Collection Agency for Credit Unions: Recover Overdue Loans & Overdraft Fees

Your members trust you with their financial lives. When accounts go delinquent, the way you collect matters as much as the amount you recover. Kinum specializes in credit union debt recovery — empathetic, compliant, and designed to protect the member relationship your institution has spent years building.

• Are you a credit union dealing with rising delinquencies on auto loans, credit cards, personal loans, or overdraft accounts — and need a collection partner that understands the member-first culture you’re built on?
• A partner that operates at bank-grade data security standards (GLBA-compliant), so your member data never leaves a controlled, audited environment — and your examiners never flag your third-party vendor program.
• One that offers both a low-cost fixed-fee option for fresh accounts and a No Recovery, No Fee contingency model for older, harder-to-collect balances — so you match the tool to the account, not the other way around.
• Secure Excel imports a batch of accounts directly into our portal, so you don’t have to manually type every account one by one.

Kinum provides 100% reputation-safe collections for credit unions across all 50 states. GLBA, FDCPA, TCPA & PCI-DSS compliant. SSAE 18 SOC 1 Type 2 certified. 4.85★ from over 2,500 Google reviews.

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Credit unions today are managing more loan volume, more product complexity, and more delinquency pressure than at any point in the past decade. NCUA data shows overall loan delinquency rates at their highest level since 2013, with credit card and used auto loan charge-offs exceeding their peaks from the 2008 financial crisis. Meanwhile, NCUA’s 2025 supervisory priorities place collection program sufficiency at the top of every examination agenda.

Inside most credit unions, a small internal team is simultaneously handling early-stage calls, repossession deficiencies, charge-offs, legal files, and member service. Late-stage and lower-balance accounts are the first to fall through the cracks — not because of neglect, but because there simply aren’t enough hours.

The AR Pressure Points Credit Unions Know Too Well

These are precisely the reasons most credit unions keep early-stage work in-house and push tougher, late-stage, or charged-off accounts to a specialized agency that understands their environment.

What Credit Unions Should Expect From a Collection Partner

When you send member accounts to an outside agency, you are not just outsourcing phone calls — you are trusting that firm with the relationships your credit union has built. A capable partner should bring:

• Bank-grade data security — GLBA-mindset data handling, encrypted file exchange, role-based access controls, and annual third-party audits (Kinum holds SSAE 18 SOC 1 Type 2 certification).
• Full regulatory alignment — FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA, GLBA, and state-specific collection law compliance, with documented processes your examiners can review.
• A member-friendly tone — Firm, persistent, and professional — never threatening, never aggressive. Every Kinum call is recorded and subject to random audit.
• Omnichannel outreach — Written demands, phone calls, and where permitted, digital outreach — all within legal consent boundaries.
• Actionable reporting — Recovery broken down by product type, delinquency bucket, and account age so you can show meaningful results to your board and to examiners.
• A dedicated contact — Not a call center queue. A named Kinum representative who knows your credit union and your portfolio.

A good partner feels like an extension of your AR team, not a black box you hope is complying with the law.

Choose the Service Model That Fits You Best

Kinum offers both Fixed-Fee and Contingency-Based collection services:

• Fixed-Fee Service: Ideal for recently overdue accounts, providing predictable costs and rapid debt recovery.
• Contingency-Based Service: Perfect for older, challenging debts where our dedicated recovery specialists pursue collections diligently, only charging when successful.

Fixed-Fee Written Demands (Connect)

• Flat fee of approximately $15 per account for up to 5 professional demand letters.
• Letters go out under Kinum’s name as a licensed third-party collection agency — adding legal weight without involving your internal staff.
• Members pay your credit union directly — Kinum takes no percentage of what’s collected.
• Works best for accounts under 120 days past due where a formal third-party notice prompts a fast cure.
• USPS address verification included at no extra charge.
• Non-responsive accounts can be escalated to Step 2 contingency calls at any time.

Contingency Collection Calls (Collect)

• No recovery, no fee — Kinum earns a percentage only when funds are successfully recovered.
• Best for accounts over 120 days past due, broken promises, repeat delinquents, and charged-off balances your team no longer has bandwidth to pursue.
• Dedicated recovery specialists handle outbound campaigns on auto deficiencies, credit card charge-offs, personal loan balances, HELOC deficiencies, and overdraft accounts.
• Skip tracing included free — locating members who have moved or gone silent.
• Free credit bureau reporting (with your authorization) — an ethical, effective motivator for resolution.
• Free bankruptcy screening and litigious debtor checks on every account.
• When the balance and circumstances justify it, legal action is available through Kinum’s national attorney network — only with your explicit approval.

