NICE Announces NEVA for Collection Adherence

NICE has announced the availability of NEVA (NICE Employee Virtual Attendant) for Collection Adherence, a specialised offering to help organisations uphold the communications aspects of the new Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in the United States.

Based on NEVA’s unique AI models, the solution recognises events with potential for behaviour that could lead to non-compliance in real-time and proactively intervenes by presenting agents with reminders and scripts or sending supervisor alerts of violation risk.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule effective from November 30, 2021, to restate and clarify prohibitions on harassment and abuse, false or misleading representations, and unfair practices by debt collectors when collecting consumer debt.

Focusing on debt collection communications, the rule allows consumers more control over how often and through what means debt collectors can communicate with them regarding their debts.

The rule also clarifies how the protections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which was passed in 1977, apply to newer communication technologies, such as email and text messages.

NEVA for Collection Adherence supports compliance across several scenarios addressed under the new regulation:

• Non-harassment compliance: Residing on the agent desktop, NEVA follows agent activities and interactions. Upon identifying a potential heated exchange or similar event, NEVA proactively reminds agents of the need for compliance with the new regulation and in parallel sends an alert of a potential violation risk. Telephone call logs are also retained automatically, providing evidence of compliance/non-compliance.
• Time-barred debt compliance: NEVA automatically calculates whether the statute of limitations for a particular debt has expired in real-time. If a statute is still in place, NEVA notifies agents of the inability to mention legal action and provides alternative scripts to navigate the conversation to safer areas.
• Voicemail: NEVA recognises that a call has reached voicemail, can automatically collect data from it and update various internal systems.

“Aligning regulations to the digital age is of critical importance to the continued fair treatment of consumers,” said Barry Cooper, President, NICE Workforce and Customer Experience Group. “We’re pleased to be among the first to bring innovative robotic automation to support organisations in adhering to the new regulation.”