What do creditors score when they choose a collection agency through an RFP?

Which RFPs did we read?

We read nine public US collection RFPs in full, issued from 2022 to 2026 by hospitals, cities, utilities, three universities and a state health plan. Public bodies have to tender, so their documents are the only creditor selection criteria anyone can read in full. Private creditors such as banks and credit unions rarely publish theirs.

How much does price count?

Less than most agencies assume. Four of the nine publish points for price: Westchester, Coalinga, the Arizona universities and San Antonio Water System. Price carried 30 points out of 100 at Westchester, 25 at San Antonio Water System, and 10 at Coalinga and at the universities. Across those four that is about a fifth of the score on average. Holding your contingency rate covers what that means when a client pushes on price.

The universities show the other end. Their RFP fixes the contingency fee at 23% for a first referral and 28.5% for second and third referrals and litigation. With price taken off the table, the award turns on qualifications, scope, references and responsiveness. In our view a fixed fee is the clearest signal of what a buyer is really choosing on: what the agency will collect, and how.

What do they ask about results?

Almost every RFP asks for results, though few score them as a separate line. The ask sits inside approach, experience or reporting:

• Westchester Medical Center asks bidders to project a liquidation range for its book, based on its volumes and patient mix. Its Q&A gives the current vendor’s rate as 16% on accounts aged 180 to 420 days, and lists "Recoveries exceeding 25% or referrals" first among the three attributes it wants.
• San Antonio Water System asks for the agency’s typical rate of return, as part of its 30-point collection practices section, and scores past performance with other clients separately.
• City of Albany asks for recovery rates, average time to collection and other metrics showing effectiveness.
• City of Cotati wants monthly reports including recovery percentage, average collection time, payment plans set up and complaints.
• Coalinga gives 15 points to KPI reporting and 10 to references and past performance.

The pattern: buyers want a number, and they want it in a form they can check later. A rate quoted at bid time becomes the yardstick in the monthly report. Collection agency KPIs defines the measures they ask for, and how to show results to a prospective client covers how to state them.

What proof of the operation do they ask for?

Gates that every bidder must clear, and that rarely separate one bid from another:

• Security. Westchester requires SOC 2 Type II or HITRUST certification. Others ask for data security, privacy and disaster recovery documentation.
• Where the work is done. Westchester requires onshore operations unless approved in writing.
• Call recording. Westchester requires every patient call to be recorded and available on request.
• Reporting and remittance. Monthly reports and remittance are standard; some ask for portal access.
• Retention. PEEHIP asks bidders to list clients who ended their relationship in the past 3 years, with the reasons given.
• References. Scored directly at Arizona (20 points) and Coalinga (10 points).

What does this mean for a bid?

Three readings, in our view:

1. A cheaper rate buys little. Price is a minority of the points and sometimes fixed. A rate cut is also the easiest thing for a competitor to match.
2. The results answer carries the most weight that is still open. Approach, experience and past performance are where most points sit, and they are judged on what the agency says it collects and why.
3. Specific beats general. A projected range for this buyer’s accounts, with the reason it differs from the current agency’s, scores better than "industry leading recovery rates". How to stand out in a collection RFP works through that answer.

The reason is where agencies differ most. Dollars collected per account placed is reach times what each right-party contact turns into, and reach depends on data and dialers open to every bidder. In our view the stronger reason for a higher projection is what your floor does with each contact, which depends on which collector takes which consumer (why collectors convert differently). In a live test at a North American collection agency, a telecom book of 170,000 accounts was split 50/50 at random before the first call, and the half matched by BestPair collected $98.76 per account reached against $79.17 on the usual process, 24.7% more. One book in one month, not a forecast for any other floor (the case study).

Sources

• Westchester Medical Center, Primary Bad Debt Collection Services RFP (2025) and questions and answers.
• City of Coalinga, Collection Agency RFP (2026).
• University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University, Debt Collection RFP (2026).
• San Antonio Water System, Third Party Collection Services RFP (2024).
• PEEHIP debt collection services listing (2026).
• City of Albany, Municipal Fine Collection Services RFP (2026).
• City of Cotati, RFP Utility Applicant Screening and Collection Services (2026).
• City of Thomson, Debt Collection RFP (2025).
• Cook County Health, Revenue Recovery Service RFP (2022).