Ready for Refund Season
Know who will pay before refunds land
Every spring, tax refunds put more cash in borrowers' hands than any other time of year. EQ Engine scores every account on what it's expected to pay, so your team works the right ones first.
Book a 20-minute scoring walkthrough$265B
in federal tax refunds issued by mid-April 2026
$202.6B
already paid out by March 20
10x
lift between best and worst-ranked accounts, vs. 2x from a generic credit score
Sources: IRS filing season statistics, 2026; Equabli client results.
Refund season is a short window
Only about $32 billion in refunds had gone out by mid-February 2026. By March 20, it was more than $200 billion. That leaves a few weeks when borrowers have the most cash on hand all year.
The teams that collect the most during those weeks already know which accounts are likely to pay, and they work those first. Getting there starts with the score.
A credit score ranks risk. EQ Engine ranks who will pay.
A bureau score was built to predict default. After charge-off, the question is different: how much will this account pay, and is it worth the effort to collect? EQ Engine is built to answer it.
- Scores every account on expected collections and net value, using dial, digital, letter, agency, and legal outcomes alongside their cost
- Rescores as payments, promises, and contacts come in, so the ranking stays current through the season
- Sends scores straight into your dialer, digital channels, agency placements, or legal decisions
- Shows the factors behind each score, so your team can see why an account ranks where it does
Built for how you collect
For creditors and lenders
Know which accounts will pay this spring, work those first, and send the rest to the channel or vendor most likely to collect. Decide which accounts belong in legal and which belong somewhere cheaper.
For agencies, law firms, and debt buyers
Same team, more dollars. Score at placement, rescore weekly, and point your collectors at the accounts with the highest expected collections. Teams that switch can also drop the per-account cost of a purchased bureau score.
From score to payment
EQ Engine is part of EQ Suite. EQ Engage reaches scored accounts by text and email, with a self-service portal so borrowers can pay as soon as their refund arrives. EQ Collect routes accounts headed outside to the agencies and law firms collecting the most, and tracks liquidation by partner.
What scoring has done for our clients
10x vs. 2x
One national bank's Legal Selection Score showed a 10x lift between its best and worst-ranked accounts in predicting 18-month legal collections. A generic credit score showed 2x.
$9 million
The same client pulled 36% of its legal placements and worked them through lower-cost channels. Net collections rose 5%.
167%
lift in average 30-day unit yield on a letter-targeting program scored by EQ Engine.
Scoring in weeks, not quarters
Scope: pick the use case, portfolio, and scores you want first.
Build and connect: send account history by API or SFTP, and we calibrate scores to your portfolio.
Validate: we test the scores on your own past accounts, so you see the lift before you scale.
Go live: scores flow into your systems and channels, and our team monitors and refreshes them.
What you commit: one technical point of contact and a few hours of operating input. No data science headcount needed.
See what scoring could look like on your portfolio
Tell us a little about your team and we'll set up a 20-minute walkthrough before refund season starts.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get scores running?
Getting to production takes 4 to 8 weeks, including a test of the scores on your own past accounts.
Do we need a data science team?
No. We need one technical point of contact and a few hours of input from your operations team. Model tuning and monitoring stay on our side.
What data do you need?
Account history for the portfolio you want scored, sent by API or SFTP to an encrypted landing zone.
How do the scores reach our team?
Scores, segments, and recommended treatments go back to your systems by API or SFTP, or straight into your dialer and digital channels.