Will “Collection Clerk” be Automated?

Core Skills & Abilities

• Sort and file correspondence and perform miscellaneous clerical duties, such as answering correspondence and writing reports.

• Notify credit departments, order merchandise repossession or service disconnection, and turn over account records to attorneys when customers fail to respond to collection attempts.

• Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visits to solicit payment.

• Arrange for debt repayment or establish repayment schedules, based on customers' financial situations.

• Persuade customers to pay amounts due on credit accounts, damage claims, or nonpayable checks, or to return merchandise.

• Answer customer questions regarding problems with their accounts.

• Advise customers of necessary actions and strategies for debt repayment.

• Locate and monitor overdue accounts, using computers and a variety of automated systems.

• Receive payments and post amounts paid to customer accounts.

• Confer with customers by telephone or in person to determine reasons for overdue payments and to review the terms of sales, service, or credit contracts.

• Negotiate credit extensions when necessary.

• Trace delinquent customers to new addresses by inquiring at post offices, telephone companies, credit bureaus, or through the questioning of neighbors.

• Record information about financial status of customers and status of collection efforts.

• Perform various administrative functions for assigned accounts, such as recording address changes and purging the records of deceased customers.

• Contact insurance companies to check on status of claims payments and write appeal letters for denial on claims.