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The 15 largest debt buyers last year purchased a combined face value estimated between $25.1 billion and $37.7 billion in delinquent credit card accounts, or 60% to 90% of total debt purchases of $41.9 billion, according to a survey by CardLine sister publication Collections & Credit Risk. The survey revealed the total face value of all types of accounts purchased by the top-ranked buyers–including such noncard accounts as utility debt, auto deficiencies, home equity lines of credit and more exotic assets such as health club membership dues–increased 32.2% from nearly $31.7 billion in purchases made during 2006. The credit card debt purchased included Visa, MasterCard, Discover and private-label credit cards. The debt purchasers did not estimate the total spent to purchase the accounts. Credit card charge-offs not yet placed with a collection agency are being sold for approximately 7 cents to 9 cents on the dollar. The amount can fall to as low as fractions of a cent on the dollar for delinquent accounts previously worked by several collection agencies. The top five U.S. debt purchasers by face value, as ranked by Collections & Credit Risk, are Sherman Financial Group, New York; Unifund, Cincinnati; Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., Warren, Mich.; Encore Capital Group, San Diego; and Portfolio Recovery Associates, Norfolk, Va.
August 1 -
Metavante Technologies Inc. announced yesterday it has created CustomPay for National Payment Network Inc., an El Segundo, Calif.-based company that creates loan acceleration products for auto companies. The product enables consumers to reschedule car-loan payments and can help those who have fallen behind on loans repay their debts more quickly than the terms of the original loan, Jeff Lewis, president of Metavante's ePayment Solutions division, tells CardLine. "It brings in the discipline that the consumer normally wouldn't apply to help them pay off the loan faster," Lewis says. While Metavante created the program at National Payment Network's request, it has considered offering a similar product to other companies, Lewis says. CustomPay works by combining Metavante's prepaid-processing, online bill-payment and automated clearing house systems, Lewis says. CustomPay customers sign up to have part of their payroll automatically deducted and set aside to pay their car loan, Lewis says. Milwaukee-based Metavante's ACH system moves the funds, which are held in a prepaid account, and the lender is paid through Metavante's bill-payment system, Lewis says. Companies also can use the product for mortgages and other types of long-term loans, Lewis says. CustomPay benefits lenders because borrowers are more likely to pay off their loans using the product. It benefits consumers because they pay the principal on the loan down more quickly because they make payments from every paycheck, so they pay less interest, Lewis says.
July 31 -
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