A UK finance director should look for an AI credit control platform that acts only within rules you approve, logs what it does, takes the payment as well as chasing it, and reconciles each payment back to your accounting software. After that, check how it handles disputes and late fees on business invoices, how it secures your data, and whether its price grows with your revenue or only with what it collects.
In this article
The short version
- Check who sets the rules and which actions need your approval before anything goes out.
- Look for software that takes the payment and reconciles it to Xero or QuickBooks, so paid invoices stop being chased.
- Make sure disputes pause chasing and late fees stay off for consumer customers.
- Ask for a full record of messages, payments and status changes.
- Compare security, pricing basis, contract terms and how direct debits move across.
How much the AI decides on its own
AI credit control software contacts your customers in your company's name, so before you look at features, ask who sets the rules and what the software can do without anyone signing it off. Software that chooses timing, channel and tone for each customer needs clear limits, or you may only find out what it decided when a customer rings to complain.
The things worth checking on a demo:
- You can set different rules for different groups of customers, so a key account and a one-off customer aren't chased the same way.
- You choose which actions need approval before they go out, and can change that as you get comfortable.
- You can pause chasing for a single customer straight away, without switching anything else off.
- You decide which channels it can use and how often any customer hears from you.
Adfin's Customer Agents are set up this way. You create an agent for each group of customers you want to chase differently, then either review every action before it happens or pick the ones you want to see and let the rest run. Within those rules, the agents can learn the timing, tone and channel each customer tends to respond to, over email, SMS or WhatsApp.
Whether it collects and reconciles the payment
If a reminder only asks for a bank transfer, the customer still has to log in to their bank, find your details and type a reference. It's worth asking whether the software can take the payment itself, from a link in the reminder, by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or pay by bank, and whether it can collect regular invoices by direct debit, with failed collections retried. Part payments and instalment plans help with customers who can pay something now but not everything.
Then look at what happens after the money arrives. The most visible mistake automated chasing can make is a reminder for an invoice that's already been paid. Ask how payments are matched to invoices, including part payments and transfers with a missing reference, and whether the sync with your accounting software runs both ways. Ask too whether payouts arrive gross or net. With net payouts, someone has to book the fees out of each lump sum before the bank will reconcile.
Adfin takes payment by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, pay by bank, bank transfer and direct debit, retries a failed direct debit for free, and marks invoices as paid in Xero or QuickBooks automatically, so chasing stops the moment a customer pays. It pays out gross every weekday and invoices its fee separately. If you're happy with how you take payments today, you can use Adfin's credit control on its own and add payments later.
Disputes, late fees and the audit trail
An invoice under dispute should stop being chased the moment someone raises the query. Check how a dispute gets flagged, whether the AI can recognise a customer's reply as a query or a promise to pay, and who sees it next.
Late fees deserve the same scrutiny. Business customers who pay late owe statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, currently 11.75% a year, plus fixed compensation of £40 to £100 per invoice. The scheme doesn't cover consumers, so if you have any individual customers, make sure you can keep late fees switched off for them. Look for interest that runs from the due date, a grace period you control and a way to waive the charge for a customer you want to keep onside.
Finally, ask to see the record. You'll want every message, payment and change of status logged with a date, so you can answer an auditor, settle an argument about what was sent, or explain to a board why a balance moved.
Security, pricing and switching
| What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Security certification, such as ISO 27001, and PCI compliance for card payments | The platform holds your customer contacts, invoices and payment data |
| Where the platform is hosted | Your data protection obligations follow your customers' data |
| Pricing basis: per user, by revenue band, by invoice volume or per paid invoice | Revenue-based prices rise as you grow, even if your ledger doesn't need more chasing |
| Contract length and notice period | A long term or a 90-day notice period limits your options if it doesn't work |
| Moving existing direct debits | Asking every customer to sign a new mandate risks some of them never doing it |
Adfin is ISO 27001 certified, takes card payments through PCI-compliant regulated partners and is hosted in Europe. Essential credit control is free, covering unlimited chasing, accounting sync, debtor reporting and statements. The AI agents that tailor each reminder, automatic late fees and emails from your own address cost 0.3% per paid invoice, only when used. There's no contract, and with 10 or more direct debit mandates, Adfin moves them across through the Bacs bulk change process so your customers don't sign anything again.
Common questions
Is AI credit control safe to use with our biggest clients? It can be, if the software lets you put key accounts on their own rules and approve every message to them. A sensible start is to let it handle smaller, routine invoices and widen it once you trust what goes out.
Does AI credit control replace a credit controller? It takes on the routine work of reminders, follow-ups and matching payments. That leaves your team more time for the conversations that need judgement, such as disputes and customers in difficulty.
Can AI credit control software add late payment interest automatically? Some platforms, including Adfin, can add statutory interest to overdue business invoices from the due date. Keep it switched off for any consumer customers, because the statutory scheme only covers business-to-business debts.
What should the audit trail show? Every message sent, every payment and every change to an invoice's status, with dates. You should be able to export it and find any customer's history quickly.
How is AI credit control software usually priced? Pricing ranges from per user, by annual revenue band, by invoice volume or per paid invoice. Cost each option against last month's ledger, because the units don't compare directly.
Can I use AI credit control without changing my payment provider? Yes, with some platforms. Adfin's credit control can run on its own, without taking payments through Adfin, and you can add payments later.
Sources
- Adfin - Credit control (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.adfin.com/credit-control
- Adfin - Pricing (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.adfin.com/pricing
- Adfin - Changelog: Use Adfin for standalone credit control (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.adfin.com/changelog
- GOV.UK - Late commercial payments: charging interest on commercial debt (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt
