Collections technician vs collector

The differences between collections technicians and collectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a collections technician, becoming a collector takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a collector has an average salary of $34,872, which is higher than the $32,521 average annual salary of a collections technician.

The top three skills for a collections technician include physical exams, phlebotomy procedures and customer service. The most important skills for a collector are patients, customer service, and payment arrangements.

Collections technician vs collector overview

	Collections Technician	Collector
Yearly salary	$32,521	$34,872
Hourly rate	$15.64	$16.77
Growth rate	10%	-8%
Number of jobs	29,390	23,948
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 24%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Average age	41	46
Years of experience	2	12

What does a collections technician do?

Generally, collections technicians take responsibility for collecting and managing outstanding accounts receivables from customers and clients. The technicians may work as health his/her torians for blood donations. They train other collection technicians on the procedures and protocols of the company. Part of their job is to demonstrate excellent customer service skills associated with external and internal customers. They take part in team-building or programs in different work environments and also data entry.

What does a collector do?

Collectors are responsible for monitoring and providing immediate actions for client accounts with overdue payments. Collectors must be able to contact clients through phone or e-mail. A collector's duty also includes negotiating on payment procedures and offering repayment plans and alternative payment solutions to free the debt. Collectors need to document any agreements made to the client, updating and verifying contact information, resolving account discrepancies and client complaints, and report escalated concerns to the management.

Collections technician vs collector salary

Collections technicians and collectors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Collections Technician	Collector
Average salary	$32,521	$34,872
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $40,000	Between $27,000 And $44,000
Highest paying City	Santa Monica, CA	Los Angeles, CA
Highest paying state	California	Alaska
Best paying company	Clean Harbors	Uline
Best paying industry	Health Care	Finance

Differences between collections technician and collector education

There are a few differences between a collections technician and a collector in terms of educational background:

	Collections Technician	Collector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 24%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Most common major	Medical Assisting Services	Business
Most common college	-	-

Collections technician vs collector demographics

Here are the differences between collections technicians' and collectors' demographics:

	Collections Technician	Collector
Average age	41	46
Gender ratio	Male, 28.2% Female, 71.8%	Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 10.1% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between collections technician and collector duties and responsibilities

Collections technician example responsibilities.

Identify 2RBC products target for monthly QC or validation activities.
Set up mobile blood drives, maintain and perform daily QC on equipment.
Process, prepare, label, and store the units of blood to the FDA regulations.
Perform venipuncture and collect specimens in appropriate vials.
Demonstrate knowledge of a proficiency in venipuncture and capillary techniques.
Follow federal and state regulations including HIPPA to maintain patient confidentiality.

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Collector example responsibilities.

Manage patient focuse reports, collection modules, provider/facility A/R, collections, patient discharge letters.
Monitor all assign accounts by reviewing the client's aging, manage all potential bad debit, DSO, aging.
Prevent impeding loss and increasing profitability through negotiation and enforcement of schedule collection campaigns, consistently achieving high success standards.
Provide customer service via telephone and correspondence for patients and authorize representatives regarding outstanding patient accounts in accordance with facility protocol.
Verify and run eligibility on the following insurance, Medi-Cal, Medi-Cal HMO, Medicare, Medicare HMO.
Provide excellent customer service while following HIPPA confidentiality laws.

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Collections technician vs collector skills

Common collections technician skills

Physical Exams, 45%
Phlebotomy Procedures, 7%
Customer Service, 7%
Vital Signs, 4%
Venipuncture, 4%
Data Entry, 4%

Common collector skills

Patients, 14%
Customer Service, 10%
Payment Arrangements, 10%
Excellent Interpersonal, 9%
Delinquent Accounts, 8%
Student Loans, 5%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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