Collenda: Innovation in Credit Management

It is no news that technology has been perpetually altering all facets of the global business landscape. What once was considered to be the impetus for massive tech giants like Amazon and Apple exclusively, technological innovation has clawed its way into financial institutions too. Today, with artificial intelligence (AI) going mainstream in almost every industry one can possibly think of, it does not come as a surprise that the financial technology providers around the world are doubling down on their AI game. Emerging fintech firms and digitals banks are offering consumer loans via apps, utilising client self-service models, rich analytics, AI, cloud, and other cutting-edge technologies. Joining this extensive digital revolution to revamp the credit management software market is Meerbusch-based Collenda.

“The growth of the collection and recovery business is currently stifled due to low-interest rates,” remarks Christian U. Haas, the CEO of Collenda. To that end, the company highly emphasises the digitalisation of lending and credit management processes as part of the credit lifecycle application. Investing extensively in AI, native cloud technology, cloud-deployable service APIs, and digital UX technology, Collenda is modernising the process of credit management with the latest state-of-the-art techniques.

Serving companies in the financial and industrial sectors for as long as 30 years, Collenda has established its prominence with its ingenious software solutions, underpinned by AI, for credit and receivables management. Collenda harnesses the power of AI in credit management and collection to increase efficiency, improve effectiveness, and enhance the digital experience for users and end customers.

At the Forefront of Technological Innovation

Collenda introduces customizable and scalable credit management solutions based on native, open cloud architecture, leading to flexible price models that are driven by volume and usage rather than user-based licenses and fixed costs for hardware servers. Moreover, an open and native cloud solution is capable of being integrated into multi-cloud solutions as a service. As such, Collenda has collaborated with Finastra, one of the largest financial technology companies, as a provider of cloud-based core banking systems, delivering them premier credit life cycle solutions. Collenda’s software seamlessly integrates with Finastra’s cloud-based platform via documented and open APIs.

With an undivided focus on the success of its customers, the Collenda team emphasises the value of end-customer-centric processes. The company has brought forth novel digital solutions that offer self-service for end-customers for loan applications with a digital approach (based on document recognition and classification) and collections (negotiation of restructured payment plans via chatbot). “With our end customers in mind, we ensure individual treatment of each of them and their unique needs, driven by data and analytics through AI.

This, in turn, allows our customers to reduce risks in credit management and leverage data analytics to make informed credit decisions,” explains Haas.

The Collenda-AI Insider Program

Collenda has invested in three selected AI use cases for debt collection and recovery, which are based on precise data analysis to provide customers with better user experience and higher recovery rates at lower costs. The company is currently in discussion about different prototypes with selected customers from the collections division, among others, to test the topic of AI and the AI models created on three interlocking use cases. The aim is to further develop them with the customers as part of the “Collenda- AI Insider Program” and bring them to practical use in a timely manner.

“Collenda harnesses the power of AI in credit management and collection to increase efficiency, improve effectiveness, and enhance the digital experience for users and end customers”

Collenda initiated the Proof of Concept of Collenda Solutions in 2018 in conjunction with AI with an aim to make the benefits for customers tangible through the use cases. This has proved immensely advantageous for customers who can enjoy an enhanced user experience with renewed efficiency and effectiveness in credit management. With AI at the core, Collenda recommends the optimal rate for a successful payment plan and the prediction of success. On the other hand, Collenda’s chatbot solution assists customers with the clarification of questions and support for self-service activities. Further, AI contributes segmenting debtors into different groups, depending on which the optimal strategy is used and mapped in automated workflows. “Customer feedback to date has been consistently positive and confirms Collenda’s innovative approach to AI,” proudly remarks Haas.


Streamlining the Entire Credit Management Value Chain

Driven by the goal to support the entire credit management life cycle, Collenda covers everything from online mortgage portal, service apps to the very end of the credit management process involving debt collection. Geared toward the unique needs of banks, corporates, and collection agencies, Collenda offers its robust digital solutions for three different segments: banks, corporates, and collection agencies. Utilising performance analytics and smart workflow technology, the company helps banks with complete transparency for management and tangible gains in collections and recovery rates. Collenda empowers collection agencies with efficient case management, integrated data feeds, and compliant workflows along with effective performance management of their collection strategy. Ensuring maximum client engagement with lower administration costs, Collenda’s corporate platform makes use of smart automation while bringing a systematic approach to credit scoring, cutting losses, and freeing up working capital. Further, conducting intense communications and collaborating closely with customers, Collenda uses various forums and channels to feed market information and helps its customers extract benefits out of it.

Collenda’s comprehensive credit management solutions and services portfolio deliver maximum value to its clients.

In terms of credit risk management, the solutions equip clients with unparalleled automation of their regulatory needs that are under “intense scrutiny.” Delivering granular data for financial reporting, Collenda assists clients in driving risk-related decisions based on scorecards. Apart from that, the solutions help customers maintain credit limits, optimise calculation of loan collateral, evaluate the ability to service credit instalments/capital, restructure credits with forbearance measures, negotiate and monitor payment plans. That’s not all; they also help manage all communication channels to debtors in the collection process and take measures for legal dunning and foreclosure. Collenda aids customers in calculating and accounting of impairment, which constitutes a crucial part of the credit management process.



Continuing the Legacy of Three Decades

Collenda was one of the first vendors to design a complete browser-based and platform-independent (Java) solution. In addition to the complete coverage of the collection and recovery processes, the solution includes impairment under IFRS 9. With its market-leading collection and recovery solution, Collenda assisted Deutsche Bank, the premier German multinational investment bank and financial services organisation, in completely automating its dunning and legal dunning processes, centralised garnishment solution, and IFRS 9 compliance on a large number of financial instruments. Besides, Collenda recently invested in a credit management solution for corporates, which is starting to expand the customer base and also is in international usage. The company has successfully assisted big data centres of banks in operating the solution, which is scalable for multiple institutes, without encountering any issues with client installations.



Collenda is in the process of merging its bank and corporate platforms into a single cloud-based platform, incorporated with open APIs, and powered by AI. Having worked with MIT on AI prior to joining Collenda, Haas is well informed of the innovative strides that AI is bringing about in the business realm and the market hype that entails it. However, he mentions that according to The Financial Times, about 80 percent of the fintech do not even use AI. Collenda stands resolute in its aim to change this particular scenario and is well on its way to emerging as the leading provider of credit management solutions within Europe in the near future. The company is also aggressively hiring to foray into other regions of Europe including Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain, along with the Nordics.