Replacing human debt collectors with AI on WhatsApp

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

In 2023, founder Koen Munneke was running another business and struggling with collections. Chasing outstanding payments offered no leverage, prompting him to explore automation.

He tested AI tools for uncomfortable conversations just as GPT-3.5 Turbo launched. This experiment revealed a perfect fit in the digital lending sector, leading to the creation of Ara Pay.

😟 Problem

Many licensed digital lenders in Southeast Asia rely on WhatsApp to communicate with borrowers. However, accounts that send high volumes of messages risk being suspended, cutting off communication with customers.

Digital lenders also struggle to scale support teams to handle repayment inquiries. Borrowers who cannot get answers about balances or due dates often stop paying entirely.

At the same time, regulators are placing greater emphasis on maintaining auditable records of borrower communications.

💡 Solution

The platform provides an always-on infrastructure and conversational AI tool for debt collection with several core capabilities:

• Infrastructure management actively rotates a pool of SIM cards and WhatsApp accounts to prevent volume-based bans.
• Conversational AI answers borrower questions instantly and negotiates payment arrangements around the clock.
• Human escalation handles hundreds of simultaneous conversations while intelligently routing complex edge cases to human agents.
• Compliance tracking automatically creates a full, auditable record of every interaction to meet regional regulatory standards.

Image credit: Ara Pay

📊 Market size

Southeast Asia’s digital lending sector is expanding rapidly as smartphone penetration deepens across 400 million underbanked individuals.

Full penetration of the Malaysian market alone represents over US$22 million in annual recurring revenue. Combined with Indonesia, the company estimates an addressable revenue opportunity exceeding US$40 million.

🤝 Team

• Koen Munneke. CEO and founder. He has more than 15 years of experience building B2B software companies across Asia and Europe.
• Aravindan Mahadevan. Senior engineer. He built the company’s platform and leads its engineering efforts using AI-assisted development tools.

🚀 Traction

🏆 Competition

💰 Financials

🚩 Risks