Collections representative vs customer care representative

The differences between collections representatives and customer care representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a collections representative and a customer care representative. Additionally, a collections representative has an average salary of $34,015, which is higher than the $32,912 average annual salary of a customer care representative.

The top three skills for a collections representative include payment arrangements, customer service and delinquent accounts. The most important skills for a customer care representative are customer care, customer service, and work ethic.

Collections representative vs customer care representative overview

	Collections Representative	Customer Care Representative
Yearly salary	$34,015	$32,912
Hourly rate	$16.35	$15.82
Growth rate	-8%	-4%
Number of jobs	85,275	214,835
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Average age	46	40
Years of experience	12	12

What does a collections representative do?

A Collections Representative's role is to collect payment for outstanding or overdue bills through phone calls, email, mail, or sometimes personal appointments. A Collections Representative is required to have a great deal of research and communication skills in order to reach out to people and explain how to settle their debts or even negotiate a payment term or plan. Collections Representatives must also make sure that these terms are honored and met, and create reports for the creditor regarding the delinquent accounts.

What does a customer care representative do?

A customer care representative is responsible for providing resolution with the customer's concerns, following the business' procedures and strategic processes. Customer care representatives must have exceptional customer service skills to address their clients' concerns efficiently and accurately, as well as having extensive knowledge of the products and services their company offer. Duties of a customer care representative also include managing client's complaints, offering alternative products and refunds as needed, calculating fees for special requests, updating customer's account information, documenting actions taken, and escalating special case concerns to the supervisor.

Collections representative vs customer care representative salary

Collections representatives and customer care representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Collections Representative	Customer Care Representative
Average salary	$34,015	$32,912
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $26,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	San Ramon, CA	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	California	Hawaii
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Philadelphia Corporation for Aging
Best paying industry	Finance	Automotive

Differences between collections representative and customer care representative education

There are a few differences between a collections representative and a customer care representative in terms of educational background:

	Collections Representative	Customer Care Representative
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Collections representative vs customer care representative demographics

Here are the differences between collections representatives' and customer care representatives' demographics:

	Collections Representative	Customer Care Representative
Average age	46	40
Gender ratio	Male, 30.6% Female, 69.4%	Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.9% Asian, 3.4% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.5% White, 55.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	7%

Differences between collections representative and customer care representative duties and responsibilities

Collections representative example responsibilities.

Protect A/R assets by managing a portfolio of accounts to maximize gainful sales and reduce debt losses.
Maintain effective communication and utilize negotiation skills with internal and external customers to effect collections while maintaining customer good will.
Submit all reconsideration and appeals if need.
Conduct periodic data cleaning of queues balances deny with deny appeals.
Resolve valid or authorize NSF charges due to decline credit cards or ACH transactions.
Collect and count inventories, reconcile purchases and scan UPC's and inputting price information.

Customer care representative example responsibilities.

Manage and plan escalations; assure HIPPA guidelines are followed for confidentially and privacy.
Answer incoming calls from clients, ATP's, therapists, and medical offices.
Maintain schedules for multiples ATP's and technicians to assist clients with scheduling therapy evaluations, and delivery of equipment.
Design a web-base CRM tool integrate with many other systems to provide technicians one-page panel the most relevant information and actions.
Navigate windows environment and comprehend technical information.
Used multiple navigation windows while changing account information and processing orders.

Collections representative vs customer care representative skills

Common collections representative skills

Payment Arrangements, 14%
Customer Service, 13%
Delinquent Accounts, 9%
Past Due Accounts, 6%
Customer Accounts, 4%
Debt Repayment, 4%

Common customer care representative skills

Customer Care, 21%
Customer Service, 9%
Work Ethic, 7%
Strong Work Ethic, 7%
Data Entry, 4%
Excellent Organizational, 4%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Collections Representative
Collections Representative vs Customer Care Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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