Job Summary
The Part Time Collector is part of a highly performing Collections team with principal responsibility for servicing members with past due consumer, commercial, or real estate loans. This role requires supportive, constructive, and empathetic communication with members through a variety of channels, seeking to understand the circumstances resulting in a member’s past due condition. The Collector works with members to find solutions that resolve delinquent loan status. This role performs independent research and other follow up tasks to assist in delinquency resolution, including validation of financial responsibility for a loan, searching for valid member location and contact information, and completion of documents required for delinquency resolution. The Collector 1 finds the best balance between the needs of individual members and those of UFCU membership while complying with UFCU’s policies and procedures and applicable laws and regulations.
The Collector reports to Assistant Manager – Collections.
Location: This role can be remotely performed out of Texas, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, or Montana.
About UFCU
Our Credit Union was founded in 1936 and has grown to serve members throughout Texas and beyond. At UFCU, we are more than just a financial institution, and our people are more than just employees. We are dedicated to our purpose of empowering our Members to achieve financial success and build brighter futures.
In pursuit of our aspiration that UFCU is loved by millions of Members and built to thrive for generations, we are guided by our values:
Purposefully Member-Obsessed
We are driven by a profound sense of empathy to deeply understand our Members’ needs and preferences, what brighter futures means to them, and the obstacles in their way. We act in our Members’ best interests, forever seeking to empower their financial success.
Possibilities Reimagined
We are inspired to courageously experiment, learn, and iterate in pursuit of positive impact for our Members, UFCU, and coworkers. We challenge assumptions, embrace diverse perspectives, and make use of data and insights.
Performance Excellence Rooted in Unwavering Integrity
We do the right thing, always. We champion teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, and celebrate successful outcomes of others, fostering an inclusive environment of excellence and collaboration.
Essential Functions
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities
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Knowledge
- Basic, operational understanding of financial institutions, including differentiation between banks and credit unions.
- Basic knowledge of UFCU products and services.
- Basic understanding of financial terms including principal, collateral, interest, finance charge, late fees, payment schedules, payment due dates, loan maturity, delinquency, and default.
- Basic understanding of bankruptcy.
- Proficient understanding with compliance requirements of debt collection laws.
- Basic understanding of technologies commonly used in debt collection: telephone systems, computer-based software applications, payments platforms, email, text, chat, and popular social media platforms.
- Basic understanding of call center operations.
- Proficiency with customer service principles:
- Active listening
- Acknowledging customer needs
- Expressing empathy
- Finding mutually beneficial solutions
- Prompt responsiveness
- Professional courtesy
- Basic knowledge of MS Office tools including Outlook, Excel, and Word.
Skills
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Strong critical thinking skills.
- Proficiency with arithmetic operations; calculates principal and interest payments given loan terms.
- Telephone skills to include:
- Determination of appropriate communication style
- Projection of professionalism, courtesy, and empathy
- Asks probing questions to locate responsible members and discover responsible members’ reasons for delinquency; employment; and sources of funds
- Actively listens; does not talk over other parties
- Confirms understanding
- Directs collections activities by keeping member dialogue constructive and focused on acknowledging the debt, providing reason(s) for delinquency, identifying sources of funds for payment arrangements, overcoming objections, asking for payment and confirming arrangements.
- Negotiation skills to include:
- Overcomes gatekeepers
- Clearly conveys member obligation under loan agreement and gets members’ acknowledgement of that obligation
- Identifies and overcomes objections
- Solves problems
- Proposes mutually beneficial solutions
- Calls members to action
- Gains acknowledgement of commitments made by member
Abilities
- Strong ability to balance the needs of individual members with those of the entire membership.
- Knowing when to say yes, and when to say no to a member.
- Thrives in dynamic, high-volume environment where change, growth, and development are constant.
- Demonstrates consistent attendance - punctual and adheres to schedule.
- Talks and types simultaneously.
- Thinks quickly.
- Locates possible points of member contact using generally accepted tools.
- Stays self-motivated.
- Treats each member with highest standards of professionalism, courtesy, and empathy.
Competencies
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- Demonstrating Member Obsession
- Puts themselves in the Member’s shoes
- Looks for friction points
- Makes it personalized and easy
- Demonstrating Performance Excellence
- Sets standards for elevating excellence
- Ensures elevated quality
- Takes responsibility
- Conducts continuous improvement
- Challenges current thinking
- Approaches change with a positive mindset
Experience
Minimum Requirements
- High School Diploma or Equivalent.
- Minimum of one (1) year of experience collecting secured or unsecured consumer loans.
- Minimum of one (1) year of experience with personal computer and word processing/spreadsheet software (MS Office Suite).
- Must be bondable.
Preferred Requirements
- Two or four-year degree from an accredited college or university.
- Two (2) years’ experience collecting auto and or real estate collateralized consumer loans.
- Six (6) months of banking and/or financial institution experience.
- Experience with loan modifications.
- Bilingual in English and Spanish.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
- Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, and the ability to adjust focus.
- Employee will make extensive use of the telephone and virtual communications requiring the ability to effectively and accurately explain complex information.
Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
- Collectors will be working fully remotely.
- Collectors are expected to be available Monday Through Friday, and occasionally on Saturdays, with availability extending up to 9 pm CST
- Collectors occasionally experience stressful interactions with UFCU members.
- Frequent computer use at a workstation up to two hours at a time.