Collector vs collections representative

The differences between collectors and collections 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 collector and a collections representative. Additionally, a collector has an average salary of $34,872, which is higher than the $34,015 average annual salary of a collections representative.

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

Collector vs collections representative overview

	Collector	Collections Representative
Yearly salary	$34,872	$34,015
Hourly rate	$16.77	$16.35
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	23,948	85,275
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 31%	High School Diploma, 33%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	12	12

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.

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.

Collector vs collections representative salary

Collectors and collections representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Collector	Collections Representative
Average salary	$34,872	$34,015
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $44,000	Between $26,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	Los Angeles, CA	San Ramon, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	Uline	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between collector and collections representative education

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

	Collector	Collections Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 31%	High School Diploma, 33%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Collector vs collections representative demographics

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

	Collector	Collections Representative
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0%	Male, 30.6% Female, 69.4%
Race ratio	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%	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%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between collector and collections representative duties and responsibilities

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.

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.

Collector vs collections representative skills

Common collector skills

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

Common collections representative skills

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

Collector vs. similar jobs

Collector related careers

Collector related jobs

Collector jobs by location

Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Collector
Collector vs Collections Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs