Overview: The 2026 Collections Playbook serves as a strategic roadmap for leaders navigating rising customer expectations and shifting regulations. Grounded in over a year of proprietary data, it tracks 2 million anonymised repayment journeys across the UK, US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The project moved beyond reactive measures to provide a forward-looking direction for the industry, based on real-world engagement patterns from 2024 and 2025.

Deliverables: The project synthesised complex data science into an actionable, insight-driven playbook. The analysis focused on key behavioural signals and repayment trends across diverse markets and product types. To ensure practical application, the data was paired with expert perspectives from creditors and consultants, translating large-scale patterns into specific strategies for collections teams to use in the field.

Results: By normalising global performance data, the playbook successfully identified the critical shifts required for modern debt resolution. The integration of data science with human insight provided organisations with a high-credibility tool for strategic decision-making. This resource enables collections leaders to align their operations with actual customer behaviour, fostering more confident and effective engagement at scale.