If you’re in the business of issuing credit cards, you assume a certain amount of financial risk. Some customers, if not mindful, can run up large amounts of credit card debt. It is to be expected that some of these same customers will default on their credit card obligations. As a lending institution, you should have systems in place to address and collect this debt owed to you. Failing to do so, your business can suffer great financial losses. It is as simple as that.

There will be instances when the customers given credit card privileges will fail to pay the debts they owe. When this occurs, it is necessary to have in place a system of credit card debt collection.

Keep in mind, most people are responsible, and generally do not default on their credit card obligations. Often, there are external factors such as the loss of income, medical bills, or other calamitous circumstances that lead to the problem.

However, the credit card issuer must engage in some form of debt collection regardless of the individuals circumstances. This is because the issuer will need the revenues to maintain the health of the business as well as the proper relationship with those that do pay their debts.

This latter point needs additional clarification. When a credit card customer fails to pay their debts, this money must be generated from another source. Some institutions may choose to raise the interest rates on their other card holders. While this might be a short term remedy, it can also make your good-paying customers very unhappy. They may choose to go with another credit card issuer, causing a longer term negative effect to your business. This is why it is important to use proper credit card debt collection procedures.

As the name implies, credit card debt collection involves the proper collection of money owed in an effective manner that properly follows the letter of the law. While debt collection is not always easy, if your company follows a few commonly established tips for success, the ability to properly collect money owed can be more achievable. Here are a few common tips for such success:

1. The first step for engaging in proper collections is to send a letter to the delinquent account holder. The letter should explain the situation in a clear manner and state the exact amount that is overdue. The letter should request prompt payment while also informing the recipient that they may present any information that disputes the statements in the letter. Generally, such letters will provide a 30-day window for a response, as required by law, and since this will usually be an adequate duration for such a response.

2. If payment has not been made after this period, you should contact the customer by telephone within the 31-60 day time period. This call should ask for clarification as to why the debt is not satisfied. Then center on, and offer a repayment plan. If success hasn’t been achieved during this period, the next time period, 61-90 days, should focus on sterner phone calls and letters informing the delinquent customer of the potential damage to their credit rating should the default continue.

3. If this does not solve the problem, the next step should involve hiring a professional credit card debt collection agency. Such agencies are well adapt at dealing with delinquent accounts and can take such responsibilities off the shoulders of your business. This will allow your business to allocate its resources to other areas besides the perpetual collection of delinquent accounts. Credit card debt collection is not always easy. Some account holders simply cannot or will not pay. However, if you take the proper steps to deal with the problem, you may discover these problems resolved in a more efficient manner than you thought possible.

It’s very important to mention that time is a crucial factor here. The earlier you can identify problem accounts, and outsource them at a reduced cost and time savings to those with better experience at handling them, the more money you will recoup sooner, and the more time and money you will save in the long run. The longer an account goes delinquent, the likelihood of recovering any money is reduced greatly.

For banks, the cost in time and money to recover delinquent debt is often too high, especially in today’s economy, where few can even afford to have millions owed them, much less the resources to pursue debtors. This leads to a need for some other solution.

Outsourcing bank debt collection to objective agencies where the main concern is to gain income from debt collection is an excellent means of rectifying the problem. Specialists whose sole duty is to pursue debtors and collect the delinquent debt can manage the charged off accounts for the banks.

Bank debt collection outsourcing involves selling entire portfolios of bad debt to another agency, whether a collection firm, a hedge fund investor or other entity willing to take on the responsibility of pursuing delinquent debt. In order to achieve this goal, banks must accept a fraction of the debt in payment for the passing off of responsibility.

This may seem like a loss, but when considering the actual cost and time involved in pursuing delinquent debt, coupled with poor recovery results, the sale of bad debt for any recovered funds is often more profitable than pursuing the debt internally.

Any monies collected through the sale can instantly be used for business pursuits, directly funding capital. Keep in mind that bank debt collection is the least of a bank’s activities. A bank prefers the pursuit of more lucrative investments, for which they must maintain a cash balance rather than a mountain of delinquent debt.

The bank no longer has to pull someone away from other duties to pursue the delinquent debt, either, and if they have a specific position for bank debt collection, that role can be absorbed, resulting in less expenditure on the part of the banking firm and a higher income for the company. Outsourcing bank debt collection also offers others the opportunity to profit from the debt recovery, which keeps investors interested in the exchange.

