Research & development · Australia
Debt resolution that starts with the person, and starts earlier.
Adeva Pro builds collections software. Now we're building AI to answer two hard questions: what can this person realistically pay, and how should we talk to them? And can we see financial stress coming before it becomes debt?
Two problems we're working on
Collections today is mostly reactive and one-size-fits-all: the same letters, the same schedules, the same channels, sent after an account has already fallen behind. We think better data and careful AI can make it both kinder and more effective.
Problem 01
Better payment plans and better conversations
Most people who fall behind want to resolve it. What gets in the way is a plan they can't sustain, contact at the wrong time or through the wrong channel, or a tone that makes them disengage.
We're building AI that takes into account the full picture a creditor is permitted to use: demographic context, income and expense patterns, payment history, life events and stated preferences. From that it proposes:
- Affordable plans: instalment amounts and schedules a person can realistically keep, aligned to when they're paid.
- The right point of contact: SMS, email, voice, letter or a self-service portal, chosen by what's worked for similar people and what they've asked for.
- The right time and tone: plain language, respectful framing, and contact at reasonable hours and frequencies.
- Hardship signals: flags for vulnerability or hardship that route the account to a person and to support options, not to escalation.
The goal is a plan that gets kept, not just a promise to pay. That's better for the person and for the creditor.
Problem 02
Seeing problem debt before it happens
By the time an account reaches collections, options have narrowed for everyone. Many of the signs of financial stress show up earlier: changing payment patterns, partial payments, shifts in contact behaviour.
We're developing early-warning models that estimate which accounts are likely to become problem debt, and explain why, so creditors can act while there's still room to help:
- A friendly reminder or a change of due date, before a missed payment compounds.
- A flexible plan offered proactively, rather than after default.
- Hardship referral to the creditor's hardship team or to free financial counselling.
Early warning is meant to trigger support, not penalties. Predictions are advisory, explainable and reviewed by people.
How we build it
Debt is personal and the stakes are real. These are the commitments we design against.
Fairness
We test models for disparate outcomes across groups and don't use demographic data to disadvantage people, only to understand their circumstances better.
Explainability
Every recommendation comes with reasons a collector, a compliance team and the customer can understand.
Human in the loop
AI suggests; people decide. Hardship and vulnerability cases go to trained staff.
Privacy by design
We design to the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988: data minimisation, purpose limitation and secure handling.
Conduct-aware
Contact rules are shaped by the ASIC and ACCC debt collection guideline: reasonable frequency and hours, no harassment, no misleading pressure.
Measured honestly
We'll judge success by plans kept, hardship identified and customer experience, not just dollars recovered.
We're describing design goals and the frameworks we work to. We don't claim any certification or regulatory approval.
We're raising
Help us bring this to people who need it
We're seeking funding partners to move this work from research into early pilots. We'd like to talk with:
- Investors interested in responsible fintech and financial inclusion.
- Grant bodies and programs supporting R&D, innovation and financial wellbeing.
- Impact and philanthropic funders focused on financial hardship.
Funding would go toward model research and fairness testing, privacy and security engineering, and running carefully governed pilots with creditor partners.
Talk to us about fundingBecome a pilot partner
We're looking for organisations that carry receivables and care how they recover them:
- Creditors
- Local councils
- Utilities
- Lenders
- Telcos
- Collection agencies
Early pilot partners help shape the product, the fairness tests and the metrics that matter.
Register pilot interestLet's talk
Whether you're a funder, a potential pilot partner, a financial counsellor or a researcher, we'd like to hear from you.
Looking for our existing collections software? Visit adevapro.com.au.