Serving Credit Unions Nationwide — All 50 States + Puerto Rico. Need a Collection Agency? Contact us High recovery rates. References from existing credit union clients available on request.

What Your Credit Union Needs to Get Started

• Member name, address, and contact information
• Account type and outstanding balance
• Date of last payment or date of delinquency
• Any prior internal collection activity or payment agreements
• Loan or account documentation to support the balance (provided on request)
• Most credit unions are fully onboarded within 2–3 business days of completing the online order form and signing the service agreement.
• There is no setup fee. Accounts can be submitted individually or in bulk via spreadsheet through Kinum’s secure 24/7 client portal with two-factor authentication.

Quick start: Send a test batch of 10–20 accounts or a CSV export. Kinum reviews in 1 business day and recommends the lowest-friction path for your portfolio.

Internal Practices That Improve Recovery Before Accounts Reach Us

External collections work best on top of a strong internal foundation. High-performing credit unions typically:

• Begin outreach at 15–29 days past due — not 60 or 90
• Offer realistic, time-limited workout arrangements for documented short-term hardship
• Segment high-risk accounts (indirect auto, higher-risk credit tiers, repeat delinquents) and set clear internal thresholds for when accounts move to third-party
• Keep documented records of all internal collection activity for examiner review
• Review portfolio performance by product type and delinquency bucket — not just as an aggregate\

Kinum can help your team refine these internal thresholds so the handoff to third-party collections is clean, timely, and documented.

NCUA 2025 Supervisory Priorities — What This Means for Your Collection Program

NCUA examiners in 2025 are specifically reviewing:

• The sufficiency of each credit union’s collection program — whether internal staffing and third-party vendor activity together represent adequate pursuit of delinquent accounts
• Credit card portfolio performance — delinquency and charge-off rates that now exceed 2008 crisis peaks
• Used auto loan deficiencies — delinquency and charge-off rates at their highest levels on record
• Third-party vendor oversight — documentation of how outside collection agencies are selected, monitored, and held to compliance standards
• Overdraft program compliance — policies, disclosures, and outreach practices under increasing CFPB scrutiny

Partnering with Kinum gives your credit union a documented, auditable, FDCPA-aligned collection program that holds up to examination. Our compliance certifications — SSAE 18 SOC 1 Type 2, GLBA, PCI-DSS, TCPA, FDCPA — are available for your vendor due diligence file.

Compliance & Data Security

• GLBA Compliant — Member nonpublic personal information handled under full Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act safeguards, including data minimization, secure storage, and privacy controls.
• SSAE 18 SOC 1 Type 2 Certified — Independently audited data security controls, reviewed annually by a third-party auditor. Kinum maintains a dedicated IT security officer.
• FDCPA & FCRA Aligned — Full legal adherence to federal consumer protection laws on every account, every call, every letter.
• PCI-DSS Compliant — Highest-tier payment data security for all member payment transactions processed through Kinum.
• TCPA Compliant — All outbound phone contact follows TCPA consent and timing requirements.
• Licensed in all 50 states + Puerto Rico — Bonded and insured nationwide.
• Bilingual collections — English and Spanish outreach available for credit unions serving diverse member communities.

Frequently asked Questions

Q: Is Kinum licensed to collect in our state?

A: Yes. Kinum is bonded, insured, and licensed to collect in all 50 US states and Puerto Rico. No matter where your credit union operates or where your members are located, Kinum can legally and compliantly pursue recovery.

State collection laws vary significantly — statute of limitations on debt, permissible contact hours, required disclosures, and licensing requirements all differ by jurisdiction. Kinum’s compliance team tracks state-level requirements continuously so your credit union never has to.

Q: What happens if a member files for bankruptcy after their account is placed with Kinum?

A: Collection activity stops immediately upon confirmed notice of bankruptcy filing, as required by the automatic stay provision of the US Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. § 362).

Kinum’s contingency collection service includes free bankruptcy screening on every account at placement, and ongoing monitoring flags accounts where bankruptcy is subsequently filed. Your credit union is notified promptly so the account can be handled appropriately — whether that means filing a proof of claim or reclassifying the account internally.

No collection fees are charged on accounts where bankruptcy prevents recovery.

Contact us for Credit Union Collections

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Credit unions are facing more credit stress, more regulatory scrutiny, and higher member expectations — all at once. You cannot afford to ignore delinquent accounts, and you cannot afford to pursue them in a way that damages the trust you’ve spent years building.

Kinum’s amicable approach — firm enough to recover, respectful enough to protect your reputation — is built for exactly this environment. We recover more by working with members rather than against them, keeping them willing to resolve rather than fighting back.

Need a Collection Agency? Contact us Or call us at 1-888-885-4686 | Email: ko@kinum.com