View full post on Collections – Credit Card
The average charge-off rate on U.S. consumer credit cards in July fell to a 16-month low, while delinquency rates also were better as credit card-portfolio health continued to improve, Fitch Ratings reported this week.
View full post on Today’s News
Carrollton, TX – Southwest Credit Systems, L.P. a national provider of accounts receivable solutions, is proud to announce the addition of Sharell Weeams and Kathleen Eads to their management team.
Sharell Weeams, Director of Marketing and Client Management, will manage all marketing initiatives and maintain high-level client relationships. She has 13 years of experience, which includes six years in the collections industry and four years of agency and corporate marketing experience. Sharell holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing Management from the University of Dallas and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of North Texas.
Kathleen Eads, Manager of Client Services, will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the client services team and ensuring the highest level of service is provided to our clients at all times. She has more than 20 years of experience in the credit and collections industry working in several capacities, including 10 years of sales and marketing to top firms within the industry. Kathleen holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from the University of North Texas.
Founded in 1974, Southwest Credit Systems L.P. is a national provider of accounts receivable management services to small and large companies in the Communications, Education, Utility, Government, and Financial Services industries. Southwest Credit services consumer and commercial accounts along various stages of the credit and collection process.
Southwest Credit has a Better Business Bureau rating of A+. For more information contact 1.800.637.7439 or visit their website at www.sw-credit.com.
View full post on Regulation
One of the owners of a payday loan and collection operation agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges for his role in a scheme that used illegal collection practices.
View full post on Collections – Credit Card
The average credit card borrower debt during the second quarter ended June 30 dropped for the fifth consecutive quarter, to $4,951, down 4.1% from $5,165 the previous quarter, according to a TransUnion analysis of credit card trends.
View full post on Today’s News
Buyers are out in force, scouring the ARM industry looking for collection platforms and add-ons. If you are like most debt collection agency owners, you probably field multiple calls a week or receive “We Have a Buyer” letters from private equity firms, investors, M&A advisors (folks like me), business brokers, other collection agencies and India-based call centers or BPO companies. I would be surprised if you didn’t!
I would love to say that all agency owners will call me or our firm before responding to an inquiry but, believe it or not, that doesn’t always happen!
Here are a few tips before spending too much time with an unsolicited buyer prospect:
Be selective with who you give your time and confidential information to and, I cannot emphasize enough, do your own due diligence upfront. I assure you that the buyer will shake you from your ankles upside down before funding and closing a transaction. You have the right to do the same.
Have you ever found out something about a buyer and had to stop discussions and kill a deal? How do you qualify a buyer prospect? I look forward to your comments. Feel free to call/email me.
Michael D. Lamm advises owners on their growth and exit strategies for Kaulkin Ginsberg’s Strategic Advisory team. Michael can be reached directly at 240-499-3808 or by email. You can also read his blogs, follow him on Twitter, or network with Michael from his social media page on insideARM.com.
View full post on Regulation
A credit repair operation agreed to stop making false claims and stop charging upfront fees under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
View full post on Credit and Personal Finance Blog | Credit Karma
“The future of financial services is outside the branch,” writes NetBanker. Is it true, that your bank branch, with its friendly human tellers and occasional coffee and snacks, will be obsolete; can your laptop and smartphone take care of all your banking needs?
Reality Check
In the rise of mobile banking and virtual banks, Netbanker’s statement has truth to it—many of our daily banking needs are shifting to more convenient and accessible technology-enabled services. Driving to a bank and waiting in line for a teller seems like an unnecessary hassle. For example, Chase is introducing a check-deposit feature that allows your phone to take a picture of your check to deposit it anywhere—even in the bathroom, the Chase commercial chimes. Bank of America and Visa are teaming up to release a
smartphone service to pay purchases via smartphone, which is a quicker and easier payment method than finding an ATM or branch. Internet-based banks like Ally, BankSimple, and INGDirect are stealing customers from brick-and-mortar banks with the promise of convenience, better rates, and simpler terms.
Solution?
So maybe branches need a makeover. One interesting suggestion from The Financial Brand is that branch layouts need revamping or else they’ll die off. The problem is that most banks don’t put their “milk in the back of the store”, i.e. put the most-wanted services, like tellers, in the back of the branch so customers must walk through additional products and services before they get what they need. It’s the same reason grocery stores put milk in the back on their store. “Putting the milk in the back of the store” guarantees bank customers are bombarded by sales reps and products, increasing the likelihood they’ll walk out of the branch with more than they bargained for. It’s just like when you walk into a grocery store for one item, but pick up bread, cookies, and soda on your way out. By designing a branch that engages customers, the bank branch can reclaim a relevant role in consumer lives.
