The CFPB has issued a report titled “Credit card late fees” that discusses the consumer impact of late fees by card type, credit score, and geography, and market reliance on late fees.  (Late fees are also among the fees at which the CFPB has taken aim in its “junk fees” initiative.)  Following a pattern established under former Director Cordray, the CFPB used relatively neutral language in its report and more judgmental language in Director Chopra’s comments contained in the Bureau’s press release.

Director Chopra commented as follows:

“Many credit card issuers have made late fee penalties a core part of their profit model.  Markets work best when companies compete on price and service, rather than relying on back-end fees that obscure the true cost.  Given their current practices, we expect that credit card issuers will hike fees, based on inflation, as limits continue to rise.”

The report’s primary findings are:

• Many major issuers charge the maximum late fee allowed under the TILA/Regulation Z safe harbor created pursuant to the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act).

• Cardholders with subprime and deep subprime credit scores are far more likely to incur repeat late fees in a given year than cardholders in higher credit score tiers.

• In 2019, credit card accounts held by cardholders living in the poorest neighborhoods in the U.S. paid twice as much on average in total late fees than those in the richest areas.  Cardholders in majority-Black areas paid more in late fees for each card they held with major credit card issuers in 2019 than majority white areas.

• Late fees account for 99 percent of penalty fees and over half of the credit card market’s consumer fees.

Neither the CFPB’s report nor Director Chopra’s comments suggest that card issuers are charging late fees unlawfully or without making required disclosures.  Rather, the implication of the report and even clearer implication of Director Chopra’s comments is that card issuers are charging excessive amounts in late fees and should not make inflation-based adjustments.  However, as the report acknowledges, the CARD Act requires that late fees imposed by credit card issuers be “reasonable and proportional” to the violation of the account terms.  It also acknowledges that Regulation Z establishes a “safe harbor” for specific fee amounts and provides that those amounts are to be adjusted annually by the CFPB for inflation.  In 2022, the safe harbor allows a card issuer to impose a fee of $30 for a first late payment and $41 for a subsequent late payments.  (Regulation Z also permits an issuer that can demonstrate that a higher fee is justified as a reasonable proportion of its internal costs to assess a penalty fee that is higher than the safe harbor fees.)

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When the Federal Reserve Board initially set the safe harbor amounts in 2010 at $25 for a first late payment and $35 for subsequent late payments, it indicated that it believed those amounts were generally sufficient to cover issuers’ costs and to deter future violations and also recognized the need to annually adjust those amounts for inflation to cover increases in issuers’ costs.  75 Fed. Reg. 37526 (June 29, 2010).  Perhaps Director Chopra is suggesting that the current safe harbor amounts are too high or that annual adjustments for inflation are unwarranted.  However, he offers no empirical evidence indicating that the safe harbor amounts do not generally represent issuers’ costs.  Even more significantly, any changes to the safe harbor amounts (including their elimination) or the elimination of annual adjustments would require rulemaking by the Bureau.

It seems unlikely that the CFPB intends to launch a new rulemaking in order to lower the maximum permissible credit card late fees.  Such a rulemaking would be opposed by the industry, would be very time consuming, would absorb lots of bandwidth, and its success would be in doubt.  Thus, it appears Director Chopra is once again using his favorite strategy–jawboning.

That strategy seems misplaced here.  If credit card issuers eliminated or significantly reduced late fees, there would be less incentive for cardholders to make timely payments.  Also, it may lead issuers to increase their interest rates, particularly in an economic environment in which market interest rates are rising.  Such an increase in interest rates would result in one segment of cardholders – those who revolve and pay their bills on time – subsidizing those who do not pay their bills on time.

HOUSTON, TX — AIS, a Texas-based FinTech and leading provider of technology- driven default servicing solutions, today announced the hiring of Cliff White as Managing Director, Bankruptcy Compliance.

“Cliff White has been the Justice Department official in charge of bankruptcy enforcement under Attorneys General of both political parties and during times of great change in the bankruptcy law,” said Blake Hogan, President of AIS. “He will bring his unique knowledge and organizational skills to assist our clients in effectively administering their portfolios of default loans and implementing systems that meet the highest standards of excellence and legal compliance.”

For 17 years, White led the United States Trustee Program (USTP), the Department of Justice’s “watchdog” of the bankruptcy system. He retired on March 31st, after 42 years of federal service. He is the recipient of two Presidential Rank Awards – the highest recognition accorded to senior career executives – by President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. As Director of the USTP, White’s accomplishments include the implementation of key provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 that substantially revamped consumer and business bankruptcy practices and the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 which streamlined the bankruptcy process for smaller companies.

“Over decades of service in the Department of Justice, I have had a bird’s eye view of the bankruptcy system where I ensured that both debtors and creditors complied with the bankruptcy laws,” said White. “After a fulfilling federal career, I am excited to join the AIS team in bringing their data, technology, and business systems expertise to financial institutions and lenders to enhance both efficiency and regulatory compliance.”

He officially joins AIS on May 2, 2022. Visit www.aisinfo.com/news/Cliff-White for more information.

About AIS:

AIS is a Texas-based FinTech firm offering technology, talent, and data analytics to support Operations and IT functions within the financial services sector. We are committed to lowering costs, improving quality, and delivering faster results for our clients. Our insights, software robotics and workforce solutions drive the day-to-day work so our clients can focus on growing their business. We review client processes, eliminate non-value adds, and streamline productivity. We build financial and legal technology to automate and optimize workforce performance. We recruit, train, and manage highly skilled human resources to meet staff augmentation needs. We serve a variety of industries including banking, automotive finance, credit card, mortgage, insurance, and telecommunications.

