In what should come as a surprise to nobody in the accounts receivable management industry, the average credit scores for consumers increased during the pandemic, according to a report released last week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While the report cited mortgage forbearance agreements, pauses on repaying student loans, …
Read More »How Consumers Determine Which Bills to Pay
Getting into the heads of consumers is an important part of being a good debt collector and a good debt collection agency. Knowing how consumers prioritize what bills they are going to pay and which ones they might not can be incredibly useful in scoring accounts, prioritizing which accounts to …
Read More »Number of Americans Having Problems Paying Medical Bills Dropped in 2021 Thanks to Pandemic Relief: CDC
Fewer American families had issues paying their medical bills in 2021, according to data released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, that means that 10.5 million fewer people were in families that had problems paying their medical debts, a noticeable drop from two years prior. A …
Read More »More Consumers Falling Behind, Relying on Credit to Make Ends Meet
It’s a recipe for economic disaster that consumers are whipping up, according to recently released reports. They are charging more money on their credit cards and fewer people are paying the balances off in full every month. While this likely means more accounts and work for companies in the accounts …
Read More »Consumers’ Financial Well-Being on the Decline: CFPB
The overall financial well-being of consumers is back to its pre-pandemic levels, which is not necessarily a good thing, according to data released yesterday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with a noticeable decline in financial health for Hispanics and individuals under 40. A copy of the full report can …
Read More »Individuals With Paused Student Loans Falling Behind on Other Credit Products: CFPB
Individuals with student loans that had their payments paused during the pandemic are now falling behind on other credit products, according to data released this week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. More than 7% of student loan borrowers who were not in default at the start of the pandemic …
Read More »The Tea Leaves That Will Impact Consumers’ Ability to Repay Their Debts
The post-pandemic party is over and consumers are already starting to feel the effects of a nasty financial hangover that could last well into 2023, according to a published report that analyzed a number of different economic reports. Consumers and the U.S. economy were buttressed during the pandemic with about …
Read More »Debt Collection Tactics Leave 4-in-10 Brits ‘Fearing for Their Lives’
Aggressive tactics by debt collectors in the United Kingdom have left four out of 10 adults “fearing for their lives,” according to the results of a poll. Nearly 50% of those who were polled reported not feeling like they were treated humanely by the businesses to whom they owed money, …
Read More »More Americans Favor Medical Debt Forgiveness Than Wiping Away Student Loan Debt
While the federal government still works out all the kinks related to its plan to forgive student loan debt for individuals, the rest of the country is already moving on to the next type of debt they want to see forgiven — medical debt. More than 90% of respondents to …
Read More »More Americans Paying Bills Late. Which Bills Get Pushed to the Side First?
Nearly one-third of Americans have paid a bill late in the past six months and nearly two-thirds of those who have said it was because they did not have the funds to make the payment, according to data released last week by LendingTree. Utility bills are the most likely bill …
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