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Once you’ve integrated your Simplicity account with an affiliated payment processor, you can also choose to sign up for PDCFlow. More information on their service can be found at http://pdcflow.com/.

Some counties or states may be required by law to have a debt collector obtain a signed, written authorization from the debtor to set up a series of recurring of EFTs — for instance monthly electronic debits from a debtor’s checking account.

PDCFlow allows you to email or text the bill to the debtor. After you send the bill the debtor reviews and signs an agreement, securely authorizing the payment.

If you decide to sign up for PDCFlow, they will contact us directly with your credentials so we can link the two services together, and have you up and running within 24 hours. The following section details how to request a signature after you’ve signed up with PDCFlow.

Requesting a Signature

When you’re working with a debtor’s account and either a) insert a payment-type transaction for a credit card or b) set up a recurring payment type Payment Plan, the following box normally appears:

1) Once you have all the information entered, check the Wait for signature box. This tells the system you would like to use PDCFlow for this particular payment. If you don’t check this box, the payment will be processed immediately as if PDCFlow was not enabled.

2) Click the “Process Payment” button at the bottom. This new “Send Signature Link” screen will appear where you can enter a Verification Pin for the debtor (must be numerical and 4 to 8 digits in length).

3) A Pin Description is an optional field where you can give the debtor a hint regarding the Verification Pin when they receive the email or text. For example, “last 4 of your SSN.”

4) Lastly you select a way to send the Signature Link. This can be by the email on file, any one of the phone numbers on file, or a manually entered email or phone not currently in SimplicityCollect. When you’re done making your selections, click on the “Send Link” button.

5) Once you’ve sent the link successfully, you will see the following popup. If you made a mistake anywhere (such as forgetting to enter a Verification Pin) it will alert you of the problem so it can be corrected.

6) The payment will be added to the debtor’s account as if it were an unprocessed payment—meaning you have not yet charged the card on file. The debtor will have less than a 24-hour window to open the Signature Link, enter their Verification Pin and sign their name. After they have signed the link their Financials tab (or Payment Plan tab) will be updated automatically within the hour:

7) Alternatively, if you have a debtor agree to a Payment Plan over the phone where the first payment is due that same day, and the debtor fails to use the Signature Link within the given time frame, that initial payment will remain in a hold-like Pending status until you receive the signature:

8) If the debtor signs the Signature Link the following day (Ex. on 4-18-2015) the Recurring Payments Payment Plan will process all payments that where (and are) due in the displayed Pending status. So, in the above example, the payment for 4-17-2015 will be processed the next time your recurring payments are scheduled to run.

Viewing a Signature

On Payments with signatures, you will find a “signature icon” on the transaction line item:

When you click this icon, you will be able to view the actual signature:

Additionally, Payment Agreements will now show a signature status of “Signed” for signatures that have been successfully signed, and now be viewed similarly:

If you click the signature icon, you can view the actual signature:

The Debtor Payment Portal

Should a debtor attempt to submit a payment from the Debtor Payment Portal, they will receive the following pop up message and be directed to a new screen:

They will need to fill out the required boxes, including a Verification Pin for themselves. This will guarantee that they are the ones signing for the payment.

Lastly they will select how they would like to sign for the payment. They will automatically see any emails and/or phone numbers you have on file for them. They can also enter a new cell phone number or email:

Once they click the “Send Link” button, a pop up message will appear again:

They will now want to check their cell phone or email to finalize their payment.

The Signature From the Debtor’s Point of View

The following examples are what the debtor will see on their end. The email and text message versions are not exactly identical, but share the same overall method.

First they receive the Signature Link by email or text:

Once they click on the link, they’re taken to a new page where they are asked to enter their Verification Pin, here called their Validation Code:

Once they enter the correct code and click Validate at the bottom, they’re taken to a new page over-viewing their payment with a “wet signature” pad at the bottom. This is where they can sign with their mouse, finger, or phone stylus:

When they’re done reviewing the page they will click Send Signature at the bottom. Two possible pages can appear:

If they used the link too late, it will state the transaction request has expired. They will need to have a link re-sent to their email or phone for them to sign. If it was successful, they’ll see the page on the right. They can request a copy of their transaction by email by clicking Send Copy. Once they are finished, they can click Done.

If they chose to email themselves a copy of the signed transaction, their email will display the following:

Re-sending a Request

Should a debtor fail to sign the first request in the given time frame, you can easily resend a Signature Link to them.

Either from the Financials tab or the Payment Plan tab for the debtor’s account, you will either click on the Auto Pay  button or the Send Link button respectively:

When the Auto Pay  button is clicked, you will see the Send Link button on the popup provided:

Clicking the Send Link button will reopen the “Send Signature Link” form. Each time you send a new link to the debtor, you’ll see a note of when the link was sent and what date it expires.

Once you successfully submit the link, a popup will alert you it was sent:

Commonly Asked Questions

  • Can the signature form be enhanced to include more information?
    • Unfortunately the form cannot be enhanced at this time. 
  • Is there a report to locate unsigned payments?
    • Yes, go to Reports > Quick Reports and select the Unsigned Payments Report
See anything missing or out of date on this page? Please contact Simplicity Support at helpdesk@simplicitycollect.com.