Insured Bank and Thrift Earnings fall 87% in Q2 Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reported net income of $5 billion in the second quarter of 2008, a decline of $31.8 billion, 86.4%, from the $36.8 billion that the industry earned in the second quarter of 2007, according to yesterday’s FDIC report. (August 27, 2008)
Mortgage Applications Increase During Week of Aug. 22 The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Market Composite Index for the week ended Aug. 22 was 421.6, an increase of 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 419.3 one week earlier. The index measures mortgage loan application volume. (August 27, 2008)
Consumer Confidence Improves Slightly in August The Consumer Confidence Index improved slightly in August, The Conference Board announced today. The August index stands at 56.9, up from 51.9 the previous month. July marked the first time in 2008 the index increased. (August 26, 2008)
Students Worry About Debt After Graduation More than 31% of students do not worry about debt, such as credit cards or student loans, believing they can repay it once they are out of school and earning a regular paycheck, according to a recent online survey of 500 college students. (August 26, 2008)
Finance Company Real Estate Receivables Down 57% in June Finance companies held $2.04 trillion in outstanding receivables during June, down nearly 1% from $2.06 trillion in May, according to the Federal Reserve’s monthly G.20 report released yesterday. (August 26, 2008)
Tennessee Hospital Files for Bankruptcy Protection Trinity Hospital LLC in Erin, Tenn. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reporting debts of at least $1.2 million and less than $10 million, according to United States Bankruptcy Court documents filed last week. (August 26, 2008)
Experts Say Stores Should Restore Public Confidence After Breach Pressure is growing for businesses affected by a credit card data breach to take immediate steps to restore public confidence, Rachel Kim, a research analyst at Pleasanton, Calif.-based Javelin Strategy & Research, tells Collections & Credit Risk. (August 25, 2008)
Scammers Warn: ‘Only God Can Help You Now’ West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw is warning consumers of fraudulent Internet loan collectors posing as law enforcement officers. (August 22, 2008)
Ontario Systems Releases Cell Phone Compliance Tool Ontario Systems LLC today announced the release of its Validity Version 1.0 product, which enables collection agencies to continue working accounts with cell phone numbers in compliance with recent judicial rulings. (August 25, 2008)
TransUnion Launches Dynamic Monitoring in Canada TransUnion this week launched its Dynamic Monitoring platform designed to help Canadian businesses identify risks and predict credit behavior by monitoring for specific financial transactions as they occur rather than reviewing monthly or quarterly reports. (August 22, 2008)
AICCCA Selects Peregrin Services’ Consumer Choice Locator Line Service Peregrin Services Corp. yesterday announced that the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies (AICCCA) has selected Peregrin Services’ new Consumer Choice platform for the AICCCA National Locator Line, a toll-free number for consumers to reach AICCCA member credit counseling agencies. (August 21, 2008)
Rubin Named President-Elect of ACA International Karolyn Rubin, senior vice president of Bonded Collection Corp. in Chicago, recently was named president-elect of ACA International, the association for collection professionals. (August 21, 2008)
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Launches Online Foreclosure Resource Center The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago recently launched an online Foreclosure Resource Center providing information for homeowners, prospective homebuyers and community groups to help prevent foreclosures and lessen their negative influence on neighborhoods. (August 19, 2008)
nTelagent Inc. Raises $1.7 Million nTelagent Inc., a Nashville-based health care revenue cycle company, today announced the completion of a $1.7 million round of Series E convertible preferred shares to accelerate market penetration of the Self-Pay Management System. (August 13, 2008)
Evergreen Professional Recoveries Adopts CallRex Call Recording Software Telrex, a Kirkland, Wash.-based provider of the CallRex suite of IP call-recording and call center optimization products, announced that CallRex call recording software has provided Evergreen Professional Recoveries a rapid return on investment. (August 5, 2008)
PRA Acquires Assets of Broussard Partners Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. today announced that it has acquired the assets of Broussard Partners & Associates, Inc., which specializes in providing audit services to local tax authorities in Louisiana. (August 1, 2008)
SoundBite Introduces Platform for Collections SoundBite Communications Inc. today announced the launch of "Intelligent Communications Platform for Collections," which incorporates technology to help organizations "maximize profits, accelerate the recovery of debt and mitigate risk." (July 21, 2008)
IAT Provides Tool to Help Collector Productivity Lazy agents can hide no longer. After customers clamored for a real-time tool to motivate agents and impress clients, IAT created and just launched Display Center. (July 15, 2008)
