AEON Credit Uses AI Voice Bots To Chase Loan Repayments As Lower-Income Borrowers Feel Financial Strain

AEON Credit’s customers are mostly lower-income Malaysians. Now, some of them are struggling to keep up with their loan repayments, and the company has deployed AI-powered voice bots to automate repayment reminder calls and payment follow-ups.

AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd FB / Unsplash

In Brief

AEON Credit is using AI-powered voice bots to automate debt recovery calls, freeing human officers for higher-risk cases.
Younger and lower-income B40 and M40 customers are showing financial strain amid rising costs and geopolitical pressures.

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Non-bank lender AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd has deployed AI-powered voice bots to automate loan repayment follow-ups, as its chief financial officer flagged rising financial stress among younger and lower-income borrowers in its first-quarter results.

The non-bank lender’s chief financial officer, Lee Siew Tee, told The Edge that younger and lower-income customers are under relatively higher stress, particularly within its personal financing and used-car financing portfolios.

“Customers tend to be more sensitive to changes in living costs and economic conditions,” Lee said.

The strain comes against a backdrop of rising oil prices tied to the Middle East conflict, along with broader cost-of-living pressures.

To manage the situation, AEON Credit has turned to AI-powered voice bots to automate reminder calls and payment follow-ups.

AI Being Used For Debt Recovery

The bots are used mainly on lower-risk customers, freeing up human collection officers to focus on higher-risk, more complex cases.

“This enables us to engage a larger customer base… [and] strengthened overall collection effectiveness,” Lee said.

AI is also being used in credit assessment, portfolio monitoring and customer analytics, according to Lee.

Despite the pressure on certain segments, Lee said overall repayment behaviour remains in line with expectations.

The company’s non-performing loan ratio stood at 2.6% for the first quarter of its 2027 financial year, largely unchanged from a year ago.

Aeon Credit Keeping An Eye On Headwinds

Lee said the company continues to watch “persistent geopolitical uncertainties and cost of living pressures” for their effect on how customers repay.

Net profit for the quarter came in at RM95.16 million, up 22.7% from a year earlier.

Its receivables write-off ratio also ticked up to 1.4%, above its historical average of 1.3%.

This is something the company says it’s working to bring back down.

Younger and lower-income customers are showing signs of financial stress, according to the company’s CFO. AEON Credit said the AI deployment has strengthened overall collection effectiveness, while human officers remain focused on higher-risk cases.