Increasing the bottom dollar for a larger profit margin is the entire purpose of banking. Excessive bad debt cuts into the funds that allow banks to invest and increase their income, keeping their business going with cash flow.

Without money, a bank cannot loan money to individuals and businesses seeking their own success. Banks collect interest on loans, and the interest feeds into their profit. Outsourcing bank debt collection helps to maintain a worthwhile cash balance that can be used for the purpose of lending and collecting interest.

According to the American Collectors Association, which has conducted a number of studies in banking, write-offs, and human behavioral aspects, bank debt collection should be viewed as a science. Reviewing the statistical results can aid in determining the best means of recovery of debt.

Half of customers facing bank debt collection procedures choose not to pay their delinquent debt, despite having the ability to do so. What this means is that persistence is vital, since many customers who can pay eventually will.

Of course, starting your bank debt collection efforts sooner is always better, for several reasons. First, know that most debtors delinquent on one account have multiple accounts in collections. Starting early helps put your account ahead of others pursuing the debtor to recover funds. Also, for debt collection firms, waiting until the account is more than 60 days old to pursue it decreases collection success rates by 49%.

Finding alternative methods of bank debt collection pursuit is an ideal strategy. Calls are often ignored and, according to studies, 80% of all successfully collected accounts by debt collection firms are recovered through letters mailed.

If you look at human behavior in general, it’s no wonder. After all, while collection calls for delinquent payments are ignored, bills received in the mail for current accounts - phone, electric, etc - are paid. In behavioral science, this is labeled as perceived consequences for nonpayment, which are absent in the phone call but obvious in the letter or bill received.

Often, letters also avoid being too aggressive. According to bank debt collection processes where demands are high and there is a lack of willingness on the part of the collector to negotiate manageable payments, collection efforts are 15-30% less successful.

At the same time, consequences for failure to remit payment must be evident. Debt collection firms achieve greater success because they report default accounts to the credit bureau. If bank debt collection followed the same procedure, there would be a greater return on investment.

Because bank debt collection is a science, formulating a plan of action can aid in building success. Recovering delinquent accounts is easier when a process is put in place based on an understanding of the debtor.

Fixing a bad credit report is not a pleasant experience. There are basically two ways of going about the credit repair process.

First, you can do it yourself. Second, you can hire a credit attorney. For all you “do-it-yourselfers” it is mighty tempting to try it on your own. After all, it is much cheaper, right?

First, there is a great deal of legalese you need to learn when fixing your credit. For instance you will have to learn your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and so on.

If you are not the kind of person who likes to do legal research in your free time, or don’t have patience for translating wordy statutes and confusing case precedent, then this might not be for you. But if you are determined enough to plow through the stacks of law books, then you should expect to spend at least a a few Saturday afternoons researching applicable credit laws.

Once you have waded through the stacks of law books and thoroughly irritated your local librarian, you will need to draft a good dispute letter. Even if you have some decent writing chops, this type of letter takes a unique method to be effective.

For example, the credit bureaus are constantly looking for those people trying do it yourself credit repair. They can easily spot the dispute letters written by amateurs. This can be a problem since credit bureaus are notorious for ignoring badly written dispute letters.

Next, you need to travel to the nearest post office and stand in line so that your letters are all certified. This is time consuming and quite costly. If you send three letters for each round of disputes, you are looking at paying about ten dollars per dispute.

By now you are probably wishing you had more free time. Mailing dispute letters via certified mail takes a lot of time. Unless you are extremely casual about how you spend your free time, this is probably not worth your time.

Disputing bad credit errors on your own also takes an organized office space and a strategic plan. For example, you will need a spreadsheet to track the progress of each disputed item. Plus, you will need to give yourself reminders or some type of alert in the event the bureaus or creditors have allowed the proper investigation period to expire.

Does this sound like fun? Do it yourself credit repair is overwhelming and intimidating especially if you are not highly motivated to learn the federal credit laws. So, unless you are dedicated to becoming an expert in the federal statutes, the issue is not can you afford to hire a credit repair attorney, but rather can you afford NOT to seek help from an affordable qualified attorney.

