Nutun integrates Stitch to enable better, faster, more convenient collections

Challenge: The Nutun team was looking to grow its digital payments offering, in an effort to make the process of debt collection easier, faster and more convenient for the customers they serve.  

Solution: Nutun implemented Stitch InstantPay, accessible via their online portal and through links shared on WhatsApp and SMS.  

Result: Today, thousands of Nutun customers can quickly and conveniently make payments online via Instant EFT, without the need to visit a bank branch or wait days for transactions to clear, enabling them to take better control over their finances.

South Africa-based global digital business services company Nutun (previously Transaction Capital Risk Services), is on a mission to enable a better operational, transactional and customer experience to help businesses grow. The team saw significant potential for disruption - particularly when it comes to the payments experience.

Nutun is focused on enabling economic sustainability for local communities by combining unique technology, data and analytics to provide a range of digitally-enabled business services to a global client base. These services range from customer experience to client services, recoveries and transactional services, backed by AI and machine learning, with innovation in voice transcription and gamification.

When it comes to collecting debt on behalf of other businesses, it isn’t always an easy endeavour due to sensitivities along the customer journey. At the point of collection, the customer has already received their product or service and has either made a partial payment or none at all.

Strategic Marketing Manager Terri Katz explained, “We like to ensure that our customers are comfortable when it comes to the conversation of money. Most customers don’t necessarily want to talk about their debt - and do not want to receive calls for collection at awkward times."
Interestingly, though, Nutun has found that most people actually want to settle their debt. Realistically there’s only a very small portion of customers that try to avoid making any outstanding payments. Most often, it’s because those customers aren’t in a position to make those payments. 

That’s where Nutun’s collection services come in, focused on improving processes in order to make it easier and more seamless for customers to find financial wellness via tailored payment and communication options. 

An omni-channel approach to collections

Omni-channel experiences and strategies are rooted in a desire to meet customers wherever they are, giving them options across all touchpoints, and Nutun implements an omni-channel approach when it comes to communicating with their customers. 

“We give them the opportunity to communicate with us the way they want to. That means they’re able to pay their debt via a payment link sent via email, WhatsApp, or through talking to a customer representative on the phone.” All of these options work to make that customer journey easier, and the experience as a whole is designed to empower the customer to gain control over their finances, no matter their personal needs and preferences.

Stitch InstantPay forms a critical part of Nutun’s omni-channel offering, enabling them to offer a variety of digital payment options for online collections. Bryan Edwards, Head of Data Sciences and Product Development at Nutun, explained that "customers can go online and view their account or pay directly using Stitch. We’ve offered direct deposits in the past, but Stitch makes that process a lot easier. This is key to ensuring seamless online collections.”

By paying with Stitch, customers avoid having to go into a bank branch or ATM and perform a manual direct deposit, which many had opted to do previously. Edwards said, “Stitch can play a major role in making that process easier and simpler, and it works well on mobile.”

Moving debt collection to the digital age

Bryan noted that Nutun’s biggest channel for collections is still outbound phone calls to customers, but as most of the world shifts to performing business online, they’re heavily focused on improving their digital offerings. In South Africa, the cost of data remains a big prohibitor. This is where other channels like WhatsApp come into play, with customers enjoying the ease of use, familiarity and low cost associated with the tool.

Through Stitch, Nutun is able to send payment links via WhatsApp to customers who are late with their payments, enabling them to make a quick, secure payment directly from their account.

Bryan adds, “We have seen a couple of thousand customers engaging and paying via this channel, and we continue to see growth here. We also implemented UI/UX recommendations that Stitch offered with regards to the payment journey, and there’s been an improvement in the payment experience since.” 

What's next for Nutun

Dedicated to supporting South Africans across their debt rehabilitation journey, Nutun’s future plans involve financial literacy campaigns in the form of video content and community projects designed to educate our communities to save and remove the stigma and difficulties associated with debt.

Nutun is also eager to work with Stitch beyond payments by leveraging data to understand their customers better when it comes to their payment and communication preferences.