Empathy at Scale: How Spocto X is Humanizing Debt Collections in India

Mathangi Sri Ramachandran, Chief Data Officer, Spocto X - A Yubi Company

In India’s ₹55,000 crore debt collections ecosystem, a silent revolution is unfolding—one where algorithms are learning to listen, data is speaking in dialects, and recovery is being reimagined as rehabilitation.

Let’s rewind a bit. In a country as diverse as India, where languages, livelihoods and life circumstances change every few kilometers, this was never going to be simple. But here’s what we’ve discovered: hidden in all those repayment patterns, missed calls and regional dialects are clues to doing this better. At Spocto X - A Yubi Company, we’re using data not as a hammer, but as a listening device - to understand when a farmer in Punjab might need more time after a poor harvest, or why a shopkeeper in Chennai responds better to voice notes than text messages.

This isn’t about being soft on repayments. It’s about being smart with relationships. When we truly understand people’s realities - through the data they generate in everyday financial interactions - we can craft solutions that work for both lenders and borrowers.

The surprising truth? People want to pay what they owe. They just need to be met where they are - in their language, in their circumstances, with solutions that respect their dignity. And that’s exactly what data, used thoughtfully, allows us to do.

Speaking Their Language: Why Words Matter

India’s linguistic diversity has long been a barrier to financial inclusion. A farmer in Punjab, a shopkeeper in Kolkata, and a gig worker in Mumbai don’t just speak different languages—they inhabit different emotional landscapes. Imagine receiving loan reminders in a language you barely understand, filled with legal jargon that makes no sense to your daily life. This has been a frustrating reality for countless Indians.

Traditional collections, reliant on generic SMS blasts and robotic IVR calls, failed to bridge these divides. Spocto X’s breakthrough came when data revealed a truth hidden in plain sight: communication isn’t about what you say, but how it’s heard.

Enter Bhaasa, a multilingual AI engine that functions less like a translator and more like a cultural interpreter. Trained on 40 million borrower interactions, Bhaasa doesn’t merely convert Hindi to Tamil or English to Bengali—it deciphers context. By analyzing regional idioms, payment cycles tied to harvests or festivals, and even vocal cadences, the system tailors conversations to resonate with borrowers’ lived realities. A reminder in Punjabi post-harvest yields a significantly higher response rate than a generic message. Bhaasa is helping lenders improve early-bucket resolution rates by 10–12%, while maintaining a high net promoter score (NPS)—a clear signal that empathy, when powered by data and delivered at scale, truly resonates with borrowers.

“AI’s power lies in its ability to mirror human complexity. When a borrower hears their dialect, they don’t hear a bot—they hear a neighbor.”

To make human conversations more humane you need bots. Imagine a human collection agent doing 100 calls a day, hearing different traumatic stories of why one cannot pay or toxic refusal to pay - it's humanly impossible to be nice and empathetic or to radiate positive overtones to solve the customer problems. It is only natural that agents get absorbed in the gravity of the situation and sound Transactional and in many cases downright brutal. A conversational bot does not get carried away by the toxic or traumatic conversations and handles situations with required grace infused with assertiveness.

Showing Rather Than Telling: The Power of Video

We've all ignored a text message at some point, especially when it's about money. But what if that reminder came as a short, friendly video explaining exactly what you owe and when? That's the idea behind YuVin, our video messaging system that can create personalized Indian personas to increase engagement with the person.

For a fisherman in Kerala, we create a video that ties his payments to his fishing seasons. For a street vendor in Mumbai, we show how small daily payments can add up without straining his budget. It's surprising how much difference this makes - people who get these personalized videos are more than twice as likely to pay on time compared to those who get standard texts.

The Human Touch in a Digital System

Behind all this technology is one simple truth: people want to pay their debts, they just need help doing it. Our YuCI system acts like a smart assistant for both borrowers and collection agents. It can spot when someone is going through a tough time (maybe they mentioned hospital bills in a call) and automatically adjust their payment plan. It helps our agents focus on solving problems rather than just chasing payments.

Looking Ahead: A Deep Empathetic Approach to Debt

What excites us the most isn't just improving collection rates (though that's important). It's seeing how small changes - speaking the right language, showing rather than telling, understanding people's situations - can make a huge difference in people's lives. We're proving that you can collect debts effectively without being aggressive, that technology can humanize rather than dehumanize.

At the end of the day, debt collection isn't about numbers on a spreadsheet. It's about real people trying to manage their money and their lives. By letting data guide us to more understanding approaches, we're not just changing an industry - we're changing how people experience one of life's most stressful situations. And that's something worth building.

Moneycontrol Journalists are not involved in creation of this article.