Fixing your broken credit is about as enjoyable as cleaning out your sewer lines weeding a briar patch. However, once you finally decide you’ve suffered enough and want to repair your credit, you have a couple of choices.

The first option is to fix your own credit. The second option is to hire a law firm that specializes in credit repair. You might think that it is cheaper to do it yourself. However, there is more to the process than meets the eye.

First, there is a great deal of legalese you need to learn when fixing your credit. For instance you will have to learn your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and so on.

If you are not the type of person who enjoys legal research in your free time, or don’t have patience for translating wordy statutes and confusing case laws from around the country, then this might not be for you. But if you are determined enough to plow through the stacks of law books, then you should expect to spend at least a a few Sunday afternoons researching applicable credit laws at your local library.

Assuming you are able to understand the case law and statutes, then you have to move onto the more important part of credit repair. The next step is to write a coherent and compelling dispute letter. You will need to cite the applicable case law and disputed items.

For example, the credit bureaus are trained to be on the lookout for those people trying do it yourself credit repair. They can easily spot the dispute letters written by amateurs. This can be a problem since credit bureaus are infamous for ignoring badly written dispute letters.

Assuming you can draft a decent letter, then comes the easy part. The easy part is to mail the letters. You will need to send them certified, which means you have to physically take them to the post office.

Mailing dispute letters via certified mail takes a lot of time. Unless you are unemployed, this is probably not worth your time. Surely you consider your time valuable.

Disputing bad credit on your own also requires an organized office and a strategic plan. For starters you will need a spreadsheet to track the progress of each disputed item. Plus, you will need to give yourself reminders in the event the bureaus or creditors have allowed the proper investigation period to lapse.

Does this sound overwhelming? Do it yourself credit correction is overwhelming and intimidating especially if you are not highly organized. So, unless you are dedicated to becoming an expert in the federal statutes, the issue is not can you afford credit repair services, but rather can you afford NOT to seek help from an affordable qualified attorney.

Many people are baffled about how to handle derogatory credit such as charge-offs on their credit reports. If you can get them deleted how is the best way to do that? Should you pay off a charge-off or should you just leave it the way it is and try to get it deleted? Well, you should attempt to pay it off but if you don’t do it right you would be better off to leave it the way it is. Can you see why it is so confusing?

If a lender is unable to collect a debt within a certain time period they will often just write it off their accounts as a “charge-off”. Sometimes they will then give it to a collection agency. The consumer needs to be aware when this happens as both the original lender and the collection agency can report the debt. This gives the consumer two derogatory marks for only one account.

Your credit can be influenced by a charge-off for as long as 7 years. You can get an old charge-off removed from your credit, however this is simpler to do if the charge off is a paid charge-off. Even so the difficulty in paying off an old charge-off is that the account then is shown as current and the cycle of 7 years begins again so a “paid charge-off” will show for an additional 7 years regardless of how many years it was on there before.

The only way to fix this dilemma is to use a technique called a “pay for delete”. Before you pay off the old debt get a statement in writing from both the original debt owner and any collection agencies that they will delete the negative information from your credit report upon receipt of payment. This is the only efficient way to pay off an old charge-off and avoid future difficulties.

Are you aware of the fact that you have the right to dispute any items shown on your credit report? The Fair Credit Reporting Act was enacted to give consumers the right to dispute anything that shows on your credit report, including charge-offs, collections, tax liens, judgments, repossessions, foreclosures and even bankruptcies. You can try to repair your credit yourself or you can hire a professional credit repair company.

To dispute any reporting on your credit report begin by contacting the consumer reporting agencies. You can call them on the phone or contact them online but the safest way to do this is to write a formal letter. That way you will always have the proof in a paper trail. Make sure each agency that is reporting the bad credit receives a copy of the same letter and make sure that you keep solid documentation of all of your efforts. The agencies have 30 days to check out your claims sobe sure you document the dates.

Within the 30-day period the credit agencies are required to contact the original debt owners and the collection agencies to see if they dispute the allegations. They should also check any public records concerning the debt within the same 30-day period. You need to be sure that you follow up consistently as credit repair can take some time but it is sure to take even more time if you are not following through.

You can repair your credit on your own but there are professional credit repair companies that have the legal expertise and knowledge to help in the process. It may be worth your time to consult one of these companies first to see if they can make it easier for you.