Collections & Credit Risk articles from March 2002

Collections & Credit Risk archives from March 2002

My Take: Getting Wired?(the business future of the Internet)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... My, How Time's Have Changed This issue's cover story - "Shazam! Info Age Transforms Credit" - is a reprise of Collections & Credit Risk's very first cover story in January 1996. Back then, the big news was "Collections Goes Online." Today,...

Letters to the Editor.
March 1, 2002... Lost Control? To the Editor: When using an outsourcing service like collections calls, the main problem... is understanding the problems the customer may be experiencing. A common example could be a temporary cash flow (problem) due...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2002... TransUnion's new fraud detection service is TOTAL ID, not IDSM, as in the February What's New? column. Clovis and Roche Inc., Metrairie, La., was erroneously listed as a law firm in February. They are a commercial collections agency. CCR...

UPS Subsidiary Insures Package Invoices.
March 1, 2002... United Parcel Service Capital Corp.'s subsidiary Glenlake Insurance -formed two years ago to insure checks associated with COD deliveries - recently started a program to insure the invoices for packages delivered by the global company, says...

What's New?(Software products and services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... QuickFlow Columbia Columbia Ultimate Business Systems unveils the newest addition to its suite of collections software - QuickFlow. Designed for the general business market, QuickFlow performs all the functions a mid-sized business needs...

E-Debt, CollectionsX Merge.(Industry mergers, acquisitions, and promotions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... E-Debt and CollectionsX joined last month to form the largest exchange for trading distressed debt. The company, to be called E-Debt Financial Services, will merge the former E-Debt and CollectionsX websites into a single site at...

Shazam! The Info Age Transforms Credit.(the information age affects the credit and collections industry)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Like Captain Marvel's lightning bolt, the information age is changing how credit and collections are handled. In our five-story cover package, we explore its impact on five key sectors. Just as speaking the name of the ancient wizard...

New Strides in Fraud-Free Online Shopping.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Americans are applying for credit cards on the Internet and buying online in greater numbers. Still, many hesitate. What's being done to reduce fraud - and the fear of it? Credit card issuers pinned their fortunes a few years ago on the...

Following HIPAA's Orders: Implementing a new regimen is never easy. Still, getting up to speed on HIPAA regulations need not be overwhelming.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act )
March 1, 2002... Sme think its rules will never be enforced and others shudder at the mention of HIPAA, the acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act enacted in 1996. As compliance deadlines draw closer, it's the accountability...

Welcome!(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Collections & Credit Risk and its Internet portal Credit & Collections World are delighted to welcome you to the 6th Annual National Collections and Credit Risk Conference. Continuing the tradition that started with our first conference in Los...

Keynote Speakers.(National Collections and Credit Risk Conference)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Terry Savage, Chicago Sun Times Financial Columnist and Author of The Savage Truth on Money Terry Savage is a nationally recognized financial authority and television personality. She is the personal finance columnist for the Chicago Sun-...

6th Annual National Collections & Credit Risk Conference.
March 1, 2002... Monday March 11, 2002 7:00 Registration 8:00 Chairman's Opening Remarks David E. Whiteside Publisher & Editor Collections & Credit Risk Magazine 8:15 Keynote Address A Vision for Data-Driven Risk...

Tuesday, March 12, 2002.
March 1, 2002... 8:00 Continental Breakfast 8:30 Keynote Address A Wall Street Perspective on Collections Wall Street Analyst Bill Warmington will explore public and private investor perspectives on the collections industry, focusing on...

Exhibitors & CCR Advertisers.
March 1, 2002... COMPANY BOOTH# AACA 238 Academy Collections Service 226 Accelerated Data 227 ACCESS! Corporation ...

Automating Collections in An ERP World: B2B creditors deciding how best to automate their collections operations often face a daunting task. Here's what to look for.(enterprise resource planning systems)
March 1, 2002... Interprise resource planning systems have been the rage in recent years. Corporations installing them want company-wide seamless integration of data. While these "all-in-one" ERP systems do provide tremendous benefits to the overall...

Software Application Selection Criterion.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Key Features Multiple customer contact schemes Ability to override contact scheme Ability to handle customer structure complexity Customer contact file Multiple customer points of contact Call prioritization ...

Managing Risk in a Buyer's Market.(managing credit risk)
March 1, 2002... Collecting the right customer data, and analyzing it, is the key to better credit and collections. Ironically, most telecom providers may be echnologically savvy, but are saddled with outdated strategies and tools. In the Hollywood...

Revving Up the Auto Credit-Approval Engines.(automobile dealers process credit applications online)
March 1, 2002... With almost two-thirds of auto buyers already checking out their options online and nearly one-third asking for price quotes before buying, can online credit application and approval be far behind? If you ever had any doubts about how a...

Benefits That Boost Retention.(employee benefits management)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Crafting an attractive benefits package requires knowing what benefits your best employees value and what the competition is offering. But benefits are no substitute for a positive work environment and fair compensation. If you want to...

Showcase What You've Got.(employee benefits)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... One of the frustrating aspects of offering benefits is that they're quickly taken for granted. Here are some techniques for amplifying the impact of the benefits you offer. - Survey other companies in your area to see how your core packages...

Should Attorneys Buy Debt?: Collections attorneys may view debt portfolio purchases differently than an agency, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Watch out for the pitfalls!(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... For purposes of disclosure, I must say that my one attempt at purchasing debt was not profitable. That said, my partners in that venture went on to become very large and profitable purchasers of debt. Maybe I had the bad- luck charm. So...

Software Innovations Net Better Collections.(software applications for collection agencies)
March 1, 2002... A slew of new software applications make it easier for collections agencies to exchange information with credit grantors via the Web, receive debtor payment via the Internet, and boost employee productivity. With collections agencies...

Who's Who in Collections Software.(Directory)
March 1, 2002... Company/Website Accelerated Data Systems www.accelerateddata.com Account Receivable Processing Co. www.arpcsoftware.com Affirmative Technologies Inc. www.affirmativeusa.com American Management Systems Inc. www.ams.com ...

Credit Information Revives.(credit information services stocks )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Over the past 12 months Wall Street has been kind to credit information services stocks (pale blue line in graph at right), which have outperformed the rest of Collections & Credit Risk's Collections Equity Index baskets of stock issues....

Index.
March 22, 2002... COVER STORY 34 Strapped! High Price for '90s Spending Spree The morning after the 1990s' free-spending party, charge-it crazed consumers are trapped in a credit straightjacket. How soon can they - and America recover? ...

Who's To Blame?: Without Prosecution, Fraud Will Never End.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 22, 2002... Fraud is a huge and growing problem in the U.S. and throughout the world. In the telecommunications industry alone, some $14 billion is lost to fraud annually. Figures compiled by IDC suggest that the U.S. wireless telephone industry will lose...

Letters to the Editor.
March 22, 2002... Oops! To the Editor: I was sorry to see that you overlooked one of your long-term advertisers, the International Association of Commercial Collectors, in responding to (Frank) Tenuto's question on Commercial Collector Certification...

Survey Results.(bankruptcy reform and credit fraud surveys)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 22, 2002... Here's how visitors to Credit & Collections World, the Internet portal of Collections & Credit Risk, voted on this month's online Survey: Should bankruptcy reform legislation be pushed through Congress now, or would it be better to wait...

Commercial Payments Climb.
March 22, 2002... An improvement in commercial payments recently ended a yearlong slide, another sign of an economic revival. The accounts receivables collections rate from commercial entities often is viewed as a litmus test for the economy. The volume of...

What's New?(credit industry)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... Give Credit When Credit Is Due Springboard, a non-profit consumer credit management organization based in Riverside, Calif., rolls out a new financial education program for consumers, entitled Credit When Credit Is Due. The program is...

Cyber Firm Buys Again.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... Cyber Business Credit, New York, a business risk management solutions firm, bought Cyber Risk Management, formerly called Creditek Risk Management Group. CRM, a credit and political risk solutions broker, is CBC's fifth acquisition since the...

Tower of Babel.(XML Internet language)
March 22, 2002... Despite the hype about XML as the future language of Internet-based business-to-business communications, a lack of standards cooled lenders and collections agencies on its adoption. Has the window of opportunity passed? Hailed as the data...

