Industry: Banking and Financial Services
Services: Analytics, Digital Operations, Customer Experience, Collections
Client Overview
Our client is a leading U.S.-based credit card issuer having 18+ million active credit card accounts and serving customers with varied credit profiles. With over 1,500 employees, the company offers financial products designed to help customers rebuild and strengthen their credit while maintaining a focus on operational excellence and customer experience.
Sutherland has been a trusted partner to this client since 2015, delivering end-to-end support across multiple collection buckets, from early delinquency to late-stage collections.
The Challenge
Escalating Costs and Inefficiencies in Collections Operations
Our client sought to achieve higher collection efficiency while curbing the excessive penetration of its daily inventory, which was reaching up to 800% under their existing setup. This over-dialing inflated labor costs and created unproductive outbound activities, straining operational budgets. Additionally, the collections back-office processes were hampered by inefficiencies and inconsistencies, impacting both performance and customer experience.
To sustain growth and improve profitability, the client needed a smarter, data-driven solution that could optimize outreach strategies, improve connection rates and enhance the overall effectiveness of their collections operation.
Sutherland Solution
Precision-Led Transformation with Blended Dialing, Analytics and Process Redesign
We implemented a comprehensive transformation strategy combining automation, analytics and process excellence to optimize our client’s collections operations:
- Blended Dialing Strategy: We introduced a hybrid auto and manual dialing model via Sutherland Connect Dialer, capping daily penetration at 500% to reduce redundant attempts.
- Collections Analytics and Risk Segmentation: We leveraged advanced analytics to prioritize accounts based on payment behavior, enabling more focused and effective customer engagement.
- Precision Dialing: We used targeted dialing techniques to eliminate unproductive calls and enhance voice connectivity rates.
- Branded Call Display Solution: We implemented a branded caller ID to build trust and increase customer contact success rates.
- End-to-End Back-Office Redesign: We streamlined and automated back-office workflows to eliminate process inconsistencies and drive operational optimization.
These interventions were supported by continuous quality monitoring, analytics-driven insights and ongoing process re-engineering.
The Outcome
Operational Efficiency, Cost Savings and Enhanced Customer Experience
Our collaborative transformation delivered measurable improvements in operational efficiency, cost optimization, and customer experience for our client. By enhancing engagement quality, customer complaints were reduced by 15%, while continuous quality monitoring enabled the team to achieve a 99% average quality score. Over three years, optimized dialing strategies, improved resource utilization, intelligent automation, and stronger process controls resulted in a 30% reduction in operational costs. Together, these outcomes represent a balanced and effective transformation that elevated collections performance while maintaining a strong customer-centric focus.
That’s digital outcomes delivered!
Following the success of this engagement, Sutherland continues to support the client’s collections and back-office functions, reinforcing a partnership built on innovation, measurable results, and long-term operational excellence.
KEY OUTCOMES
Reduction in Cost of Operations
Reduction in Complaints
Average Quality Score
