Discussion and position briefing on Federal legislative issues 2004: membership in the National Association of Credit Management (NACM) has grown from 600 at the end of 1896 to more than 22,000 today, making NACM one of the oldest and largest organizations in the United States.(Position Briefing)

The financial panic of 1893 stunned business with its disastrous depression and subsequent severe deflation. The chemistry of credit was not understood and commercial failures reached record numbers.

So serious was the problem that a "Congress of Credit, Collections and Failures" was held as part of the 1893 Great Exposition in Chicago. That meeting, in turn, led to the further exploration of ways for credit practitioners to help each other.

In June of 1896, 82 delegates from several local credit groups met in Toledo to endorse a national movement, creating what is now the National Association of Credit Management. Membership has grown from 600 at the end of 1896 to more than 22,000 today, making NACM one of the oldest and largest business credit organizations in the United States.

NACM is committed to enhancing, promoting, and protecting the many credit management interests of the commercial credit grantor. NACM represents business credit grantors in all industries, including manufacturing, wholesaling, service industries, and financial institutions. NACM is a member-owned association, which exists solely to serve and support its members.

The purposes and objectives of NACM are:

* to promote honesty and integrity in credit transactions;

* to assure equitable laws for sound credit practices;