Madison Wyatt has released EFT Agree which is an electronic signature process, which can be used to authorize recurring payments while the consumer remains on the phone. An interactive voice recording (IVR) captures the consumer’s authorization through a unique identifier, the phone’s touch tones and a series of legal disclosures.
The combination of EFT Agree’s processes meet the requirements of an electronic signature, as defined by the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN). It was also specifically mentioned in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s compliance bulletin last month which stated “Regulation E may be satisfied if a consumer authorizes preauthorized EFTs by entering a code into their telephone keypad.”
While just being introduced to the marketplace, the EFT Agree product has been in existence since 2013. Early adopters have seen significantly higher recovery rates than other solutions.
Alex Reed, an EFT Agree adopter and Senior Vice President at CBE Group explained, “In today’s current environment, letters and web portals are most commonly used to be in compliance with Regulation E. These solutions, while compliant, have a low completion rate. We have been using EFT Agree since 2013 and typically see a 90-95% completion rate. This means that CBE Group has the ability to collect more money, all while remaining compliant.”
The higher completion rates can be attributed to the fact that the company’s agent remains on the line with the consumer throughout the entire process. By remaining on the call, the agent is able to assist the consumer and ensure authorization is given.
Reed added, “There is no lag time between the payment plan negotiation and capturing authorization. It is all handled while the consumer and the agent are on the phone. In my opinion, this is the most effective and efficient way to be both compliant and competitive.”
While Madison Wyatt is currently focused on capturing electronic authorization for recurring payments, the EFT Agree product has the ability to cross several industry types. It could potentially be used as a substitution for any electronic signature process such as for contracts and other signed documents.
