For many consumers, a tax return is the perfect opportunity to take control of outstanding debts. That’s why tax refund season is one of the busiest times of the year for debt collection agencies. Does your agency take advantage of tax refund season to boost revenue and close more accounts? Lots of companies might want to establish a tax time collection campaign but don’t know how to prepare. Here are three ways to enhance your upcoming tax season debt collection efforts. Update Your Compliance Management System Most companies have some type of compliance management system that addresses ..read more

Your staff works hard during the busy tax season and throughout the year to settle past-due accounts and collect payments for your debt collection agency. Without measures in place to prevent chargebacks, though, many of your payments could end up being disputed by consumers. Agencies and other high-risk businesses can go months or years without experiencing the stress caused by credit card chargebacks. It can be as simple as following these chargeback prevention tips. Common Chargeback Reasons The reasons consumers dispute charges with their credit card companies can vary. They can range ..read more

Debt settlement campaigns are initiatives where debt collection agencies offer a discount to consumers to boost collection on old or unresponsive accounts. Tax season is the best time to consider a debt settlement campaign within your debt collection agency. A debt settlement campaign can help your agency: liquidate inventory more quickly increase revenue for you and your clients increase the energy and morale on your collection floor At the same time, your consumer gets a deal, reduces their debt, and has more money left over for other expenses. Shawn Suhr, CEO of Continental Credit C ..read more

“Privacy works flexibly. It’s scalable. And it’s unique to every situation we’re in.” This is a quote from Leslie Bender, Senior Attorney of Health Privacy and Consumer Financial Privacy during her presentation at Collector Live, a yearly event hosted by Mike Gibb of AccountsRecovery.net. The virtual conference for frontline and upper management debt collectors hosted several experts including debt collection industry professional Harry Strausser III. He spoke on maintaining a positive professional image–something that can be especially difficult in the collection industry. The conference al ..read more

Most modern debt collection agencies are starting to use email for collection, or have it on the roadmap to implement soon. Consumers like the convenience of email and companies prefer advantages like: The cost savings of using email compared to traditional mail The possibility to reach consumers you otherwise wouldn’t Faster collection on accounts Even with the positive aspects of email for debt collection, one point of hesitation remains – sending validation notices. Because Regulation F can be complicated, many agencies are still nervous to send this document by email. But there are way ..read more

Email for debt collection is more popular than ever and there are good reasons why. A thoughtful debt collection email strategy: Makes right party contact faster and easier Drives more traffic to self-serve channels, freeing up employees to do other work Saves money on operating costs by reducing postage costs Gives you more visibility into consumer engagement In an era where convenience and privacy are paramount, email offers a non-intrusive, easily accessible, discreet means of communication customers prefer. Now it’s time to take advantage of these preferences and amplify engagement. It ..read more

In a recent PDCflow sponsored webinar on accountsrecovery.com, a panel of digital collection experts sat down to discuss the differences they’ve encountered in text messaging and email for debt collection. Shawn Farris, Brandy Rouselle, and Chris Repholz discussed which channels they each prefer and the strengths of each. They also covered how using SMS messages together with email for debt collection in a single strategy boosts engagement and builds trust. Choosing One: Text or Email for Debt Collection? Which channel is best for reaching consumers about their debt? The answer may chang ..read more

Justin Franklin, Vice President of Global Strategy and Execution at Cedar Financial recently sat down for an interview with PDCflow’s Dawn Updike. They discussed how digital operations impact team structures and revenue, measuring ROI and more. Like other Accounts Receivable professionals, Franklin found his career by accident when he accepted a collection job after college in 2005. He has a wide range of experience, including consumer, commercial, international and legal collections. His experience in his nearly ten years at Cedar Financial includes: Managing multiple collection teams H ..read more

Every debt collector knows the struggle of getting consumers to answer their phones. Digital campaigns can better engage people who want to pay without requiring them to answer a call. But you need to collect certain key metrics to know these new tactics are working. Collecting and analyzing your data will help you understand how your business is performing and forecast future engagement and revenue. There are several ways to measure your processes. Here are four ways to know what’s working and where to improve. “At Cedar, we like to measure specifically how they're engaged through our i ..read more

Creating a digital omnichannel strategy for debt collection is essential for the future. Technology is readily available and there are compliant ways to use it to better connect with consumers. How do you know what you’re planning (or what you’ve already set up) is working as well as it could? Three digital collections experts, Pran Navanandan, Halstead Financial Services, Dianne Harrell, Resident Interface, and Justin Franklin, Cedar Financial, recently paneled a webinar with Accounts Recovery to discuss what digital collection means and ways to monitor your efforts. Pran Navanandan Man ..read more