Job Description

The Collections Specialist is a professional who will be energetic, dynamic, and driven to succeed in this role. They will be responsible for resolving overdue accounts strategically and contacting default customers immediately. They must understand the urgency of acting promptly on all default accounts, eliciting payment arrangements and ensuring payments are met timeously. Do not confuse this role with that of a collections agent - a collections specialist must be able to analyze non-payment reasons and then negotiate on the best possible arrangements in order to obtain the best possible outcome for the business. They must understand credit bureau information and analyze bank statements. They must have comprehensive knowledge of the National Credit Act and understanding of the legal process for defaults and the debt review process. The Collection Specialist should exhibit professionalism and trustworthiness thus maintaining trustful relationships between its employer and the customer. They should have excellent communication skills, be especially confident and almost fearless when it comes to executing this collections role and yet be able to strike a balance between being firm and reasonable.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Monthly Arrear Collections:

Manage expected monthly arrear collections by analyzing and comparing recons received from the Loan Admin (LA) department with Microsoft calendar entries and thereafter checking the accuracy and timeous processing pf arrear collections;

Daily monitoring of bank statements

: Access daily the various bank statements to monitor expected arrear receipts and follow up promptly on non-receipts;

Investigate historical data

: Investigate historical data for each arrear customer, identifying any behavior trends, change in conditions and report these and taking the necessary remedial action;

Analyze customer's financial performance

: Analyze the customer's current financial performance through comparison of historical and current data by way of credit reports, customers budgets, etc and how this impacts their ability to maintain current and future repayments;

Change in income and Employment

: Verify income, employment, salary information should the customers employment information change during the life cycle of their home loan;

Collection Mandates

: Be quick to action new or changed collection mandates with the necessary supporting documentation in place;

Daily Task List

: Manage and maintain diligently a daily task list of all tasks assigned to you and that is under your responsibility and care. The task list must be updated as per the template and include past and future actions on tasks;

Communication

: Action promptly and effectively all tasks received through the various mediums of communication (emails, calls, text messages);

Notice of debt review matters

: Reviewing the communication received from the debt councilors, assess the loan account and following the business process for notices of debt review;

Responding to debt review matters

: This requires an "out of the box" response when reviewing requests for restructured repayments and a counter proposal. The focus is to care for the assets of the business;

Implementing payroll deductions

- prepare required documentation and liaise with customer and customer's HR or payroll departments to submit payroll requests for home loan deduction. Follow up until implementation;

Customer communication

: Contact customers proactively using telephone, sms, email or (social media if necessary) to track customers and payments;

Systems

: Updating latest customer information and feedback on systems and uploading of all relevant documentation;

Processing credit life claims:

Follow the business process in actioning retrenchment, death and disability claims from submission stage to finalization of claim;

Legal process for default

- preparing default notices and liaising with various Sheriff's offices and post offices to ensure successful delivery of notices.

Arrear Collection reports

: Reviewing arrear collection reports at month end to ensure all arrear collections are accounted for until arrears collection is fully settled;

Loading judgements at credit bureaus

: Liaising with various bureaus to load judgements against customer's credit record;

Managing Adhoc tasks

: Customer account queries, payment relief requests, credit bureau listings, etc;

Report to Line Manager

: Provide daily and prompt feedback to line manager on all pending tasks and targets;

OTHER RESPONSBILITIES:

Stays current on new product information and legislation through the internet and internal communication

Follows all company policies and procedures

REQUIREMENTS AND SKILLS:

Grade 12 qualification and related Credit Management Diploma/Degree is a plus;

A minimum of 3 years' collections experience;

A good understanding and working knowledge of collection processes and recovery techniques and knowledge of billing and collections procedures;

Experience with soft and legal collections in a home loans environment;

Advanced computer literacy skills with high proficiency in MS Excel, and Word;

Solid understanding and application of the National Credit Act and debt collection legislation pertaining to credit risk and collection processes.

Skilled in negotiation and problem solving combined with patience and the ability to manage stress;

Comfortable in working with deadlines;

Ability to explain payment plan options to non-paying customers, negotiating payment terms and winning customers over to manage their debt responsibly.

Identifying and managing non-compliant customers and escalating their cases to the line manager.

Ability in writing emails that will create the desired effect on the customer to rectify his default.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: R250000,00 - R300000,00 per year

Education:

Bachelors (Preferred)
Experience:

Collections: 10 years (Preferred) soft and legal collections in a home loans environment: 3 years (Preferred)
Location:

Cape Town, Western Cape (City of Cape Town) (Required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Cape Town, Western Cape (City of Cape Town)

Application Deadline: 2025/07/18