Collections Officers at Equity Bank Kenya

THE PURPOSE / OBJECTIVES OF THE JOB

The Objective of Debt Collection Officer is to monitor loan, overdrafts and credit cards portfolio allocated to him/her to ensure its quality is in line with the bank’s projections and that any variations are promptly addressed.  He/ she is to properly plan and execute accurate collection of customer’s accounts in arrears including calling up customers to ensure minimal slippage of loans to the next classification, He/She is responsible for timely and maximum recovery of loans in arrears in as little time as possible and with minimal cost.

The Debt Collection officer will have to be polite and sensitive towards customers while at the same time remaining committed to their purpose with persistence.

Excellent communication skills and a sense of urgency are extremely important for success in this task.

KEY TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES

• Adhering to set policies and procedures, demonstrate good customer service skills while initiating outbound calls and receiving inbound calls from customers for collections and consultation purposes.
• Negotiate on phone, email follow ups and branch visits for account resolution and payments, and accurately input and documents actions within the collection systems while maintaining performance and productivity standards
• Walk with the customers through keeping track of accounts allocated to you to identify the outstanding arrears and calling customers to inform them for payments.
• Analyse accounts in arrears and negotiate payment plan with customers as promptly as possible.
• Notarize discussion and agreement with the customer and maintain follow up date.
• Maintain up-to-date customer contact information in the collections systems.
• May be required to support other queues to facilitate teamwork in the department.
• Escalate and assists other team members with calls as needed.
• Serves as a resource/subject matter expert and may provide training to fellow team members
• May be required to initiate external contact with customers and may perform advanced loss prevention activities (field customer visits and account settlement) or administrative work.
• Regularly Share Loan Arrears reports with Branch officers and management for Collections coordination purposes
• Encourage the culture of saving by encouraging customers to make regular deposits for savings and not only making deposit to pay the loan.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Excellent communications skills, both orally and in writing.
• Strong interpersonal skills to be able to relate and follow up loan arrears.
• Business awareness to be able to align collection to current business trends.
• Must be organized, efficient, and able to work independently 
• Ability to effectively manage one’s time to complete work according to established deadlines. The ability to prioritize tasks to make the best use of time.
•  Principled and self-confident.
• Positive attitude.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision even when under pressure.

QUALIFICATIONS;

• University degree or equivalent
• A mean grade of C+ and above in KCSE exams with C+ and above in Mathematics, English/Kiswahili and Proficient at working in/for any geographical region
• Computer Literacy