Collections & Credit Risk articles from June 2004

Collections & Credit Risk archives from June 2004

Accept No Substitutes: Personal Touch Still Matters.
June 1, 2004... Virtual call centers may be the wave of the future in some industries but, as this month's article "Virtual Collections: Ready, Set... Not Just Yet" points out, many in the collections industry are reluctant to adopt such a setup - at least not...

Letters To The Editor.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Machine to Machine To the Editor: We have found that 80% to 85% of the time our agents are leaving messages on a voice mail system. I determined that it was a better use of resources to have a machine speak to the [voice mail] systems...

Survey Results.(voice messaging)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Here's how visitors to Credit & Collections World, Collections & Credit Risk's website, voted on this month's Instant Survey: A number of leading firms are reportedly using Interactive Voice Messaging solutions to call, identify, and/or...

IRS Collections Plan Stalls.
June 1, 2004... Nearly two years after the revival of a long-discussed plan to allow private collections agencies to pursue back taxes, the measure is currently stalled in the Senate by election year politics. Language authorizing the Internal Revenue...

What's New.
June 1, 2004... Qsent's ID Validation Release Qsent Inc., a Portland, Ore.-based provider of contact data services, announces the availability of an industry-standard Web service used in first-level screens of identity and risk assessment applications...

Fair Isaac to Buy London Bridge.
June 1, 2004... Fair Isaac Corp., a San Rafael, Calif. provider of analytics and decision technology will acquire London Bridge Software Corp., a software provider with U.S. headquarters in Atlanta. The deal, for approximately $299 million, should close in...

B2B Tames the Paper Tiger: Electronic invoice presentment and payment is gaining a foothold in B2B. What is prompting adoption and what obstacles still remain?(Business-business)
June 1, 2004... Cutting costs and improving cash flow are two top-of-mind challenges for chief financial officers in today's uneven economy, so it's no shock to see paper-based, labor-intensive processes move to the endangered species list. For many...

Cash Crunch in Healthcare?: As Medicare decides to slow payments for healthcare transactions that are not HIPAA-compliant, the industry scrambles to smooth cash flows.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)
June 1, 2004... It's been a huge, and often costly, process to make the switch to the all-electronic claims submission required under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Take, for example, the situation at Tampa General Hospital, a...

Virtual Collections: Ready, Set...Not Just Yet: The future for call centers and virtual technology is here, but the collections world believes the need for live contact remains strong. Where are we headed?
June 1, 2004... Not long ago, society seemed headed into a future where people could "travel" anywhere and communicate with anyone from the comfort of home. Techno-geeks as late as the mid-'90s enchanted us with "virtual reality" computer programs that let us...

Collecting for the Children: Public and private collectors are chipping away at multi-billion dollar child support debt, but private collections firms face challenges from many states.
June 1, 2004... The child support collections landscape is dotted with prominent collections and enforcement tools, thanks to strong laws, and a multitude of players - all longing to make inroads that will improve the lot of custodial families. In the process,...

Gaining the Collections Advantage: An insider in the commercial space talks about three important points to consider in managing and measuring a collections program.
June 1, 2004... Seven powerful words attributed to Albert Einstein - "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity" - should be the official rallying cry for people in the accounts receivable management world, who have doubtless experienced their share of...

Data Mobility: Risks and Rewards: The mobility of personal and financial data in today's expanding information age can come with a huge price. How can businesses better measure and manage previously unforeseen risks?
June 1, 2004... An open and inclusive consumer-driven economy, coupled with technological advances in the digital communications field, has spurred a phenomenon referred to as the "mobility of data." It impacts everyone in the U.S. and in most...

ID Risk Management Reality Check.
June 1, 2004... Reality #1: There is no such thing as "proof of identity." As any detective, investigator, or government agent will tell you, credentials are no longer secure. In the information age, it's foolish to presume that any credential or document is...

Debt Buyers Public Eye: Two years into a boom, the debt-sales industry shows hints of a slowdown, even as a growing group of public buyers report generally positive financials. The warning signs include rising concerns that bad debt just isn't as good as it used to be.
June 1, 2004... Even as Wall Street cuddles up to the debt-sales industry - floating IPOs to debt buyers Portfolio Recovery Associates in November 2002 and Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. in February 2004 - there are whispers that trouble looms. Lured by...

Bubble, Bubble Housing Trouble: The housing bubble may not burst, but even a slow leak could hurt consumer credit quality.
June 1, 2004... The pot is hot for talking housing market bubble. Even the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is talking. In the FDIC Spring 2004 Outlook, the lead subject is "Housing Bubble Concerns and the Outlook for Mortgage Credit Quality." It doesn't get...

Show Me the Money: When it comes to getting more from collections outsourcers and recovery agencies, it pays to try a SIMPLE approach.
June 1, 2004... Can outsourcers and agencies collect more for your organization? The answer is a resounding yes! As difficult as it is to manage a company's in-house collections operations, keeping tabs on outsourcers and agencies is more complex. But with...