Industry: Banking

Location: Indonesia, UAE

Results: Successfully traced evasive debtor to UAE, negotiated a suitable payment plan for COVID-19 hardship.

Background:

An Indonesian consumer owed on a large-balance bank loan, but suddenly stopped making payments. The claim was assigned to Cedar Financial for amicable collections attempts.

The Challenge:

The debtor promised to pay after selling property, but moved out of country and stopped responding to communications for a month.

How Cedar Financial Solved the Problem:

Through skillful international skip tracing efforts and consistent follow up, our professional team was able to locate the evasive debtor in the UAE and reestablish amicable contact before legal escalation by the bank client.

Using active listening techniques, we learned that, while the debtor still had good intention to pay, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was stuck living with a friend in the UAE. He was not able to find a buyer for his property or access his bank to make payments towards his account, and his family was transferring funds to the friend to cover his expenses.

In light of his hardship, we negotiated with the bank on his behalf and secured a recurring monthly payment plan to keep the account active until the crisis ends and he can pay the balance in full.

The Takeaway:

A little compassion goes a long way – especially during a crisis.

Not every evasive debtor has ill intentions.

Cedar Financial’s People-First Approach, combined with experienced skip tracers and local international debt collection offices, can help you restore amicable relationships with your customers for more positive payment outcomes.

By working with debtors instead of against them, we build trust that makes it much more likely your debtor will pay in the long run – without expensive legal fees – and remain your customer in the future.