NBFCs and consumer-finance lenders
Lenders with thousands of small-ticket EMIs where the volume of reminders outgrows a collections desk's capacity for friendly early contact.
Job to be done: remind borrowers before and just after the due date
EMI payment reminder calls that stay polite and capture a promise to pay
An EMI reminder agent calls borrowers a few days before the due date, and shortly after a missed one, to remind them of the amount and date, share how to pay, and record when they intend to pay. It does not negotiate, threaten or pursue recovery; disputes and hardship go to your team.
Who it is for
Who should use this?
Fintech lending apps and co-lenders
Digital lenders whose borrowers are used to app notifications and who benefit from a human-sounding voice reminder when notifications are ignored.
Retailers and manufacturers offering instalments
Businesses that finance purchases of two-wheelers, appliances or devices and want reminders without involving a collections agency.
Housing, education and equipment finance teams
Teams with fewer but larger instalments, where a timely reminder and a clear payment link matter more than call volume.
The problem
Why do borrowers miss an EMI they could have paid?
Most early delinquency is not unwillingness. A salary arrives later than the mandate date. The account being debited has too little balance on the one day it matters. The borrower forgot, or believes the auto-debit will run and it fails. The lender's SMS reminder is lost among promotional messages. These are reminder problems, and a timely, courteous call solves many of them at a cost no collections desk can match at scale.
The risk in this category is not capacity but tone. Reminder calls that drift into pressure damage the lending relationship, create complaints, and can put the lender on the wrong side of conduct rules. For that reason the design of an automated reminder is mostly about what the agent will not do: it will not repeat itself aggressively, will not call at odd hours, will not discuss the loan with anyone but the borrower, and will not make statements about consequences.
That is why this page describes a narrow job: remind, make payment easy, and record the borrower's own stated date. Anything that requires judgement, such as restructuring, waivers, or a disputed charge, is a human conversation. We describe the regulator's expectations only as they appear in published RBI instructions; this page is not legal advice and your compliance team owns the final script.
Call flow
How does the call work, step by step?
- 1
Receive the due list
Your loan system sends borrower name, phone, EMI amount, due date and a payment link or instructions on a daily schedule. Vaami does not need the full loan record.
- 2
Pick the reminder stage
Each account falls into a stage you define, for example a few days before due, due today, or one to three days after a missed payment. Each stage has its own wording.
- 3
Apply the calling window
Calls go out only in the hours your policy allows. RBI's instructions on recovery agents refer to not calling before 8:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m.; many lenders choose a narrower window.
- 4
Verify the right person
The agent asks for the borrower by name. If someone else answers, it shares nothing about the loan and ends the call politely, logging a wrong-party outcome.
- 5
Share the facts and the lender's name
The agent states who is calling, which lender, the EMI amount and the due date, and nothing else about the account.
- 6
Offer easy payment
The agent says how to pay, such as the app, UPI link or branch, and can send the link by SMS during the call if your account is set up for it.
- 7
Capture the borrower's own date
If the borrower cannot pay now, the agent asks when they expect to pay and records that date as a promise-to-pay, without bargaining over it.
- 8
Route exceptions
Job loss, illness, a disputed charge or a request to speak to someone goes to your customer-care or collections team with a transcript and a reason tag.
- 9
Close with a clear summary
The agent repeats the amount and the date the borrower gave, thanks them, and ends. The outcome is written back to your loan system.
Example script, illustrative, not a recorded customer call
What might this call sound like?
Pre-due reminder, three days before the EMI date, consumer loan for a two-wheeler.
Agent
Hello, may I speak with Mr. Rajesh Kumar? This is a payment reminder call from Example Finance.Customer
Yes, speaking.Agent
Thank you, Mr. Kumar. This is a courtesy reminder that your EMI of 3,450 rupees is due on the 5th. Is now a good moment for a short call?Customer
Yes, go ahead.Agent
You can pay through the Example Finance app, or by the UPI link we can text you right now. Would you like the link?Customer
Send the link. Actually, my salary comes on the 7th this month.Agent
Understood, thank you for telling me. Shall I note that you plan to pay on the 7th?Customer
Yes, the 7th.Agent
Noted, a payment date of the 7th. I'll send the link now. If your plans change or you have questions about the amount, our customer care team can help.Customer
Okay. Is there any extra charge for paying on the 7th?Agent
I can't advise on charges on this call. I'll pass your question to our customer care team, and they will contact you. Thank you for your time, Mr. Kumar.Hinglish variant (opening and payment link)
Agent
Namaste, kya main Rajesh Kumar ji se baat kar raha hoon? Main Example Finance ki taraf se ek chhota sa reminder call kar raha hoon.Customer
Haan, boliye.Agent
Aapki 3,450 rupaye ki EMI 5 tareekh ko due hai. Kya main payment ka link SMS kar doon?Customer
Haan bhej do, par salary 7 ko aayegi.Agent
Theek hai, main 7 tareekh ka payment date note kar leta hoon. Dhanyavaad.Limits
What can the agent do, and what can it not?
