Natalie Bunyer: AI + Compliance = Trust, Reinventing Debt Recovery

In this episode of AI Unplugged, Natalie Bunyer — Sales Director at ARC and Advisory Council member at the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) — traces her journey from a family-run tracing shop to steering growth and innovation at a modern collections firm. She explains how the 2008–2014 regulatory era reshaped the industry, why compliance became a commercial advantage, and how AI fits alongside human agents to elevate customer experience. From designing rigorous pilots to motivating frontline teams, Natalie shares a practical playbook for collections leaders navigating tighter regulation, vulnerable customers, and rapidly shifting contact preferences.

What You’ll Learn

• Industry Shift 101: How the post-crash boom in debt purchase and FCA oversight transformed relationships, processes, and accountability.
• Compliance as a Sales Lever: Why robust policies, transparent reporting, and accountable governance win lender trust.
• AI with a Human Core: Where bots, portals, dialer scoring, speech analytics, and 24/7 self-service truly help — and where humans stay essential.
• Designing Good Pilots: The metrics and stress tests Natalie uses to judge success without harming customer experience.
• Modern Contact Strategy: Meeting 22-year-old app-first borrowers and after-hours payers with omnichannel options.
• Team Motivation That Works: Incentives beyond collections — QA scores, CSAT, analytics-driven coaching, continuous training.
• Data as Day-Zero Priority: The customer data to capture (and why channel preference matters more than you think).
• Five-Year Outlook: Why financial education, multi-channel resolution, and empathetic support will define winners through 2030.

Key Takeaways

• Regulation matured the sector — FCA-era accountability turned compliance into table stakes and a competitive differentiator.
• Customer contact flipped — from letters and landlines to apps, texts, and 24/7 portals; strategies must reflect real channel preference.
• AI augments, not replaces — use bots for availability and routine steps (e.g., ID&V, balance checks), while humans handle nuance and trust.
• Pilot like a pro — stress-test flows, role-play edge cases, and guard the Google/Trustpilot reputation; frustration is a failed pilot.
• Invest in agents — training, QA, speech analytics, and wellbeing programs directly improve outcomes and reviews.
• Compliance sells — lenders back partners who can evidence policy, controls, and consistent customer care.
• Data is the blind spot — clean, rich, preference-aware data underpins contact strategy, vulnerability support, and AI effectiveness.
• Lead with empathy — many debts stem from shocks and financial illiteracy; resolution beats mere collection.
• Natalie’s leadership rule: deliver hard feedback without taking it personally — growth is part of the job.
• 2030 vision: AI-enhanced dialing and self-service plus human guidance, broader signposting to entitlements/benefits, and true “resolution” journeys.

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