Lowell announces latest results

10th August 2017 Consumer Collections |

Lowell has announced that it has delivered a quarter of strong growth in the Q2 period, 1 April to 30 June 2017. Lowell says operationally, these results have been underpinned by the continued commitment to people, strong governance, process improvement and extensive data capabilities. Financial Highlights 28% y-o-y increase in Cash Income to £143m 18%…

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Irish Money and Banking Statistics – June 2017

31st July 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Central Bank of Ireland has released Ireland’s Money and Banking Statistics for June 2017. Here is an overview of the main findings. Irish resident household deposits increased by €1 billion during June 2017 to stand at €99.5 billion. The annual growth rate in the series is now 3.7 per cent, the highest seen since 2008.…

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Ascent announces Northern Irish Partnership

26th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Debt Recovery law form Ascent Performance Group has announced a new partnership with Francis Hanna & Co, allowing Ascent to provide its full range of services across Northern Ireland. The move gives Ascent the widest UK geographical coverage of any debt recovery law firm. Ascent already operates in England, Wales and Scotland. The relationship will be based…

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FCA announces proposals to extend the Senior Managers Regime

26th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published proposals to extend the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) to almost all regulated firms. The new regime will essentially replace the Approved Persons Regime. The aim of the new regime is to reduce harm to consumers and strengthen market integrity by making individuals more accountable for their…

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CSA agrees Royal Mail scheme that could enhance collections effectiveness

24th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Credit Services Association (CSA) has secured an agreement with Royal Mail to bring the Test & Innovate Scheme (TIS) to the collections industry. TIS is an incentive for trying new ideas in mail applications that could prompt higher response rates from customers. These range from changes to letter content and layout through to envelope changes…

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It may take ten years for Italians to fix bad debt issue

19th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Italian banks could take 10 years to reduce their level of non-performing loans (NPLs) to the European average according to Morgan Stanley, adding that setting up a “bad bank” could help. A recession that ended in 2014 saddled Italian banks with 349 billion euros (305.94 billion pounds) in impaired debts, one-third of Europe’s total, while…

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CSA’s UKCCC named Conference of the Year

17th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Collections Conference (UKCCC), the Credit Services Association’s 2016 flagship event, has been named Conference of the Year by the Trade Association Forum (TAF) in its Best Practice Awards 2017. The award judges were looking for an outstanding event which featured ‘particularly relevant and informative content specific to the audience’, as well as utilising ‘innovative technology’…

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Lowell announces two senior appointments

12th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Lowell has announced two senior appointments to its UK executive team. Bill Flynn, joins as Group General Counsel & UK Chief Risk Officer from Wonga Group, where he was Group General Counsel. Flynn joined Wonga in 2015 where was responsible for steering the business through an intensive period of regulatory scrutiny. This culminated in the business…

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CSA launches revised Code of Practice

11th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Credit Services Association (CSA), the voice of the UK debt collection and purchase industry, has revised and relaunched its Code of Practice to incorporate new Principles of Business. The new revised Code continues to promote best practice in terms of collections activity, and also details what the CSA expects of its members in terms…

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Consumer finance has risen by 5% so far in 2017

7th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show consumer finance new business grew in May by 8% compared with the same month last year. Credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 11% compared with May 2016, while retail store and online credit new business increased by 3%. Second charge…

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1st Credit and Hammersmith & Fulham Council launch joint venture

6th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Debt Purchaser 1st Credit have launched a new joint venture: H&F Ethical Debt Collections, at the Local Government Association’s annual conference in Birmingham.The partnership changes the way public sector debts are handled, ending the two-tier treatment of customers in debt by applying Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) standards to public as…

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UKAR announces substantial progress in reducing balance sheet

5th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

UK Asset Resolution Limited (UKAR) which incorporates Bradford & Bingley (‘B&B’) and NRAM has issued its results for the year ended 31 March 2017 (‘2016/17′). UKAR’s mission is to maximise value for the taxpayer, whilst serving our customers well and treating all our stakeholders fairly. Highlights from the results: Balance Sheet reduced by a further…

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Money Statistics: July 2017

4th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for July 2017: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.537 trillion at the end of May 2017. This is up from £1.489 trillion at the end of May 2016 – an extra £929.97 per UK adult Based on May 2017 trends, the UK’s…

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