Medium-High Complexity • 3-4 weeks • $20K-45K

Payment Collection Automation: Implementation Guide

AI automates invoice reminders, payment collection, and payment plan setup. Voice calls, SMS, email. Reduces past-due accounts by 50%.

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Proven ROI

Built by P0STMAN

20+ Implementations

The Problem

Outstanding invoices pile up. Collections calls are awkward and time-consuming. Staff avoid making collection calls. Late payments hurt cash flow. Traditional collection agencies take 25-40% of recovered amounts.

How It Works

Technical architecture overview

AI sends automated reminders before due date. Makes friendly collection calls for past-due invoices. Offers payment plans within your policy. Takes payments over phone or sends secure payment links. Escalates difficult accounts to humans. All PCI-DSS compliant.

Tech Stack

Core components of the system

Voice AI

ElevenLabs with PCI compliance

Make collection calls, discuss payment options

Payment Processing

Stripe / Square with PCI vault

Secure payment collection, tokenization

Invoice Integration

QuickBooks / Xero / Custom API

Real-time invoice status, payment application

Communication Platform

Twilio + SendGrid

SMS reminders, email notifications, call campaigns

Collections Dashboard

React + Analytics

Track collection rates, aging reports, AI performance

Key Features

What makes this solution powerful

Multi-Stage Reminder Campaigns

Day -7: Friendly reminder. Day 0: Invoice due today. Day +3: Past due notice. Day +10: Collection call. Day +30: Payment plan offer. Fully customizable schedule.

Conversational Payment Collection

AI calls past-due accounts. Friendly, non-confrontational tone. Discusses why payment is late. Offers solutions: pay now, payment plan, or discuss with human.

Automatic Payment Plans

Within policy (e.g., 3-6 month plans for balances under $5K), AI sets up payment plans automatically. Sends agreements for e-signature. Schedules recurring payments.

Secure Payment Processing

PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant. AI doesn't store credit card numbers. Customers enter payment into secure form or pay via link. Payment confirmed instantly.

Implementation Timeline

Step-by-step deployment process

Week 1: Integrate with invoice/billing system. Map collection policies and payment plan rules. Set up PCI-compliant payment processing.

Week 2-3: Build reminder campaign workflows. Train AI on collection conversation scripts (friendly but firm). Test payment flows and security.

Week 4: Launch with oldest past-due accounts first (test on accounts already in collections). Monitor success rates. Refine approach. Scale to all past-due.

Real Results

Metrics from actual implementations

20-30 hours per week in collections calls

Time Saved

35% of payments collected after hours

After-Hours Captured

1-2 months (from recovered revenue)

Payback Period

Common Pitfalls

Learn from our experience

Don't: Use aggressive or threatening language. AI must be friendly. Aggressive tactics damage customer relationships and may violate FDCPA.

Don't: Skip PCI compliance. Payment data breaches are catastrophic. Use tokenization and never store card numbers.

Don't: Auto-charge without consent. Always get explicit permission before charging stored payment methods.

Don't: Ignore dispute claims. If customer claims billing error, pause collections and escalate to human for resolution.

Technical FAQs

Is this legal? What about debt collection laws?

Yes, legal when done correctly. Must comply with FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) and TCPA (phone calls/SMS). AI is programmed with compliance rules: call time restrictions (8am-9pm), disclosure requirements, cease-and-desist handling. We include legal review as part of implementation.

What if customer disputes the charge?

AI is trained to detect dispute language ('I don't owe this', 'this is wrong'). Immediately pauses collection, logs dispute, and escalates to human. No further collection contact until dispute resolved.

Can it handle negotiated settlements?

Within pre-approved parameters, yes. E.g., 'Settle for 80% if paid today.' For larger settlements or outside policy, AI escalates to human negotiator with customer's offer and payment history.

How does PCI compliance work?

AI never handles raw credit card numbers. Uses secure payment forms (Stripe Elements or similar). Customer enters card directly into PCI-compliant iframe. Only tokenized reference stored in your system.

What's the collection rate compared to humans?

For first 60 days past due, AI matches or beats human collection rates (30-40% recovery). After 90 days, human negotiators perform better. Best practice: AI handles 0-60 days past due, humans handle 60+ days.