{
  "id": 10941128,
  "title": "Nutun eyes global deployment of AI debt collector",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/nutun-eyes-global-deployment-of-ai-debt-collector",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-30T12:03:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ITWeb",
    "slug": "itweb",
    "url": "https://www.itweb.co.za/article/nutun-eyes-global-deployment-of-ai-debt-collector/WnxpEv4Yy6Z7V8XL"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "South African BPO and credit-management firm Nutun is preparing to roll out its AI-powered debt collector, Zoey, globally in November. Developed in South Africa, the automated tool aims to enhance debt collection processes for clients including major US and UK banks, retailers, utilities, and fintech companies. Nutun CEO-designate Hans Zachar unveiled Zoey, a voice AI chatbot, in June and emphasized that it augments, rather than replaces, human agents. By combining human and AI capabilities, Nutun reports a 20% to 50% improvement in collection outcomes. The technology verifies identities, negotiates payment plans, and concludes collections without human intervention. When complex negotiations arise, Zoey seamlessly transfers the call to a human agent while preserving the conversation context. Zachar anticipates deploying Zoey in the US and UK, creating jobs in South Africa while serving foreign markets. Nutun's BPO strategy now focuses on complex case management and AI-augmented services, with a goal of targeting 500,000 new jobs in South Africa by 2030.",
  "summary": "The company readies its Zoey agentic AI debt collector for global deployment after SA operations served as an innovation sandbox.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}