The agent can
- State the lender, amount, due date and payment options in a calm, scripted way.
- Send a payment link by SMS if your account has that configured.
- Record the borrower's own stated payment date as a promise-to-pay.
- Stop immediately on a request not to be called, and log it for your suppression list.
- Transfer or log a callback request to your care team with the transcript.
The agent cannot
- Negotiate amounts, waive charges, offer restructuring or settle disputes.
- Make threats or statements about legal action, credit reporting or visits to the borrower's home or employer.
- Discuss the loan with family members, colleagues or any third party who answers.
- Call outside the window you configure, or call repeatedly in a day beyond your frequency cap.
It hands off to a human when
- Borrower mentions hardship, bereavement, illness or job loss.
- Borrower disputes the amount, claims the EMI was already paid, or says the loan is not theirs.
- Borrower is upset or asks for a human or a written communication.
- Borrower asks for restructuring, foreclosure figures or legal information.
Measurement
Which metrics should you track?
We do not promise a result here. Define each metric before launch, record a baseline, and compare a called cohort against a control group where you can.
| Metric | How to define it |
|---|---|
| Reach rate | Calls answered by the borrower divided by calls placed, per reminder stage and time slot. |
| Promise-to-pay capture rate | Reached borrowers who gave a payment date divided by reached borrowers who did not pay on the call. |
| Promise kept rate | Payments received by the stated promise date divided by promises captured. |
| Early-bucket roll rate | Share of accounts that moved from current into the first overdue bucket, compared against a cohort that received only SMS. |
| Complaint rate per thousand calls | Complaints about reminder calls received through any channel, divided by calls placed, tracked weekly. |
| Escalation reasons | Escalated calls grouped by tag such as dispute, hardship, wrong party, to show what your process needs to fix. |
Integrations
Which systems does this connect to?
Zoho CRM
Store reminder outcomes and promise-to-pay dates on the borrower record.
View integrationSalesforce
Write call results back to Salesforce-based loan or service objects.
View integrationFreshdesk
Open a ticket for disputes and hardship cases handed to customer care.
View integrationZapier
Move a daily due-list from a sheet or a database into call campaigns.
View integrationOther systems can connect through webhooks and the API described on the Voice Intelligence page or through the full integrations list.
Compliance notes
What compliance questions come up?
- RBI's instructions on recovery agents, issued as RBI/2022-23/108 on 12 August 2022, list persistently calling a borrower and calling before 8:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. among practices a regulated entity must ensure neither it nor its agents resort to. Design the call window and frequency cap with that in mind and have your compliance team review it.
- Outbound calls in India are subject to TRAI's commercial-communication rules and DLT registration, and to checking the National DND registry where a call is classed as promotional. A reminder about the borrower's own loan is typically service-related, but classification is a legal question for you, not for the vendor.
- Loan details are personal data under the DPDP Act. Disclose to the borrower only after confirming identity, record calls only with a disclosure, and keep retention to your documented period.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Have your own counsel confirm how rules apply to your business. Read more: TRAI & DLT for AI calling, DPDP and call recording, DND registry and AI calls. Definitions are in the voice AI glossary.
How long does setup take?
A standard reminder configuration with one due-list feed, one or two languages and two reminder stages is typically live in under one business day. Your compliance review of the script is a separate step and usually the longer one.
What does it cost?
Reminder calls are usage-priced on the published plans. See the pricing page, and use the calculator to estimate your monthly reminder volume.
When is this not a fit?
- You want an agent to negotiate settlements, press for payment or handle seriously delinquent accounts.
- Your compliance team has not approved an automated voice channel for borrower contact.
- You do not hold reliable phone numbers or consent records, so calls would reach the wrong people.
- Your borrowers are mostly corporate accounts that deal with a named relationship manager.
FAQ
Questions about emi payment reminders.
Is this debt collection?
No. The agent reminds and records a date the borrower gives. It does not demand payment, discuss consequences or negotiate. If your process needs recovery conversations, those stay with trained people operating under your recovery policy.
Does the AI tell the borrower it is an AI?
You decide the disclosure wording with your compliance team. We recommend stating at the start that the call is an automated reminder from the lender, and handing to a human whenever the borrower asks.
Which RBI rules apply to reminder calls?
The published instruction we reference is RBI/2022-23/108 on recovery agents, which includes calling hours of 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and the avoidance of persistent calling and intimidation. Whether other circulars apply depends on your type of regulated entity, so check with your compliance counsel.
Can it speak regional languages?
Yes. Hindi, Hinglish, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi and Malayalam are supported. Use the language the borrower chose at onboarding where you hold that data.
What if the borrower says they already paid?
The agent apologises, records a claimed-paid outcome with the reference they give, and hands it to your team to reconcile. It does not argue the point.
How many reminders per borrower is reasonable?
That is your policy decision. Many lenders cap calls at one per stage and one per day. Set a hard frequency cap in the campaign so the agent cannot exceed it even if the list contains duplicates.
See this call flow running on your own data.
Book a free demo and we will walk through the emi payment reminders flow with your scripts, systems and languages.