Management of
Hardcore Delinquent Accounts
Day II- Session 2
Remedial Management Unit

Remedial Management Unit
Session Outline
• Definition of Hardened Accounts
• Definition & Goals of Remedial Management
• Remedial Management Unit (RMU)
- Functions
- Structure
- Staffing
- Workload
• Remedial Management Process

What are Hardened Accounts?
• Accounts classified uncollectible, and therefore, worthless
• Accounts requiring remedial or legal action as the only alternative to minimize losses
• Loan accounts that are typically 90 or more days overdue

What is Remedial Management?
• The process of instituting effective and practical approaches in the collection and recovery of hardcore delinquent accounts.
• Management of problem accounts, where early detection plays a major role.

Goals of Remedial Management
• Implement preventive measures to minimize delinquency
• Incorporate monitoring processes to detect when accounts begin to deteriorate and to classify problem accounts before they become hardcore delinquent
• Maximize collection efforts through assigning a specialized unit to manage the recovery process

What is a Remedial Management Unit?
A specialized unit to manage the collection and recovery of all written off or hardened accounts.

Functions of the
Remedial Management Unit
• Transfer the responsibility of recovery to a specialized unit that has is trained and responsible solely to the recovery of hardcore delinquent accounts.
• Relieve branches of “uncollectible” accounts to focus on serving existing productive accounts and generating new accounts

Remedial Management Unit
Structure
• A Remedial Management Unit set up is ideal for banks with multi-branches
• A single unit bank may opt to assign an experienced account officer or collector solely for remedial management functions

Remedial Management Unit
Staffing
Recommended Staffing for the RMU:
1. Unit head, preferably from among experienced Microfinance supervisors, to be based in the head office
2. At least two dedicated Collection Officers with experience and demonstrated success in resolving delinquent or problem accounts
3. RMU reports to the President or Head of
Lending Operations

Remedial Management Unit
Workload
• As a rule of thumb, the RMU has 200 or more accounts
• The ideal caseload per Collection Officer is 100-
150 delinquent accounts
• Unit Head assigns geographic areas to Collection
Officers for efficiency in loan recovery efforts

Remedial Management Unit
Remedial Management Process
1. Classify Accounts
2. Recommend Accounts to RMU
3. Evaluation of Accounts by RMU
4. File Transfer
5. Pre-collection Preparation
6. Collection Process
7. Developing Payment Plan
8. Incentivizing Staff
9. Internal Control
10.Performance Monitoring Reports

RMU
Remedial Management Process
Classify Accounts
Pre-collection
Preparation
Create
Incentives
For Staff
Recommend Accounts to RMU
Evaluation of Accounts by RMU
Collection
Process
Internal
Control
Mechanisms
File Transfer
Developing
Payment
Plan
Performance
Monitoring
Reports

Remedial Management Process
Classify Accounts & Recommend to RMU
• AOs alert MF Supervisor/Branch Manager when an account becomes difficult to collect or “hardened”
• MF Supervisor/Branch Manager evaluate status of account
• All possible measures taken in the field to recover account
• When collection options are exhausted ……
MF Supervisor/Branch Manager recommends to write off a loan

Remedial Management Process
Evaluation of Accounts by RMU
• RMU and senior management review recommendations from branches to write off loans
• RMU validates recommendation for loan write off through review of account folders and a branch site visit to discuss the status of the account with the AO, supervisor and branch manager
• Senior management validates loan write off and the account is “transferred” from the branch to the RMU

Remedial Management Process
File Transfer
• Account files transferred from branch to the RMU
• A Statement of Account for each account transferred to the
RMU should be prepared and filed in each credit file.
• The account transfer is formalized to reflect the RMU’s responsibility for loan recovery or resolution

Remedial Management Process
Pre-collection Preparation
• RMU classifies accounts according to:
• Collectible
• Uncollectible
• Collection officers should focus initially on higher potential collectible accounts
• Collection officers organizes field visits

Remedial Management Process
Collection Process
• RMU staff visit borrower with written off or hardened accounts at least twice a month
• RMU staff follow up on collection agreements and propose an approach to recover the account;
• Recovery activities organized per area to maximize the minimum target of 15-25 clients per Collection Officer;
• Collections shall be turned-over to the branch or office where the CO has completed the collection;
• Collection reports organized daily or weekly as procedures dictate

Remedial Management Process
Developing Payment Plan
Payment Terms
I.
Full settlement w/in 60 days after notice.
II.
Full settlement of account in single payment over 60 days
Amount Collectible
1. Principal balance only.
1. Principal balance, plus
2. Accrued interest up to date of payment
III.
Settlement of account on staggered basis a) 3 months w/ monthly payments b) 4 months w/ monthly payments
1. Principal balance, plus
2. Accrued interest, plus
3. 25% of penalties due;
1. Principal balance, plus
2. Accrued interest, plus
3. 50% of penalties due

Remedial Management Process
Creating Incentives
A commissioned-based incentive scheme should be developed to motivate the RMU to recover hardcore accounts in its portfolio:
• 10% commission for accounts considered collectible
• 30% on accounts considered uncollectible
• All staff facilitating the collection of bad accounts should be considered for incentives

Remedial Management Process
Internal Control
• Control and custody of credit files
• Preparation and review of final Statement of
Account
• Designate approving authorities on final settlement option and rescheduling of payments
• Timely turn over of collections to nearest branch office
• Monitoring of collections and other cash management issues
• Separate MIS listing of written off accounts

Remedial Management Process
Performance Monitoring Reports
• Daily collection and follow up reports
• Weekly performance reports
• Monthly Status Reports of Collections

Remedial Management Unit
Recommendations
• RMU is an effective and practical approach to collect and recover hardcore delinquent accounts.
• To be effective, RMU must be a separate, specialized unit with its own portfolio of hardened accounts.
• RMU must have goals and targets and reporting mechanisms.