POM is ready for the future

Send a payment reminder or reminder via email or text message with a payment link linked to it that leads directly to a secure payment environment, so that a customer can pay easily, safely and quickly. Eleven years ago, that revolutionary idea formed the basis of what is now POM. More than a decade later, the company does much more than just send messages with payment links. For example, via the Scheelingenbot, customers can make a payment arrangement online that suits their financial situation and machine learning ensures that messages are sent at the right time, via the right channel and with the right tone of voice.

Peace of mind

“With such innovations, we are at the forefront of the market,” says Kees Neven, CEO of POM Group. “The old name therefore hasn't covered the meaning of what we all do for a long time. When we looked for a name that does, we ended up with POM, the name of the Belgian payment specialist that we took over in 2022. POM stands for Peace of Mind, or peace of mind. And that is exactly what we provide with our solutions. It is also a name that shows that we are ready for the future.”

Strengthening the position

In that future, growth is key. After the takeover of POM in Belgium, the takeover of the Dutch company followed in September Mind 2 Pay, which makes rent collection software for housing cooperatives. “With this acquisition, we are strengthening our position in the housing association market,” says Neven. “In addition, the Mind2Pay product — which is very strong in file management and also has built-in early signaling, for example — fits in very nicely with POM's activities. With the acquisition of POM Belgium, we were able to add payment solutions to our services. We offer these under POM Payment. Now we are also going to see if we can make Mind2Pay's software suitable for other sectors, such as the energy industry. We do this under the POM flag. Mind2Pay itself is an autonomous entity within POM and will only continue to collect rent.”

Growth Strategy

The growth plans are in line with POM's ambitions: to become a leading player in payment solutions in Europe. POM is already the market leader in the Netherlands in various sectors, including housing corporations, (health) insurers and drinking water suppliers. Neven: “We want to apply our expertise to other countries as well. We've been working in Germany for a while now. In the coming year, we want to strengthen our position there. If that's right, we'll focus on Scandinavia and maybe England and France as well. This can be done through organic growth or via 'buy & build. There are pros and cons to both strategies. Autonomous growth involves trial and error, and takes time. An acquisition comes with an existing team and customer base. But integrating an existing company with its own culture into your organization is no easy task.”

Wrong lunch

Previous experiences in this area do not necessarily guarantee the future, says Neven. “You really have to invest in that. Now with Mind2Pay, that works well, and also with POM Belgium the takeover went very smoothly. The culture alignment with them was just a hundred percent match. That was a bit of a surprise. We Dutch people are fairly direct, not everyone likes that. The people at POM Belgium like that: they know where they stand with us. They just don't like our cheese and milk sandwiches for lunch, haha. But all jokes aside: should an opportunity to take over again arise, we will look at it very carefully: is this good for POM?”

Wallet

In addition to further growth of the company itself, POM is also looking into expanding the services. More precisely: payment. “Our vision is that payment will go much more towards special apps in the future,” says commercial director of POM Netherlands, Mark de Roode. “A wallet, for example, where you can do everything: pay, schedule payments, archive invoices, etc. So that you have a complete overview of your household book in one, super-secure app and where it is also easy to make payments within Europe. The Payconiq by Bancontact app already allows companies to send payment requests directly. POM supports this app as a back-end technology partner. The app offers customers a safe and fast way to pay. With a one-off permission, they receive the invoices directly in the app. All data has already been filled in and thanks to automatic notifications, they won't miss any payments, while the system protects them against phishing and overcrowded mailboxes. All of this ensures a worry-free and efficient payment experience.”

Further development of machine learning

In addition, POM will take another step in machine learning. “We're going to machine learning 2.0,” promises De Roode. “After five years of machine learning — part of AI — we are already very good at delivering a payment request to the end customer at the right time, with the right payment request, via the right channel and tone of voice. We are achieving great results with that. At a major insurer, we have been working with machine learning in the flows for a few years. As a result, they have 52 percent fewer royements. POM is continuously developing and fine-tuning machine learning. Machine learning 2.0 will be ready soon!”

Main Sponsor Credit Expo

POM is once again prominent at the Credit Expo this year. Neven and De Roode are looking forward to it. “Once again, we are the main sponsor,” says De Roode enthusiastically. “We think it's important to meet our customers here and make new contacts. But also to share knowledge and thus include other professionals in how we look at billing and debtor management. We're looking forward to it!”

Want to catch up with POM and share your views on billing and debtor management with us?

Sign up for free now

KNOWLEDGE SESSION

AI in credit management: discover how you can work even smarter!

Especially for POM, Sonny de Leeuw and Wouter de Vries will take the stage at the Credit Expo 2024. Sonny is founder of the AI tool comparison site Umely.ai and has in-depth knowledge of AI. Wouter was his lecturer in Commercial Economics. Together, they share a passion for AI.

During their interactive session for POM, the pair shows how AI can further optimize credit management. From writing hyper-personalized texts to sending the most promising payment request. Sonny and Wouter take you step by step and show with concrete examples and practical tips how you can already use AI in your credit management processes today. You go home with new insights that make your work a lot easier. You definitely don't want to miss this presentation — take the opportunity to stay ahead in the world of AI and credit management!