Credit Management

You can configure account types to classify customers to enable different credit control procedures to be employed for each account type.

When MVNOs take on post-paid customers they need to define a threshold of risk for the customer In the context of the Cloud Monetisation Platform, an individual or organisation who has signed an agreement to take goods and services from a service provider. A customer receives a bill associated with one or more subscriptions, and can be a single end user or a large company with many subscriptions assigned to one agreement., usually based on a credit score from a Credit Reference Agency (CRA Credit Reference Agency. A company that collects information relating to the credit ratings of individuals and makes it available to banks, finance companies, and so on.) and other factors such as a customer's salary. To do this, they define credit classes to classify their customers. In CMP Converged Monetisation Platform. The MDS Global product that supports customer care and billing for digital service providers. these credit classes map to account types. Each account has an associated account type, such as High Risk, Medium Risk, Low Risk or VIP, for example.

When invoices are produced, payment is usually required within a configurable number of days. If payment is not made within this time frame, the subscription A billing entity that incurs a charge. Examples include a network attached device whose usage you want to measure and charge for, or a monthly software subscription enters the applicable credit control procedure. The credit control procedure is driven by the account type. For example, you may not want to handle a VIP customer in the same way as a high risk customer.

If payment cannot be recovered by credit control procedure, the account is usually handed over to a Debt Recovery Agency (DRA Debt Recovery Agency. Companies that specialise in collecting debt when the original creditor cannot get the arrears repaid.). The debt recovery process is also driven by account types.

Changing an account type is via a workflow action.

To configure an account type, you:

• Specify a unique alphanumeric code for the account type and a brief meaningful description.
• Define how the account type is to be used, for example to designate a medium risk customer, a standard account type, an account in debt recovery or a fraudulent account, etc.
• Associate a credit control procedure with the account type.
• Specify whether this account type is to remain in credit control.
• Indicate if this account type is available to new accounts.
• Specify if accounts of this account type are to be included in the CRA extract and/or the DRA extract.

If an account type is to be included in the DRA extract, you must apply further configuration:

• Supply the code for the DRA.
• Indicate the position of the DRA in the debt recovery process. Is it the first DRA to handle this account? The second?
• Specify whether this account type is to be used for new/existing accounts in the DRA extract or in the final extract for an account.
• Specify the event type and event code for the workflow event associated with this account type.

The identity on an account can be managed as part of the credit control process.

When an account has been blacklisted, the identity associated with that account, such as a passport number or national identity card, is automatically set to Disallowed.

All subscriptions using the same Disallowed identity will also be marked as Disallowed, and no additional subscriptions using that identity can be added. The subscriptions with different identities to the account holder will not be blacklisted.

You can define the steps and actions in recovering outstanding invoice amounts from customers.

If a customer has not paid their invoice after a configurable number of days, they usually enter an applicable credit control procedure. A credit control procedure is a preconfigured, automated, and time-defined set of activities. This procedure, sometimes called dunning, methodically communicates with customers to ensure the collection of accounts receivable. Actions typically involve automatic generation of correspondence - SMS Short Message Service. A text messaging service component of most mobile telephone systems. SMS uses standardized communication protocols to enable mobile phone devices to exchange short text messages., email, calls, letters - or automatic provisioning In telecommunications, the setup of equipment, wiring and transmission to deliver services to a customer. activity such as applying bars. Communications can progress from gentle reminders to strongly-worded correspondence and restriction of service.

Credit control procedures are linked to account types, allowing different procedures to be carried out for different classes of customer.

Credit control procedures advance through stages. Workflow events associated with each stage enable automatic actions to be carried out as defined in Business Configuration A module in the CMP Administation console that provides for viewing and modification of business and user applicable system configuration.. The number of stages and the actions associated with each stage can be varied according to the account type.

An example credit control procedure is as follows:

• Account Balance becomes overdue (Day 0).
• Stage 1 (Day 3) - Letter generated to customer reminding of overdue balance and confirming ways to pay.
• Stage 2 (Day 7) - Workflow Event Generated for CSA Customer Service Agent, Advisor, or Assistant. A (usually) customer-facing role in telecommunications, such as an agent in a call centre. Variations include CSR (Customer Service Representative) or CEA (Customer Experience Agent) to telephone customer.
• Stage 3 (Day 9) - Automated Provisioning Activity to apply full bar.
• Stage 4 (Day 30) - Send Account Details to Debt Recovery Agency.

When an account is first placed onto a credit control procedure, it goes onto the first stage of the procedure. If the debt is not settled, subsequent credit control runs will advance the account through the stages, issuing the associated actions as it goes. A credit control stage can be added to write off unpaid debt, which will set the balance and overdue amounts on the account to zero. If the debt is settled, workflow events are also configured to handle this, for example removing any sanctions and restoring services. A stage can have no workflow configured, in which case there is no action performed. In this scenario the procedure stage is being used for holding purposes.

