the lender's systems and the options available to the borrower.Understanding borrower intent is as important as recognising languageA borrower saying 'I will pay next week' could be making a genuine repayment commitment or simply trying to end the conversation.
Similarly, someone explaining financial difficulties may be seeking an extension, information about delayed payments or an alternative repayment schedule.Rohit Arora, CEO and Co-Founder of Biz2Credit and Biz2X, a pair of connected fintech platforms that specialise in small-to-medium-sized business lending and digital credit infrastructure, said Voice AI needs to recognise cues such as hesitation, stress and urgency
instead of merely processing words and following a predefined script.Anand Agrawal, Co-founder of Credgenics, Prix AI and FixMyScore, said the technology would need multilingual capabilities, contextual intelligence and the ability to understand changes in borrower intent during a conversation.Lenders need to measure outcomes, not just automated callsThe number of calls handled by AI may indicate the extent of
automation, but it does not necessarily establish whether collections have improved.Kumar Abhishek, Founder and CEO of ToneTag, a deep-tech Indian financial technology company, said lenders should assess repayment rates, promise-to-payment conversions, query resolution and the cost of collections while evaluating conversational AI.Santanu Agarwal, Deputy Managing Director of Paisalo Digital, a RBI-registered,
non-deposit-taking NBFC, said other parameters should include sustainable recovery rates, borrower satisfaction and complaint levels.For lenders, relevant indicators could include:Repayment completion…
Originally published by Google News Personal Finance