TransUnion Launches Updated Scoring Models TransUnion announced today the launch of its newly updated TransUnion Account Management and TransUnion New Account scoring models. (July 10, 2008)
CR Software Announces Partnership with Mississippi State Tax Commission CR Software LLC (CRS), the leading financial software solutions provider to collections entities, announces today its partnership with Mississippi State Tax Commission (MSTC). MSTC was seeking the acquisition of a collection software system that has the ability to run their entire collection operation and chose CR Software’s Titanium ORE solution. MSTC is headquartered in Raymond, Mississippi with 9 district offices statewide. (June 19, 2008)
Federal Reserve to Assist Minority-Owned Institutions The Federal Reserve System today announced the nationwide launch of Partnership for Progress, an innovative outreach and technical assistance program for minority-owned and de novo institutions. (June 18, 2008)
Dallas Law Firm Opens Commercial Collection Practice Cash Klemchuk Powers Taylor LLP, a Dallas-based law firm, has formed a commercial debt and judgment collection practice within the litigation practice group. Partner Patrick W. Powers will chair this practice. (June 12, 2008)
WinDebt Software Now Links to Payment Vision Lonestar Turn-Key Systems, a provider of receivables management software for the debt collection industry, says that customers of its debt recovery software, WinDebtXL, will have access to the gateway services of Payment Vision, which concentrates payments captured at various “windows” such as IVR, Internet and call centers. (June 12, 2008)
Anchor Funding Elects Independent Director Boca Raton, Fla.-based Anchor Funding Services Inc. has expanded its board of directors from five members to six members and elected E. Anthony Woods to the board, the company announced Thursday. (June 12, 2008)
DIVDAT Launches Kiosk Network for Bank DIVDAT Inc., a Ferndale, Mich.-based provider of CashLINC – a comprehensive receivable management system – has partnered with Pleasanton, Calif.-based Fireside Bank to launch a walk-up kiosk network program. (June 12, 2008)
Auto Payment Protection Firm Forms Account Management Unit Sekurus Inc., which manufactures the On Time payment protection system for vehicles, has founded a new company, Sekurus Financial Services, to provide full-service accounts management for dealers and financial institutions serving the subprime buy-here, pay-here auto market.
(June 11, 2008)
WAM Selects Print and Mail Partner PSC Info Group, a Valley Forge, Pa.-based provider of time-sensitive document delivery solutions to the accounts receivable management industry, will become West Asset Management Inc.’s strategic partner to enhance West’s ability to help companies maximize return on receivables across multiple phases of the recovery cycle. (June 11, 2008)
Call Centers Demand More Hosted Dialer Capacity San Francisco-based LiveVox, a provider of hosted dialer solutions, said that over the past 12 months, it has seen a 400% jump in minutes used through its system and the company has added many new customers in the collections space. (June 11, 2008)
Kolcraft Takes Charge of Deductions, Cash Application With 9ci Faced with mounting chargebacks and deductions exacerbated by lagging cash application times, this Chicago-based manufacturer was able to slash processing time while boosting credit and A/R performance using an automated solution.
Expanding Your Collection Agency’s Role What should a collection agent do when it appears that the debtor has the will and volition to pay but just not the means? Should they proceed with a suit? Foreclose on their home? These are often the usual courses of action, and in many cases the only effective one. However, depending on the debtor and their circumstances, a more creative approach may be the way to go.
Taking Collections to the Next Level: Leveraging People, Process and Technology to Achieve Breakthroughs in Collection Performance No matter what aspect of the quote-to-cash process you automate, the success of your project
will be reflected - in one way or another - in its effect on your collections. It is well documented
that improving invoice accuracy not only reduces payment times, but the number of items
requiring remediation as well. Improving your credit evaluation process will also reduce slow
payments and subsequent bad debt losses, though the impact may not be as direct. Many other
point solutions ultimately affect collections, including auto-cash, EIPP, new application
processing, credit scoring, order approval, deduction management and trade promotion planning.
Revenue and Receivables Management: Myths and Truths About ERP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technology has a proven history of delivering great value
to todays corporations by enabling a centralized information warehouse to be leveraged
enterprise-wide. However, ERP has a broad focus, so best-of-breed (BoB) applications have
been developed to provide the depth of functionality required by key functional areas, such as
accounts receivable. As a result, corporations have long recognized the need for best-ofbreed
applications to bridge the void of ERPs functional limitations.
The use of pretexting -- pretending to be someone to gain personal information -- has been in the news because of its use in the boardroom scandal at Hewlett Packard. Has your firm, or an agency you've employed, ever used pretexting?
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