Earn Up Customer Service — Expert Playbook to Improve Support, Retention, and Recovery

Overview: purpose, audience, and measurable outcomes

This guide is written for head of support, operations managers, and fintech product leaders who want to “earn up” — meaning raise — customer service performance for a payment- or loan-focused product. The measurable outcomes we target are faster first replies, higher resolution rates, reduced payment failures, and improved customer lifetime value (LTV). Typical targets for a best-in-class program are: first-response time under 4 hours for email, under 60 seconds for chat, CSAT ≥ 90%, and an annual churn reduction of 1–3 percentage points after operational changes.

Successful programs tie customer-support KPIs directly to revenue and risk metrics. For example, each 1% drop in involuntary churn due to failed payments can translate to 0.5–1.5% improvement in annual loan portfolio yield depending on APR and customer tenure. That makes investments in customer service not just a cost center but a risk-mitigation and revenue-enablement function.

Key metrics, SLAs and reporting cadence

Define a small dashboard of five to seven KPIs you review daily and weekly. Recommended KPIs: First response time (email/chat/phone), Average Handle Time (AHT), First Contact Resolution (FCR), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Payment Resolution Time (time from customer report to cleared payment). Example operational targets: FCR ≥ 70%, AHT 6–12 minutes for phone, payment resolution ≤ 48 hours for non-fraud cases.

Set SLAs by issue type and channel. Practical SLA examples: critical payment-blocking issues — acknowledge within 30 minutes and resolve or escalate within 8 business hours; general account questions — acknowledge within 4 business hours and resolve within 72 hours. Review weekly operational metrics, run a root-cause analysis monthly, and report quarterly to the executive team with trends (3-, 6-, 12-month) that link support actions to churn and delinquency rates.

Channels, tools, and estimated costs

Support must be omnichannel: phone, chat, secure in-app messaging, email, and an up-to-date self-service knowledge base. Prioritize secure channels for payment issues (in-app messaging and verified phone) and use chatbots for routine status checks (payment due dates, balance). For phone routing and SMS, choose a provider that supports toll-free numbers and programmable SMS with delivery reporting (examples: Twilio, Bandwidth). Expected startup costs for a mid-market stack range $2,000–$15,000 monthly depending on scale and integrations.

• Core platform choices (examples and entry pricing ranges as of 2024): Zendesk (zendesk.com) — $20–$200/agent/month; Intercom (intercom.com) — starts at roughly $74/month for small teams but scales; Salesforce Service Cloud (salesforce.com) — from ~$25/user/month for basic packages. Twilio (twilio.com) programmable SMS/voice is pay-as-you-go (phone numbers ~$1–$10/month, SMS ~$0.0075/message). Always confirm current pricing directly with the vendor.
• Integrations and security: choose systems with SOC 2 Type II, PCI-DSS compatibility or tokenization for payment data, and native SSO. Plan for professional services costs: 40–120 hours of implementation at $150–$250/hour for integrations if using custom workflows and CRM syncing.

Staffing, training, and quality assurance

Staffing ratios depend on product complexity and self-service maturity. As a rule of thumb, plan 1 full-time agent per 200–400 active customers if you have strong self-service and automated payments, or 1 per 100–150 if customers require frequent manual intervention (e.g., loans with variable payment schedules). Factor in peak loads — seasonal payroll cycles or billing days can double contact volume. Use workforce management tools to model shift coverage and shrinkage.

Train new agents with a 40–80 hour structured program: 20–30 hours product and policy, 10–20 hours tools and security, 10–20 hours shadowing and live practice. Ongoing training should include 8 hours/month of coaching plus quarterly deep-dives on compliance and product changes. Run QA on a sample of 5–10% of interactions with a standardized rubric (policy adherence, empathy, accuracy, Next Best Action). Share weekly scorecards and run remediation sessions for agents scoring below thresholds.

Compliance, security and escalation processes

For payment and loan products, embed compliance into every support workflow. Require verified identity steps before discussing account-specific payment details: e.g., two-factor verification (SMS or authenticator) plus either last four of SSN or DOB. Ensure all communication channels used for sensitive info are encrypted (TLS 1.2+ for transit) and that no card numbers are stored in plaintext. Maintain a documented incident response plan and log all escalations in your ticketing system for audit trails.

Define a 3-tier escalation matrix: Tier 1 — frontline agents resolve routine issues within SLA; Tier 2 — specialists (operations/collections) handle complex payment reconciliation within 24–48 hours; Tier 3 — legal/compliance for suspected fraud, regulatory inquiries, or chargebacks, with a 4-hour notification requirement to leadership for incidents meeting regulatory thresholds. Keep contact information for Escalation leads up-to-date and test the escalation path quarterly with tabletop exercises.

Practical workflows: onboarding, dispute handling, and recovery

Design deterministic workflows with clear decision trees. Example: a missed payment workflow — (1) automated notification 2 days before due, (2) gentle SMS reminder day-of, (3) if miss occurs, auto-escalate to Tier 1 with suggested scripts and pre-authorized repayment plans, (4) if customer cannot pay within 7 days, route to collections specialist. Track conversion from outreach to successful resolution and iterate messaging based on A/B tests.

For disputes and chargebacks, require a standardized packet: customer statement, transaction history, communication logs, and supporting documents. Aim to resolve 80% of disputes within 30 days; log outcomes and feed root causes back to product to reduce repeat issues (e.g., unclear billing descriptors, missing payoff quotes). Maintain a published support contact page and operating hours so customers have predictable expectations; sample best practice hours are Monday–Friday 8:00–20:00 local time with limited weekend chat support for high-volume lenders.

Is EarnUp legit?

EarnUp is BBB Accredited.

What is the phone number for EarnUp support?

If you are already an EarnUp customer, you claim your online account please give us a call at 1-800-209-9700 and one of our Customer Happiness representatives will be happy to assist you.

How do I stop my auto payment subscription?

When you contact the bank, let them know you want to “revoke authorization,” meaning you don’t want a specific company to automatically take money from your account anymore. Some banks might suggest sending a stop payment order. This instructs your financial institution not to pay a specified company from your account.

How do I stop my account from taking money?

Reach out to your bank or credit union
For added peace of mind, contact your bank or credit union and notify them that you revoked your consent for automatic payments. They may have a form you need to complete, but you can use this sample letter from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get started.

How do I cancel EarnUp?

If you want to stop using EarnUp:

1. Sign in to your EarnUp account.
2. Head to your account settings.
3. Click on “Close Account”
4. Confirm that you want to cancel.

What does EarnUp do?

EarnUp is a consumer-facing debt optimization platform that helps users manage and pay down debt.