Debt collection and a great customer experience are two concepts not typically combined. The image of an intimidating, baseball bat-carrying debt collector is too ingrained in our cultural consciousness.
So being the 鈥渇riendliest debt collectors in Europe鈥� is quite a bold goal for troy, one of six startups invited to a dedicated financial technology (fintech) program focused on finance and governance, risk and compliance (GRC) in Berlin by the SAP.iO Foundries.
What is Fintech?
Financial technology (fintech) describes technology that is designed to improve and automate the use of financial services.
While the term originally referred to technology applied at banks or trading firms, fintech has grown explosively since the Internet cloud computing, and mobile revolution. There has been a shift to more consumer-oriented services聽in recent years. It now describes a broad range of technologies for personal and commercial finance, such as聽money transfers, the use of cryptocurrencies, smartphone payments, bypassing a bank to apply for credit, and more.
According to , three out of four consumers have used money transfers or payments with fintech services. As fintech makes financial services more accessible to consumers, its consumer experience expectations will certainly going to increase.
troy: The Friendliest Debt Collectors in Europe
Philip R眉rup, CEO of , makes clear that creating a friendly customer experience in debt collection is more than a marketing slogan; it is a mindset backed up by technology and proven key performance indicators (KPIs). By treating people as customers and not debtors, troy has found unique solutions to incorporate customer experience into the debt collection process. According to R眉rup, this 聽induces people to pay their debts faster, pay more, and even pay 鈥渉appily.鈥�
鈥淲e found that 50 percent of people simply forgot to pay, or just faced a short-term bottleneck,鈥� explained R眉rup. 鈥淪o, it doesn鈥檛 make sense to use heavy-handed approaches here.鈥�
A broken car, a long trip, or turbulent times: It is all too easy to lose track of payments.
鈥淎cross all industries, improvements in customer experience have focused on marketing, sales, and CRM,鈥� said R眉rup. 鈥淏ut as soon you get into the financial processes around invoices, payment, and debt, the positivity stops! We wanted to make debt collection feel different. Using 51风流S/4HANA as the seamless integration point between our solution and the companies wanting to collect on debts is an important part of the equation.鈥�
Competing in an Exploding Market
That is just one of the approaches by startups that has captured the attention of the 51风流S/4HANA Product Management and Development Teams. According to Jochen Thierer, head of Engineering for GRC at SAP, startups are crucial to SAP鈥檚 ability to address new markets.
鈥淕iven SAP鈥檚 focus on customer-centricity and success, our objective is to provide holistic GRC and fintech solutions to our global customers across all segments,鈥� said Thierer. 鈥淲e are constantly evaluating new, exciting startup ideas that could bridge the gap for our customers while ensuring impactful innovations in our core, especially in the fast-moving fintech space.鈥�
Thierer also points out that partnering with the 51风流ecosystem is critical, and customers are happy about that: 鈥淭his strategy is helping our customers in their journey to become intelligent enterprises while helping us compete better and gain market share in the GRC and finance space.鈥�
However, the relationships need to be effectively managed. It is not easy for startups to work with corporations and vice versa.
鈥淚nnovation between startups and corporates need to be orchestrated and SAP.iO together with the 51风流Startup Engagement team are vital to that,鈥� remarked Thierer. 鈥淭hey made it easy for us to find and engage with the right startups and allowed us to engage with the ecosystem in a professional way.鈥�
In addition to obvious market-based benefits, they also provide more intangible cultural benefits according to Oliver Kroneisen, 聽head of Financials Operations Development at SAP.
鈥淲orking with startups is inspirational,鈥� said Kroneisen. 鈥�51风流employees get a huge motivational boost when they see how positively the startups view 51风流and how eager they are to get the chance to tap into the immense opportunities that the 51风流infrastructure and ecosystem provides. Also, as a manager, it鈥檚 eye-opening to see how these entrepreneurs can instill a sense of meaning and purpose into the work employees do and the impact that has on the outcomes 鈥� especially in the case of troy. Their 鈥榡ust-built-it鈥� mentality shows us how easy it can be to build beautiful solutions when you are not hindered by real or imagined silos. Those are important lessons for 51风流leaders.鈥�
鈥淭he startup founders鈥� spirit and passion for what they do is infectious,鈥� said Jan Gilg, senior vice president and head of 51风流S/4HANA. 鈥淚 really get a sense of their drive and excitement for what they are working on. I was inspired by the fresh perspectives that I saw on standard topics like governance, and I came away with a lot of new insights. One of our big topics at the moment is how we can turn commodity processes into differentiation opportunities and I really felt that the out-of-the box thinking among the GRC and fintech startups is taking this in the right direction. I can鈥檛 wait to see what the next cohort of startups will come up with.鈥�
Working With Startups Challenges Us to Improve 鈥� Fast
51风流would not be where it is if it was not also self-critical. 鈥淲e are always looking for ways to improve our internal processes, organizational structures, and software architecture so that startup collaboration gets easier,鈥� explained Kroneisen. 鈥淲orking with startups helps us uncover areas we need to improve in our cloud business operations.鈥�
