Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
While many headlines have heralded 2021 yielding significant pay growth for the UK, the reality is much more muted, according to the September 2021 Money Statistics, produced by The Money Charity. As the year has progressed and the UK has emerged from its lockdown restrictions, the search for positivity and hope for the UK’s finances…
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When designing or implementing technology in the race to maintain a competitive edge, many lenders fall into the same cycle of enhancing what every other lender is doing to fit their own processes. The real opportunity for a lender to embrace technology for that competitive edge, is to focus on the customer experience and benefit. …
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The pandemic has seen the reliance on technology surge over the past two years and businesses across all sectors have had to transform the way they operate – not only in terms of managing their employees, delivering products and services and dealing with customers – but also adapting to a digital world and cashless society.…
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Although securing fair outcomes for vulnerable customers has long been a concern both the FCA’s and Ofcom, it has taken a global pandemic to really place it on the agenda of most unregulated businesses which are customer-facing. This includes the debt collection and credit management industry, which although often touching customers when they are at…
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The industry-supported Contingent Reimbursement Model Code seeks to ensure better customer outcomes are at the centre of the fight against Authorised Push Payment fraud. As the regulatory oversight body of the Code, we examine the impact the voluntary Code has had to date, what needs to happen next and why its protections are here to…
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“The Turk, also known as the Mechanical Turk or Automaton Chess Player, was a fake chess-playing machine constructed and unveiled by Wolfgang von Kempelen in the late 18th century. While it was advertised as an automation, The Turk was in fact a mechanical illusion that allowed a human chess master hiding inside it to operate…
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Responsible customer communications are of key importance as we enter what could be a fragile economic climate. Debt advice remains hard to get, not because it isn’t available or creditors are unwilling to provide schemes, it’s hard to get because of the stigma that remains on the topic. In fact, according to the Money Advice…
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Organisations interact with vulnerable customers every day. How they respond has far-reaching implications on customer experience (CX), retention and reputation in the market. While the pandemic changed everything in 2020, customers are constantly experiencing crisis and vulnerability. It’s important that every organisation has a strategy and process for understanding vulnerability, extracting and operationalising insights, identifying…
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It’s never fun being contacted by people you owe money, especially when you know you can’t pay. I used to provide debt advice at a charity and often the first thing people would ask was if I could put a stop to the phone calls and letters, before even getting into a conversation about their…
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The forthcoming Online Collections Technology Think Tank and Vulnerability Conference and webinar from the Vulnerability Registration Service (VRS), (hosted by The Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG)), are two of many events that seek to address the cause and effect of vulnerability. They will talk about identification and treatment of those experiencing vulnerability, but it’s easy…
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Vulnerable customers in collections require help. They need to feel like they can contact third parties to discuss their situation without judgment. Let’s face it, it’s often not easy for customers to pluck up the courage to get in touch, but when they do, they really want and need slick, frictionless processes. That’s why having…
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This blog is written in advance of the Credit-Connect Online Collections Technology ‘Think Tank’ on 16 September 2021 around transformation in debt management strategies. This blog uses my recent experience as delivery lead on the ‘Contact Engagement Programme’, part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). This was a displacement programme involving public procurements on…
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In 2016 In 2016 GB Energy ceased trading, transferring their 160,000 customers to Co-operative Energy. This was the first energy supplier exit in eight years. Since then, a total of 22 energy companies have gone bust affecting over 4 million domestic consumers, with Green Network Energy and Simplicity Energy joining the ever-growing list in January…
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