Innovations in Collections: Enhancing Member Experience (2026 Strategy: Part 7)

Collections has always been a sensitive function for credit unions. It’s the moment when financial strain meets member service; historically, it’s been handled with a heavy reliance on outbound phone calls, staff time, and manual record-keeping.

The problem? Members aren’t answering the phone. According to Pew Research, 80% of consumers don’t answer calls from unknown numbers, and 42% of Millennials say they avoid phone calls entirely unless scheduled. That means collectors often spend their day leaving voicemails; a repetitive, low-value task that’s expensive to scale with human labor.

Why This Is Becoming a Strategic Priority for 2026

This shift in communication habits isn’t just an operational nuisance - it’s a measurable drag on performance:

Rising cost per contact: Industry benchmarks suggest it costs between $4-$6 per outbound call attempt when factoring in wages, benefits, and overhead. If only 20% of calls connect, the effective cost per conversation can exceed $20-$25.
Slower resolution times: Unanswered calls mean it can take 5-7 days longer on average to reach a member and begin resolution, extending delinquency cycles and increasing loss risk.
Staff burnout: Collectors can spend 40-60% of their day leaving voicemails, creating disengagement and higher turnover rates.
Missed opportunities to engage: Each failed connection delays the chance to educate, restructure, or find repayment solutions - especially for members who are willing but simply unreachable during business hours.

In a year where margins are tight and efficiency is a top-three boardroom priority, credit unions can’t afford to have skilled staff tied up in tasks that don’t move the needle. This is why modernizing collections outreach has shifted from an operational nice-to-have to a strategic priority for 2026.

An Obvious AI Use Case

Few credit union functions are as ready for AI automation as collection calls. These tasks are:

Repetitive: The script rarely changes from one call to the next.
Low judgment: They don’t require nuanced decision-making or negotiation.
Time-consuming: Staff can spend hours on calls that never connect.
Measurable: Success can be tracked by delivery rates, callback rates, and resolution times.

AI-powered voice automation can reliably:

Deliver compliant, consistent scripts to members.
Capture updates.
Log outcomes and update records instantly.

The effect is clear:

Reduce cost per voicemail by up to 80% compared to human dialing.
Shorten average time-to-contact by 2-3 days through higher delivery rates.
Free up 30-50% of collector time for high-value conversations that require human skill.

Staff remain in the loop where it matters most - guiding more complex repayment plans, exercising judgment, and handling sensitive conversations - while AI handles the high-volume, low-complexity outreach at scale.

Before & After: A Day in Collections

Before AI:

A collector spends the morning dialing through a list of 50 delinquent accounts.
40 calls go unanswered.
35 of those require voicemails to be manually recorded and left.
After each call, the collector updates notes in the collections software, manually.
Only 10 calls connect, and 6 result in actual repayment arrangements.

After AI:

AI initiates all 50 calls, delivering pre-approved voicemails instantly when there’s no answer.
All call outcomes: live connect, voicemail, no service, are automatically logged in the system of record.
The collector’s morning is freed up to handle 15-20 conversations with members who need in-person follow-up.
Result: more repayment plans set in motion, lower cost per contact, and faster resolution cycles.

How This Aligns with Broader Credit Union Growth Priorities

Modernizing collections is not an isolated win - it directly supports the strategic objectives outlined in the earlier parts of this series:

Deposit Growth: Every dollar recovered more quickly improves liquidity and funds future lending.
Lending Efficiency: Faster resolution of delinquent accounts reduces loss ratios and keeps members eligible for new credit offers.
PFI Status: Positive, professional, and efficient resolution of payment issues strengthens trust, making members more likely to consolidate their financial relationship with the credit union.
Operational Efficiency: Reducing low-value staff work in collections mirrors efficiency gains in lending and deposits, compounding the institution’s ability to do more with less.

By reframing collections as an efficiency play with measurable financial upside, and one that can be dramatically improved by AI, credit unions can turn what was once a reactive, resource-heavy function into a strategic advantage.