The birth of Senti

Turn call recordings into insights real time with AI

A Growing Problem in the World of Lending

In the dynamic world of digital lending, efficiency isn't just a luxury—it's a necessity. At Apollo Finvest while we seamlessly ploughed through most of our operational mountains with tech and automation, there was one critical area where our control was limited: collections.

Collections are the cornerstone of any lending operation. They influence not only the repayment rate but also the overall borrower experience. Unfortunately, when borrowers faced unprofessional or harsh interactions during collections, complaints would inevitably find their way back to us, sometimes even escalating to the regulatory bodies. These incidents risked tarnishing our operational expectations and, more importantly, jeopardized the borrower experience we strived to perfect.

Chapter 1: The Struggle of Manual Processes

Our initial approach to handling collections involved manual sampling of call recordings—a daunting task when you're receiving between 50,000 and 60,000 calls a month. With each call averaging about two to three minutes, it was humanly impossible to analyze every single one. Instead, our operations team would sift through a mere 5% to 10% of these calls, hoping to catch any anomalies. However, this method was fraught with inefficiencies.

Typical complaints included:

• Collection agents using rude or abusive language.

• Calls being made at inconvenient times.

Despite our best efforts, many negative calls slipped through the cracks. The operations team, bogged down by this monotonous task, couldn’t catch every issue, leading to delayed responses and unresolved borrower grievances. It became clear that we needed a solution that could handle the scale and provide real-time insights.

Chapter 2: The Birth of Senti

The Eureka Moment

The answer: AI. We needed a tool that could analyze every call, identify sentiment, and flag problematic interactions instantly. This realization led to the birth of Senti, our in-house AI-based audio sentiment analysis tool.

Building the API

Creating Senti was no small feat. We began by leveraging an archive of over five to six lakh call recordings collected over several years. These recordings were not just stored but had already been sample-checked and tagged with feedback, providing a robust dataset for training our AI model.

The real challenge lies in the language. In India, collections often occur in Hindi, with many calls switching between Hindi, English and a variety of different regional languages. We needed Senti to understand this linguistic fluidity and accurately interpret the sentiment of these multilingual interactions.

Our team spent nearly a year refining the AI model. We trained it to distinguish between positive, negative, and neutral tones, accounting for cultural nuances and linguistic variations. By the time Senti was ready, it could seamlessly analyze calls in multiple languages, delivering precise sentiment scores and remarks.

Chapter 3: Transforming Collections with Senti

Real-Time Analysis

The impact of Senti was immediate and profound. As soon as a collection call is uploaded, Senti will analyse it and provide a sentiment score and a concise explanation. This enabled us and our fintech partners to address negative interactions in real time!

Operational Efficiency

Internally, the transformation was just as significant. Where the operations team previously spent 5 to 6 hours each week manually reviewing random calls, they now needed less than 30 mins to review only the flagged negative calls. This shift allowed them to focus on more critical tasks, ensuring that every problematic interaction was handled swiftly and appropriately.

Chapter 4: A New Era for Apollo Finvest

Senti didn’t just streamline our processes—it revolutionized them. With Senti, we regained control over the entire lending lifecycle, from disbursement to collections. Borrowers received faster resolutions, and our partners could maintain higher standards of professionalism in their interactions.

Conclusion: The Future with Senti

With continuous improvements and adaptations, we are confident that Senti will not only keep up with the evolving needs of digital lending but will also set new standards for what’s possible with technology in the digital lending space.

Today many of our Fintech and NBFC partners have deployed Senti to monitor all their collection calls

This has now equipped them to ensure that every borrower interaction—from the first loan disbursement to the final collection—is handled with the care and professionalism our customers deserve.

Go ahead, try out Senti yourself: https://www.apollofinvest.com/apollo-intelligence