2025 Autumn Event Series review

Credit Connect hosted its Autumn Credit & Collections events series in Manchester last week at the Midland Hotel.

The event, which concludes the Credit Connect event series for 2025, included the Commercial Credit & Collection Conference, Credit & Collections Technology Think Tank and the 8th Credit & Collections Technology Awards.

The day kicked off with the Commercial Credit & Collections Conference, which featured discussions focused on business challenges. The format, which features panel discussions and roundtables, discussed credit risk, funding, late payment and insolvency was attended by nearly 60 credit professionals.

Event panellist Karen Ryan, Head of Customer Transitions from Clear Business, said, “It was a fantastic event, with great topics and a slightly different format that worked brilliantly. Everyone seemed really engaged, and the panel-to-roundtable format helped everyone feel completely involved.”

Fellow panellist Arvind Kumar, Credit Control Manager from Country Style Foods, said, “It was great to be part of the panel. The discussion on late payments, insolvency pressures, and the growing role of data brought out some valuable, real-world perspectives. Events like this are exactly what help move the industry forward.”

Running alongside the Conference was the Credit & Collections Technology Think Tank which which saw credit and collections strategies discussed by fourteen professionals from a variety of industry sectors.

Event Chair of the Think Tank, Chris Warburton, Director from RO Strategy, said “Another interesting Technology Think Tank, as ever, was a great way to reflect on the year that was and think about, plan for 2026.  Regulatory and data themes certainly came through this yea,r and there is no shortage of things to think about for the year ahead. A big thank you to the Credit Connect team for arranging everything, a great event.”

Panel speaker Chris Laverick, Customer Journey Manager from Natwest, said “AI in Collections and Recoveries is an opportunity, we shouldn’t resist it, rather embrace and use it to deliver smarter decisions, better outcomes and more human-centred experiences.

Event attendee, Neville Thorne, Director from Northeven said, “It was a really useful day with an excellent blend of ‘panel experience’ from origination, through servicing and beyond. There was also a good mix among the attendees.  Too often, events can be siloed in terms of origination only and be biased to one type of industry segment, like debt collections.  The range of viewpoints and interests added to the level of debate and challenge. An excellent blueprint.  Very effective.”

The insights from the Think Tank event were recorded and will be available on Credit Connect’s YouTube channel later this year

The Autumn event series Think Tank was sponsored by: Aryza, Exus, Financial Cloud, Indigo Cloud, Nomupay, TCN, Trust Payments and Yakara. Whilst the Commercial Credit and Collections Conference was supported by Marsh McLennan, Opus Business Advisory Group, CICM and MIL Collections

The evening proceedings were followed by the eighth Credit & Collections Technology Awards. Nineteen awards were awarded with  Dylan Jones, CEO of IE Hub, winning Technology Innovator – Person of the Year. Jones said “We are honoured to receive these awards, and I’m incredibly proud of what our team has achieved. Being recognised for our affordability and vulnerable customer solutions – and receiving the Technology Innovator of the Year Award – reinforces the importance of our mission. And I’m particularly proud to have received Technology Innovator – Person of the Year, although IE Hub’s success is down to the team behind me.We will continue to push boundaries to ensure people facing financial challenges get the support and tools they deserve.”

Commenting on the Autumn event series, host Colin White, Founding Director at Credit Connect Media, said, “It was great to see such a great mix of credit and collections professionals take part and attend the Think Tank and the Commercial Credit conference event, which also took place on the day. There was a lot of great content. This was the first year whereby we have split the discussions to review and discuss credit challenges every six months, and it is fair to say that there is an appetite for Spring and Autumn events to be included in the 2026 calendar.

“We will run the Spring Series in Nottingham on 19th May next year. The Spring Series also include the 2026 Industry Leaders list, and we also present an industry recognition award. We will share more news about the 2026 plan soon. For now, we would like to thank all the sponsors and attendees across our 2025 events and hope to see even more people attend next year.

If you are interested in speaking or becoming a sponsor for the next event, then call 01622 535075 or email colin.white@credit-connect.co.uk for more information. More online events will be confirmed soon.

Credit & Collections Technology Think Tank Key Take Aways

1. Regulatory pressure and the volume of change remain the most significant challenges for firms, especially smaller lenders facing existential threats from cumulative requirements such as PSD, subscription contracts, and affordability assessments.
2. Customer financial stress is deepening among those already struggling; while overall delinquency volumes remain stable, the “struggling cohort” is worsening, with distribution payments from DMPs nearly halved.
3. Customer behaviour under stress leads to avoidance, short-term decision making and reduced engagement, requiring tailored communication strategies grounded in behavioural insight.
4. Digital engagement continues to rise, but telephone contact remains crucial for identifying vulnerability, understanding context, and gathering complex information that is not readily available through digital channels.
5. Omnichannel strategies are essential, allowing customers to move fluidly between digital, email, app, SMS, WhatsApp and telephony depending on life events and emotional state.
6. Firms report rising DSAR volumes and increased scrutiny of data transparency, with expectations that future AI-driven finance apps may generate thousands of automated DSARs.
7. AI adoption is accelerating, but expectations frequently exceed practical value; firms emphasise starting small, ensuring data quality, and avoiding perceiving AI as a “magic blanket”.
8. Sector-specific AI language models are emerging to interpret collections vocabulary, vulnerability cues and customer intent while maintaining data privacy by running models locally.
9. Behavioural analytics and journey mapping are increasingly used to segment customers, identify mindsets and tailor communication based on tone, timing and channel preference.
10. Customer expectations of immediacy created by instant messaging channels mean firms must manage response times carefully to avoid creating friction.
11. Fraud risk is rising as fraudsters exploit advanced technology faster than regulated firms can adapt, increasing the urgency for robust data governance and transparency.
12. Industry perceptions remain mixed; improved data, education, transparency and oversight (e.g., Enforcement Conduct Board) are expected to support more accurate external views of the sector.

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Innovation

• Adoption of industry-specific AI language models combining multiple small and large models run locally to maintain data control.
• Use of predictive analysis to determine best contact time, channel, and customer receptiveness at various points in the collections life cycle.
• Application of behavioural insights, including customer mindset mapping, stress-driven bias identification, and data-informed persona development.
• Increasing focus on radical transparency and easy-access customer data portals enabling self-service DSAR retrievals.
• Expected emergence of AI-driven personal finance agents acting independently on behalf of consumers, contacting creditors and generating high DSAR volumes.

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Key Statistics

• 2,000+ DSARs received in a single day by one firm.
• 80–90% reduction in lending volumes seen in some markets due to tightened affordability expectations.
• Distribution payments from DMPs almost halved year-on-year.
• 40% of customers in one portfolio have at least one current vulnerability, with an average of three.

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Key Discussion Points

• The cumulative burden of regulatory change, including consumer duty, product sales data and affordability demands.
• Ambiguity and retrospective interpretation of regulation creating risk and repeated rework for firms.
• Customer financial stress and the widening divide between those managing vs. those deteriorating.
• Importance of treating communications as customer-experience assets, including simplicity, reading-age reduction and tone of voice.
• Increasing need for omnichannel capability and flexibility as preferences shift throughout the customer life cycle.
• The role of behavioural science in designing journeys, interventions and trigger-based communications.
• Challenges for smaller firms lacking the resources to meet regulatory and technological expectations.
• Data transparency pressures, DSAR surges and the need for robust governance infrastructure.
• Emerging risk that customer-side AI automation will transform engagement patterns and volumes.
• The growing importance of identifying vulnerability through speech analytics, face-to-face insights and AI-driven intent detection.
• Fraud risks escalating as criminals exploit AI at pace.
• Anticipated increases in claims, redress activity and cross-sector data access as historic data becomes newly accessible.