BankThink

Collections Abuses a Wake-Up Call to Banks

Re: "Bank of America Sold Card Debts to Collectors Despite Faulty Records"

Kudos to American Banker for its story last week, which revealed that Bank of America knowingly sold credit card receivables that contained inaccurate information to a collection agency.

My first instinct as a credit union CEO is to say that more banking institutions need to stop looking at their customers as just numbers on a balance sheet. At credit unions, one tends to find far less of this activity, because our organizations are so people centric. Indeed, our institutions are owned and operated by our own members. The people who belong to the organization also serve the organization.

More broadly, though, I think the article is a wake up call to the financial services industry. All of us should maintain service to customers as a primary focus, and the B of A article highlights what happens when institutions regard their customers' interests as a secondary concern. Credit card receivables should only be redirected to a collection agency when appropriate and consumers shouldn't be victimized because of inaccurate record keeping on the institution's part.

Diana Dykstra
President & CEO
California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues

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