YC-backed Cambio uses AI bots to negotiate debt and call bank clients.

In an unexpected move, Y Combinator-backed Cambio is using AI bots to contact firms and customers in banking. The firm started by using AI to negotiate debt collections for clients, helping 70% of customers settle their collections and improve their credit score. Cambio is offering banks and credit unions a sales call API using that technology.

Cambio is the son of banker-turned-entrepreneur Blesson Abraham (CEO). Abraham co-founded and ran SavvyIntel, a credit union SaaS analytics product, until TruStage purchased it in 2017. After the exit, Abraham devised banking software to assist individuals in bettering their finances, something he knew having gone into debt while launching his prior firm.

“I came out on top, but one in three U.S. adults have struggles like that,” he says. “We built Cambio on that premise.”

Cambio was founded in 2021 as a neobank for this neglected area. Abraham observed that Cambio consumers preferred its credit-improvement products. The team rebuilt the app and refocused on assisting people with debt relief after receiving Y Combinator acceptance in 2022.

Over the past year, Cambio has grown to approximately 90,000 members and switched from freemium to premium.

ChatGPT’s success inspired one of its new features. Customers requested Cambio’s debt collection assistance.

“One of the cool things about ChatGPT was that we could coach people in real-time as they talked to their collectors,” explains Abraham. “We came up with a solution within our app where you would call your collector, our bots would listen in, and tell you what to say back in real time.”

The debt collectors were already recording the calls, so the creator thinks an AI could “listen in.”

After that encounter, clients asked Cambio to manage their calls and negotiate debt reduction. The business recognized it could do so by receiving a signed power of attorney and phoning collectors using AI.

“We started off very, very safe—ppeople who wanted to pay off their full debt and get it off their collection report,” Abraham adds.

In the first 60 days after calling the AI bots, seven out of 10 Cambio consumers improved their credit ratings.

Cambio’s AI bots notify the collector who they’re calling for and email the power of attorney documentation when the collector requests verification. It was easy to stay within the negotiating parameters since the conversations focused on a straightforward use case—paying off the loan in full.

Initially, there were challenges. Abraham believes AI hallucinations originally plagued Cambio, but additional calls improved this.

Cambio’s capacity to handle debt collection calls led to its next idea: AviaryAI, an AI for banks and credit unions to contact clients. AI helps banks make sales and outreach calls to cross-sell consumers additional checking accounts, credit cards, debt protection services, and more.

Although the FCC has banned AI-initiated robocalls, Cambio thinks their AI bots will be allowed. The corporation speaks with lawyers about its business and legislation.

Abraham says, “Banks, credit unions, and even our first set of clients are insurance companies—I picked the trifecta of highly regulated industries.” He claims the business is also actively working with authorities by describing its technology, how the bots reach out, and what they can and cannot do.

He explains, “When we make these phone calls, we let people know you’re talking to a virtual assistant.” It’s not as easy as putting a voice over an LLM and expecting people to listen.

Calls may start with a discussion with a client or transfer to a real person. Cambio says that AI-driven calls are as successful as sales force calls, which are picked up 5–10%.

“If you were to compare it to a human being, we’re actually matching that, or, in certain use cases, even better,” Abraham adds.

Today, one bot places the call, another monitors it to make sure there’s no escalation, and a third analyzes the call’s tonality, customer comments, and so on to provide quality control.

Early adopters Envisant, Encurage Financial Network, Agenium, and Skyla Credit Union are testing the technology.

Cambio’s consumer app may remain after entering B2B, but the firm may monetize the API.

Cambio received $3 million in initial finance from Builders, DVC, EGR Partners, Envisant, Encurage Financial Network, Goodwater Capital, Leonis Investissement, Sandhill Capital, YC, and angel investors to assist its development.

“We are excited to support Cambio’s team on their mission to introduce much-needed technology into consumer financial products, aiming to create transparency and empower individuals to better manage debt and rebuild their credit scores,” said DVC Managing Partner Marina Davidova. “They have a clear vision and relentlessly execute on it, building user-friendly solutions powered by sophisticated AI.”