Bank debt recovery is growing, mostly because of a poor economy affecting both consumers and markets around the world. Banks and credit unions are adding new techniques and strategies to improve bank debt collection.
Because of many years of rising consumer debt, banks are seeing ever increasing amounts of credit card and loan defaults, as well as growing checking account chargeoffs, as consumers struggle to cover life's bare necessities. This is forcing financial institutions to try new strategies to help with bank debt collection.
Listed are a few recommended bank debt collection tips, which will help improve your debt recovery efforts.
· Provide alternative payment plans for customers going through financial difficulties.
. Implement "hardship" programs for those borrowers who are late on their payments.
. Extend or lower payments, interest rates, or lower fees when you anticipate customer payment problems.
· Create an avenue of communication where customers can freely talk about their issues. You can prevent much larger problems from occuring later by being proactive earlier.
These suggestions, in addition to existing internal collections processes, are designed to catch potential problems early on, and prevent them from becoming excessively delinquent.
When Should You Outsource Bank Debt Collection to Collection Agencies?
It is critically important that banks and credit unions experiencing growing debt collection issues quickly rid themselves of "problem" delinquencies, and outsource them to a collection agency.
Employing some of the tips suggested earlier, you'll be better equipped to identify, early on, the more difficult accounts, and distinquish them from the customers that you can work with internally through payment arrangements.
These problem accounts need to be identified early in the process, and turned over to a third party collection agency. Failing to do so, not only decreases your likelihood of getting paid on them at all, it costs you far more in time, resources, etc.
Some collection agencies offer programs designed to restore negative accounts and retain banking customers before the account is closed or charged off. In fact, research shows customer retention equaling 70% or better can be achieved, as well as restoration of negative account balances when contacted pre-charge off.
The crucial element is reaching these customers before the account is charged off, not afterwards.In addition to the incentive to clear up their negative account balance, it is also proven that after a past due account is closed and charged off, these delinquent customers typically seek new bank accounts at other institutions.
Once this happens, there is little interest in that customer bringing their delinquent, charged off account, current.
Author Resource:
Would you like to discover more info on ways to improve your bank debt collection ? David P. Montana has been a well known current market authority, business consultant and publisher within collection agency services for thirty years.