STA. ROSA, Laguna, Philippines — With the global economy in a slump and most North American firms suffering from rising customer arrears, business process outsourcing firm Convergys Corp. sees an opportunity for the Philippines to establish itself as a hub for accounts receivables management (ARM) services.

Filipino agents are highly skilled in “conciliatory matters,” making them suited for ARM functions, Convergys ARM vice president and chief operating officer William Higginbothan said.

“In the Philippines, the ability of the agents to relate to customers is very good,” he told reporters. “They’re good listeners and they have good training. We have an abundance of agents with those characteristics.”

ARM services have to do with enabling Convergys’ clients to still keep their customers, even those with arrears, Higginbothan said.

Instead of cutting off delinquent accounts, Convergys agents working on ARM accounts could help target-consumers find ways and means to “normalize their indebtedness and return to normal financial positions,” he said.

This can be done by means of debt restructuring, partial payments and other payback schemes that would not pose that heavy a burden on consumers, he said.

“In this kind of economy, financial institutions want to save as many accounts as they can, so ARM really offers a lot of promise,” Higginbothan said.

The bulk of Convergys’ ARM services is still done in its North American facilities but there can be a shift to the Philippines, he said.

Around a third of ARM services are performed here, he said, but this percentage can go up to 50 percent or even more in the coming months.

“ARM is still a relatively small piece of customer management, but it’s growing, given the macroeconomic situation,” Higginbothan said.

Convergys inaugurated Wednesday its 900-employee-capacity site at the Nuvali TechnoHub here, where Higginbothan said most of Convergys’ ARM services would be done.

“The Philippines is the most often requested offshore location among our clients, which are mostly financial institutions. And that’s because of the quality of agents that you have here,” he said.

Convergys will open two more sites this year —at Celadon Park in San Lazaro, Manila, and in the Glorietta 5 mall in the Makati business district. These will bring its employee base in the Philippines to around 20,000.