To configure a credit control procedure, you:

• Supply a unique alphanumeric code for the credit control procedure and a meaningful brief description.
• Define a minimum qualifying balance amount. Each credit control procedure is configured to apply only if a minimum amount of money is owing. This avoids the potentially alienating of customers by sending them reminder letters, or barring their service for small amounts of money.
• Set the procedure status as Released or Held. If a procedure is Held it means that no customer goes onto or moves through that procedure. They may come off it, however.
• Define the security level for users who have access to the procedure.
• Add explanatory text to help future CMP users understand the procedure.
• Configure the credit control procedure stages as follows:
  • Specify the procedure stage - the position of the stage in the sequence of stages for that procedure.
  • Provide the minimum number of days that must elapse since the account was placed on its current stage before it can be progressed onto this stage. In the case of the first stage it is usually the number of days after the invoice became due.
  • Select the type of amount that must be recovered - for example a full balance or the balance due.
  • Define whether progression from this stage requires a termination invoice or has no such restrictions.
  • Define the workflow events to take place when an account enters this stage and when payment is received at this stage.

You can specify what Debt Recovery Agencies (DRAs) are used to collect outstanding debt directly from customers.

If, at the end of a credit control procedure, the amount owing has not been recovered, an account typically enters a debt recovery process in which the account is handed over to a Debt Recovery Agent (DRA). Debt Recovery Agencies are companies who specialise in collecting debts where the original creditor cannot get arrears repaid.

CMP generates a file, the Debt Recovery Agency (DRA) extract that includes accounts to be referred to the debt collection agency including details such as:

• The amount of money to recover from the customer.
• The amount that was recovered since the last extract.
• Contact information such as postal address, email address and telephone numbers.

The agency in turn can provide feedback such as the amount recovered. When CMP receives debt recovery response files, these are automatically detected and processed. You can configure override workflow events to be used for specific DRA response codes that have been received.

For more information on Debt Recovery in CMP, see the Debt Recovery sections in the Business Configuration Overview and the Batch Jobs and JSON JavaScript Object Notation. JSON is a lightweight format for storing and transporting data, often used when data is sent from a server to a web page. Schemas Guide documentation.

Whether an account enters debt recovery is linked to its account type and whether accounts of that type are included in the DRA extract that CMP produces for DRAs. You configure this when creating an account type. You also configure the DRA to which the extract will be sent. To do this, you first need to have configured DRAs as follows:

• Provide a unique alphanumeric code for the DRA and a brief meaningful description.
• Provide a company ID and a company type which will appear in the credit extract. This is usually decided with the DRA beforehand.
• Identify the sender (the company sending the DRA extract).
• Choose a default response event type.
• Indicate whether this DRA is available to new accounts.
• If required, configure override workflow events used for specific DRA response codes received.

A spend cap A service for customers that applies a limit to how much usage a customer can consume outside of their allowances or bolt-on extras, preventing spending over a certain amount. is a service for customers that applies a limit to how much usage The consumption of services, for example a subscriber using call minutes. a customer can consume outside of their allowances or bolt-on An addition to a subscriber's main plan or product; also sometimes called an add-on. extras, preventing spending over a certain amount. This can help avoid overspending and bill shock The negative reaction a subscriber can experience if their phone bill has unexpected charges.. Spend caps can be for:

• Value - applies to monetary/overage. This can be defined in CMP.
• Volume - applies to data usage. This can be defined directly in the OCS.
• Duration - applies to voice/SMS usage. This can be defined directly in the OCS.

There are two types of value spend cap A limit on a subscriber's service.:

• Full - this applies to all usage and is concerned with money overage only.

  A postpaid subscriber The end user of a network. must always have full cap.

• Partial - this applies to specific usage with money overage only.

In Business Configuration, you can define, edit and remove spend caps that you can also link to usage class groups.

To configure a spend cap, you:

• Provide a unique alphanumeric code for the spend cap and a brief meaningful description.
• Specify the type of cap - whether full or partial usage.
• Define the default cap amount and the maximum amount.
• Choose the name for the spend cap in the online charging system (OCS).
• Configure the workflow event types and codes for when a spend cap is added, removed or altered.
• Specify whether the spend cap is active.
• Add optional explanatory text to help the understanding of future Business Configuration users.

You can also view the network In the context of CMP, the infrastructure on which usage of registered customers will be measured – this could be a mobile phone network, broadband network or other non-telecommunications network. that the spend cap is associated with and the Usage Class Group that defines the specific usage that contributes to the consumption of the spend cap, as well as any notification thresholds associated with the spend cap.