Collections & Credit Risk articles from July 2003

Collections & Credit Risk archives from July 2003

Ranking Time Again: Time Is Running Out.(industry ranking of collections agencies and lawfirms, debt buyers and sellers)
July 1, 2003... It's that time of year again. Our researchers are busy gathering the data used for Collections & Credit Risk's industry rankings of collections agencies and law firms, as well as debt buyers and sellers. Some firms have not responded to...

Letters to the Editor.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2003... A Black Eye To the Editor: My guess is that OSI had, as many agencies do, over-booked their inventory, and was not getting good account coverage. I am of the mind set that, if you keep a manageable account and client base and the right...

Survey Results.(high-profile bankruptcy)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Here's how visitors to Credit & Collections World, Collections & Credit Risk's website, voted on last month's Instant Survey: Outsourcing Solutions Inc., the nation's second-largest accounts receivable management company, has voluntarily...

Big Names Eye Sears' Card Business.
July 1, 2003... Several big name financial institutions are showing interest in purchasing Sears, Roebuck & Co.'s credit card operations since the retailer earlier this year announced plans to sell the business. Potential bidders for the credit card operation...

E-Merchants Sue Four Major Card Firms.
July 1, 2003... A lawsuit filed in federal court in Raleigh, N.C. against Visa U.S.A., MasterCard International, American Express, and Discover Financial Services, alleges that they failed to inform online and direct merchants about client fraud histories or...

What's New?
July 1, 2003... Columbia Ultimate Offers Business Builder Columbia Ultimate, a full-service collections management solutions provider, announces a new incentive program to help organizations stretch their budgets and make it easy to switch to its software...

CU Debt Sales Heat Up.(credit unions)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Ascend United, a consultancy program promoting distressed-debt sales for credit unions, expects to close a $10 million face value sale this month of loans from several credit unions - a sign that the three-year-old program is gaining...

Wealthy Share Debt Woes.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Debt is no longer just a problem for the lower and middle classes. For the past decade, debt rose at significant levels among those with incomes of $75,000 or greater. According to Consumer Financial Decisions, credit card debt among the...

Subprime Credit Card Issuer Sued.(Cross Country Bank)
July 1, 2003... Cross Country Bank is facing lawsuits in Florida and California, where consumers allege the subprime credit card issuer fails to disclose hidden charges and that its affiliate collections agency harasses debtors who are late making payments...

ChoicePoint Buys MARI.(Mortgage Asset Research Institute)
July 1, 2003... ChoicePoint, based in Alpharetta, Ga., acquired Mortgage Asset Research Institute, an operator of databases that monitor and identify fraud in the mortgage industry. Terms were not disclosed. MARI serves about 280 clients - representing...

E-Payment Growth: Payers Hold Court: As electronic bill presentment and payment evolves, payer-centric solutions are commanding attention.
July 1, 2003... For the fifth straight year, analysts predict 2003 is the year electronic bill presentment and payment will take off. But the reality is EBPP will be adopted more slowly than most expect, and will require significant reengineering of back-end...

Offshore Collections: Pricing pressure is driving more collections operations overseas. But companies are moving cautiously and learning that offshore call centers aren't a slam-dunk.
July 1, 2003... Taking a cue from credit grantors with back-office operations overseas, collections companies are starting to move offshore, too. Viewed as a low-cost alternative to U.S. call centers, offshore collections operations are being tried in a number...

A New Recipe for Small Business Lending: Small business scoring tools, long used by larger lenders, are being created for small and mid-sized lenders, too. That should expand small business lending - a win-win for lenders and entrepreneurs.
July 1, 2003... The Small Business Administration has a wealth of information in its database of 336,755 guaranteed loan recipients, but it hasn't done much with it ow, it's concocting a recipe - in the form of a credit scoring and analysis model - to dig out...

In Search of a Secondary Market.
July 1, 2003... It's no mystery why there isn't a secondary market for conventional small business loans: They're too unique to make a tidy package. Unlike consumer loans, which are easily categorized, packaged, and sold, small business loans reflect the...

Credit Where Credit Isn't Due: Federal regulators are clamping down on credit card lending policies - just as weak non-mortgage borrowing and anemic household credit quality create challenges for the consumer finance industry. Are credit card issuers paying attention?
July 1, 2003... Lax credit card lending policies that drew the ire of federal regulators in recent years - culminating with the January release of guidelines urging issuers to stop the fire sale on credit - are being tightened, early signs show. ...

OSI's Bankruptcy: What Happens Now?: Company leaders believe OSI will emerge from bankruptcy as a stronger player, but some industry insiders have doubts. What does OSI's voluntary Chapter 11 filing mean for the company and the collections industry as a whole?(Outsourcing Solutions Inc.)
July 1, 2003... Looking at Outsourcing Solutions Inc.'s mid-May slide into voluntary bankruptcy, Chief Executive Kevin Keleghan and the company's critics see eye-to-eye on the causes prompting the Chapter 11 filing. While buying its way into the role of...

Where the Jobs Are: Credit and collections operations are playing a more prominent role in business today. Has that caused an upswing in demand for credit and collections professionals?
July 1, 2003... The economy may be in the doldrums, but business is booming for firms that focus on recruiting collections and credit risk personnel. "We're very, very busy, and looking to hire recruiters," says John F. Fiumano, chief executive officer,...

Credit and Collections Headhunters (Partial List).
July 1, 2003... Company Adams Select Staffing Allard Associates Analytic Recruiting BancSearch Inc. Bonell Ryan Inc. Card Resource Group Inc. cFour Partners-ITP Worldwide Compu Search Dunhill Professional Search of Tulsa...

Commercial A-R Trends Up.(accounts receivable)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Key indices in the Credit Research Foundation's National Summary of Domestic Trade Receivables indicate improvement in accounts receivable performance during the first quarter of 2003. The Collections Efficiency Index for the first quarter...

Beyond EDI: XML technologies, easier and less expensive to implement than electronic data interchange, allow firms to connect to a broad array of smaller business partners and vendors in real time.
July 1, 2003... Creditors traditionally have used Electronic Data Interchange to connect to their service providers, a technology that has proven to be time-consuming and expensive to implement. The strict standards-based nature of EDI has resulted in...