Collections & Credit Risk articles from January 2005

Collections & Credit Risk archives from January 2005

What Next? Of Technology, Inflation And More.
January 1, 2005... Technology has transformed the credit and collections industry in recent years. And the end is not in sight. Concern for data security and regulatory compliance, as well as swifter dispute resolution and identification of fraud, are among the...

Letters To The Editor.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... Intelligent Moves To the Editor: While overall I expect liquidity rates to improve in 2005, significant efforts will be required to overcome the upward pressures on household expenditures related to increased cost of energy and...

Survey Results.
January 1, 2005... Here's how visitors to Credit & Collections World, Collections & Credit Risk's website, voted on this month's Instant Survey: In 2004, business improved for many collections agencies. Looking ahead to 2005, do you expect collections rates...

M&A Activity Reaches Record High.(mergers and acquisitions)
January 1, 2005... With the economy showing signs of life, businesses are flocking to the accounts receivable market in record numbers. Last year, merger and acquisition activity reached an all-time high - with business process outsourcing, international, and...

What's New.(business information solution tools)
January 1, 2005... Experian Launches DecisionOne Experian, a global information solutions company, launches DecisionOne, a new Web-based credit decisioning and account management tool for medium-to-large businesses. The tool is empowered via a partnership...

Discover Acquires Pulse.(Discover Financial Services)(PULSE EFT Association)
January 1, 2005... Discover Financial Services acquired PULSE EFT Association for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $311 million. PULSE will become a business unit of Discover Financial Services and will retain its brand, pricing and operating platform...

Motivating Agents: What Really Works?: Call center managers often dream up creative ways to reward high performance. But do the agents view them as incentives - or insults?
January 1, 2005... This article started out as simple project: Obtain the views of call center agents about what incentive plans work. Incentives and/or recognition programs are common in the credit and collections industry. In fact, with the exception of...

High-Tech's Playground: The latest crop of tech toys moves end users away from point-to-point solutions to enterprise-wide ones. The payoff is increased flexibility and greater operating efficiencies.
January 1, 2005... From power-dialer tweaks to better scoring applications, the latest and greatest technology toys are drastically changing the way lenders and collectors do their jobs. Leading edge technologies are no longer single-minded solutions used by...

The International Obstacle Course: Clearing the hurdles of credit and collections overseas requires training, excellent teamwork, and frequently a third-party's helping hand.
January 1, 2005... International business represents a substantial portion of total business for a lot of companies. That can be a benefit or a drawback. On the one hand, business from varied markets can be good for a company's growth. On the other hand, it can...

Helping Hands.(financial services)
January 1, 2005... Every now and then we all need a little help from our friends. Here are some resources to help get over those international hurdles. FCIB (Finance, Credit and International Business) An association of executives in finance, credit, and...

The Anti-Fraud Battle Heats Up: Verification and authentication solutions, as well as automated customer alerts, head the list of preventive and reactive tools to thwart identity fraud.
January 1, 2005... Fraud is an age-old type of crime, but one that morphs very quickly. No sooner is a weapon devised to spot fraud and deter it than fraudsters change their modus operandi. Today identity theft is front and center among concerns of credit...

Debt-Buying Industry: Giants Set the Pace: Investors funding debt buyers are courting not only the industry's Goliaths, but the little guys too. How is the boom in financing affecting the business?(Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc.)(Asset Acceptance Corp.)
January 1, 2005... Once oh-so-private, the debt-buying industry found itself squarely in the public spotlight after two IPOs touched off multimillion-dollar public and private investments in the business - creating several giants of the industry. Financiers...

The Economy: A Tragicomedy Unfolding?: The economic gurus in Washington may have achieved their aims, but have they scripted a plot that ends badly after all?
January 1, 2005... We tend to thinks the folks in Washington and other influential places have no idea what they are doing. Well, perhaps we've been wrong. They have been doing everything possible to prevent Americans from paying more, and they figured out...

Originations: Where Cost, Risk, and Profit Start: Learn how to improve the originations process and create a measurable return on investment.
January 1, 2005... Originating a new account is a costly decision for financial service companies. Some estimate that 80% of an account's measurable risk is decided at the point of origination. It is also an increasingly complex decision that must be made more...