Bye Bye Branches
Beyond practical design, Netbanker points out that bank branches still have significant changes to address before they can compete in the fast-moving pace of technology’s marriage to financial services. Despite what a branch can offer, like the comfort and added customer service of human representatives, technology-based banking may be too compelling, too convenient, and too accessible to beat. Think about what happened to the radio after the rise of television. Branches may not become extinct, but they may grow a little quieter and more discreet in the noise of technological advancement.
Bottomline: Do you think you’ll be switching your banking from branches to more online, technology-based methods like online and mobile banking?
View full post on CreditBloggers
Watch your mailbox. You could be getting applications for small business credit cards – even if you aren’t a business owner. A recent Wall Street Journal article points out that card issuers appear to be increasing their marketing of business cards – even to consumers who work for someone else. Sometimes camouflaged in vague terms like “professional” cards, these cards come with a serious disadvantage for the cardholder:
That means issuers can raise rates with little advance notice (and apply them retroactively), charge higher penalty fees, play with floating due dates, and do all those fun things they used to do with consumer credit cards before those tactics were outlawed.
So why on earth would anyone want a small business credit card? Believe it or not, there are a few good reasons:
Business Card Pros:
Protect your personal credit scores. With the notable exception of Capital One, which has chosen to report business card activity on personal credit reports, most business credit cards aren't reported on personal credit reports unless you default. That means if your business can't afford to pay the bill in full each month, the fact that you are carrying a balance won't weigh down your personal credit scores. (Speaking of credit scores, you should expect to see an inquiry on at least one of your personal credit reports, since most of these cards require a personal credit check.)
Separate your business and personal finances: If you actually do own a business, keeping your business and personal purchases separate can be crucial for tax purposes. Having a dedicated business card makes this easier, though another alternative would be to use a personal card strictly for business purchases. Again, though, the activity on a personal card affects your personal credit scores, for better or for worse.
Rich rewards: You may find richer rewards on some small business credit cards. American Express, for example, is well known for both catering to small businesses, as well as offering solid rewards. The CitiBusiness AAdvantage Visa card gives 30,000 AAdvantage bonus miles if you make $750 in purchases the first four months. That's not hard to do if you are funding a new business.
Business Card Cons
Open yourself to the old tricks and traps. You can read our Consumer Guide to the Credit CARD Act here if you want more details about the practices that Congress banned on consumer cards. But I'll say it again: The CARD Act does not apply to business accounts. And that includes cards marketed to non-business owners as “professional” cards – at least for the time being. (I can see the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau having fun with this one.)
Note: Bank of America has stated they will extend many of the Credit CARD Act provisions to their business cards. A Capital One spokesperson is quoted in the WSJ article as saying that Capital One has applied many CARD Act protections to its business cards, but when I look at their web site, their card offers still list penalty fees that are now illegal on consumer cards.
We've said it before and we'll say it again. Just because the CARD Act protections are in place doesn't mean we can rest easy. There are still plenty of traps to watch out for.
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Gerri Detweiler – Personal finance author and Credit Advisor for Credit.com, Gerri contributes budgeting, debt recovery and savings information online. She is also the co-author of a new ebook, Business Credit Success: Get on the Financing Fast Track.
View full post on Today’s News
Bradley Rice, president of collection agency Central Credit Control, is the winner of insideARM.com’s “What Summer Looks Like to Me” photo contest. Rice’s photo was neck-and-neck with B. Majewski’s entry for most of the voting, but he pulled away at the very end to capture 27.4% of the vote, with second place getting 21.1%.
Voting was very spread out among the entrants, and with nearly 400 votes in the contest, every one counted. Thanks to all who voted!
Rice has worked in the debt collection industry for 17 years. His firm, Central Credit Control, has been in business since 1987 and is a third party contingency agency that concentrates on recovery work in Canada. Rice is also currently serving as President of the Ontario Society of Collection Agencies.
As for the winning shot, Rice said the picture was taken after a hot day on the soccer field. He was snapping pictures of his older son practicing, when his younger son picked up the hose and decided to have some fun.
Vengeance is a dish best served wet, as we all know.
Thanks to his boys, Rice will receive a $50 gift card to Amazon.com and the permanent adoration of the entire ARM industry. Congratulations, Bradley!
View full post on Regulation
After a brutal 21-hour legislative session ending in the early morning hours of June 25, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd thought regulatory reform was finally finished.
