Debt collection

FIs say that an appeals court’s decision to ease restrictions will allow them to warn customers more easily when loans are past due or accounts have been compromised. But consumer groups argue that the decision gives financial firms license to market their products more aggressively and could lead to more harassing phone calls over unpaid debts.

Banks say that an appeals court’s decision to ease restrictions will allow them to warn customers more easily when loans are past due or accounts have been compromised. But consumer groups argue that the decision gives financial firms license to market their products more aggressively and could lead to more harassing phone calls over unpaid debts.

The move is aimed at boosting services avaialble to the credit union service organization's member-owners.

The best course of action is to not focus advocacy efforts on the CFPB; rather, focus efforts on those members of Congress who support small business, deregulation and free enterprise, writes Rozanne Anderson, vice president and chief compliance officer for Ontario Systems.

The tech giant won praise from consumer groups for its decision to ban ads for high-cost consumer loans. But the policy contains a big loophole, and advertisers have found multiple ways to exploit it.

Lustig, Glaser & Wilson often harassed the wrong consumers, demanded amounts that were not owed, bullied consumers into paying from exempt income, and failed to obtain legitimate documentation of those debts, state officials said.

As the CFPB prods banks to improve their debt collection processes, tech firms are applying artificial intelligence, chatbots and self-service portals to create a more enlightened approach.

Host Brett King reports from this week's LendIt conference in New York.

Using big data can help credit unions better understand which delinquent members have the assets to repay accounts in collections, saving CUs time and effort, and increasing the likelihood of repayment.

Rather than push for looser rules on robo-calls, the industry should focus on policy related to the channels consumers prefer: email and text messages.