Hype or Hope: The Promise of XML.(programming language for Internet)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... XML is valuable for business-to-business data exchange because it: - Is designed to improve the functionality of the Web by providing more flexible and adaptable information identification. - Defines document types, author and manages...

Cutting a Deal Can Backfire: Negotiated payment plans can be a bad bet when the customer winds up filing for bankruptcy. How can creditors protect themselves?(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... Every supplier experiences it. When the economy slows down, customers suffering financial difficulties fall behind in paying their bills. Businesses in distress know that the least painful way to get additional credit is to delay payments to...

Wireless Wories.(credit policies loosened)
March 22, 2002... Buckling under competitive pressure, some wireless companies are loosening their credit policies, increasing the risk of bad debt and fraud. Is the "bad credit, no problem" crisis back? Intense competition for a shrinking pool of new...

Strapped! High Price Paid for '90s Spending Spree: The morning after the 1990s' free-spending party, charge-it crazed consumers are trapped in a credit traightjacket. How soon can they - and America recover?
March 22, 2002... Americans lived the high life in the 1990s - like spoiled rich kids charging up Daddy's credit cards, buying homes like nobody's business, and traveling at will. "Put it on our tab!" we bellowed, knowing hungry credit card companies would front...

Protecting Patient Privacy: Drafting business associates agreements is taking a back seat to other HIPAA compliance concerns. Who needs them, and what should be in them?(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... The clock is ticking. With the April 14, 2003 deadline for compliance with privacy requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act drawing closer, the need for drafting a business associates agreement to continue sending...

Handy Resources.(business associates agreements)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... Here are some recommended sources for information what a business associates agreement should contain: - HealthKey, a non-profit funded largely by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has an annotated business associate agreement on its...

Executive Pay: Collections & Credit Risk takes a look at how pay for credit and collections executives stacks up.
March 22, 2002... It's no secret: Credit executives are generally more highly paid than those who head collections operations, says Brian Wolfson, managing partner, Management Recruiters of Woodbury, New Jersey. He should know. His firm, an office of Management...

Custom Scoring Gains Ground: Increasingly, credit grantors are mixing and matching external and internal data, developing credit-scoring models that fit their customer base.
March 22, 2002... Why should George P. Monastra pay $35 for a fresh credit report on a current customer? He doesn't think he should. So the vice president of risk management for the office equipment division of leasing firm DeLage Landen Financial Services, of...

Credit Scoring Applications & Services (Partial List).(Brief Article)(Directory)
March 22, 2002... Company Creative Business Decisions Inc. Credit & Management Systems Inc. CreditXpert Inc D&B Corp. Experian Inc. Fair, Isaac Merit Credit Systems Microbilt Corp. Monetrics PBDS Inc. SCORE...

Why Is DSO Higher?(Days Sales Outstanding)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... The Credit Research Foundation's 4th quarter National Summary of Domestic Trade Receivables report shows an expected increase in median Days Sales Outstanding for all industries. In fact, DSO is at its highest level since the recession of 1982...

CCR's Equity Index.(Brief Article)(Directory)
March 22, 2002... LEGEND: Companies Included in Each Index Credit Information Services Equifax Inc. (EFX) ChoicePoint Inc. (CPS) Dun & Bradstreet Corp. (DNB) Fair Isaac & Co. Inc. (FIC) Collections Services NCO Group Inc. (NCOG)...

Approaching Nirvana.(managing collections center)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... One-call resolution can become the Nirvana of the cutting-edge collections center, freed from the fetters of inefficiency and ineffectiveness. To achieve Nirvana, your organization's path must follow three directional signposts: hot- spot...

Advertising and Service Contacts for Collections & Credit Risk and Credit & Collections World.(periodicals, United States)(Brief Article)(Directory)
March 22, 2002... Advertising Western Sales Manager Brenda Schultheis 300 South Wacker Drive, Suite 1800 Chicago, Illinois 60606 Brenda.Schultheistfn.com (847) 251-1588 Fax: (847) 251-0887 Eastern Sales Manager Steven...