Chicago, Ill. — As the global economy shifts and consumer
credit markets evolve, credit decisioning requirements have become even more
complex and customized. To better address the rapidly evolving needs and
priorities of financial institutions, TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) announced today an
expansion of its go-to-market strategy for decisioning solutions by including
leading decisioning platforms within its global Strategic Alliance
Distribution Partner Program.

The expansion was driven by TransUnion’s
extensive research of how to best
meet long-term decisioning needs within the financial services industry. The findings
uncovered a growing need for more open and flexible platforms with self-service
capabilities—both of which empower business users to change custom rules, add
new data sources, and update custom risk models to adapt to the market in
real-time. To deliver the best service possible, TransUnion’s world-class data
and analytics solutions are now also available via Strategic Alliance partners
for credit decisioning.

“Today’s announcement will ensure financial
institutions—both large and small—gain access to world-class data and analytics solutions in rapid fashion,”
said Aaron Smith, TransUnion’s vice president
of global platform partnerships. “In selecting partners for the program, we engaged in a
rigorous evaluation that included 130 categories and 20 sub-categories. Based
on their assessment and our customers’ current and future needs, we partnered
with industry-leading decisioning platforms such as GDS Link, Provenir, and
others.

The new partners expand on TransUnion’s existing
Strategic Alliance Distribution Partner Program, which includes leading
providers within Collections, Loan Origination Systems,
Data Analytics, Core platforms, and more. The addition of decisioning providers
will meet customers’ rapidly evolving
needs for increasingly complex and custom decisioning requirements across the
customer lifecycle.

“As a global leader in credit risk management, we are
thrilled to join TransUnion’s Strategic Alliance Distribution Partner program
for decisioning,” said Paul Greenwood, CEO of GDS Link. “Our customer-centric
decisioning automation platform, Modellica, coupled with TransUnion’s
world-class data and analytics, provides a better experience for lenders and
borrowers alike. Together, business users can expand upon the value of their
TransUnion data, while they build, test, and deploy risk strategies in
real-time without the need for heavy reliance on IT resources.”

In addition to the
agility and flexibility made possible by decisioning partners, business users
can also greatly expedite
the delivery of much-needed roadmap items and key functionality that can
immediately solve for their requirements.

“Organizations must be able to make accurate credit decisions
instantly to deliver superior customer experiences, and Provenir’s AI-powered
decisioning platform makes it possible by bringing together the essential
components of data, AI and decisioning,” said Kathy Stares, Executive Vice
President, North America for Provenir. “We’re enjoying great success partnering
with TU to help clients respond quickly to market changes and make smarter,
real-time decisions.”

While partner availability varies by region, customers who
require an industry-standard solution to drive their prequal and prescreen strategies
can still rely on TransUnion for its decisioning solutions and ongoing support,
keeping their data, attributes, and scores available in a flexible, scalable
manner which fits their needs.

Find out more about TransUnion’s Strategic Alliance
Distribution Partner Program network here.

About TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

TransUnion is a global information and insights company that
makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing an
actionable picture of each person so they can be reliably represented in the
marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence
and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good.^® A
leading presence in more than 30 countries across five continents, TransUnion
provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and
personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people.

http://www.transunion.com/business

About Provenir

Provenir helps fintechs and financial services providers make
smarter decisions faster with our AI-Powered Risk Decisioning Platform.
Provenir brings together the three essential components needed – data, AI and
decisioning – into one unified risk decisioning solution to help organizations
provide world-class consumer experiences. This unique offering gives
organizations the ability to power decisioning innovation across the full
customer lifecycle, driving improvements in the customer experience, access to
financial services, business agility, and more. Provenir works with disruptive
financial services organizations in more than 50 countries and processes more
than 3 billion transactions annually.

About GDS Link

GDS Link is a global leader in credit risk management,
providing tailored software solutions and analytical and consulting services.
Our customer-centric risk management and process-automation platforms are
designed for the modern lender in their pursuit to capitalize on the entire
credit lifecycle. By providing a personal, consultative approach and leveraging
our own industry-leading knowledge and expertise, GDS Link’s solutions and
services deliver exceptional value and proven results to thousands of clients
around the world.

MCLEAN, Va.– Numeracle™ Inc.,
the pioneer of Verified Identity™ for communications, today announced its ability to collaborate
across all major branding solution providers to offer branded calling to
Verified Identities as an extension of its existing Entity Identity Management™
(EIM) platform.

As consumers demand
more transparency around who is calling and why, the need for enterprise-level
solutions to display secure, branded information on an incoming call screen is
driving innovation in caller identification technologies powered by rich call
data (RCD). Now available across the top wireless provider networks and device-level
platforms such as Google, branded calling via RCD allows verified businesses to
present a brand name (as well as logo and custom call reason where available)
to wireless device subscribers.

“Enterprises have made
the need clear to Numeracle for a single platform bringing branded calling
technologies across multiple solution providers together in one place,” said
Anis Jaffer, Chief of Product, Numeracle. “To respond to this need, Numeracle
has collaborated across the branding partner network to deliver an aggregated
identity and brand management platform to our customers for ease of management
across a disconnected ecosystem.”

The ability to
configure and launch branded calling across all major provider networks comes
as an optional add-on to Numeracle’s existing phone number reputation
management offering, powered by its EIM platform, which has enabled hundreds of
entities to identify and remediate improper Scam and Spam labeling of
legitimate business calls since 2018.

“We started this
journey by empowering Verified Identities with the visibility and control to
correct improper labeling across the full wireless ecosystem,” said Rebekah
Johnson, Founder & CEO of Numeracle. “We now take this a step further by
providing the option of branding as an additional layer of trust, giving the
enterprise control to define how its identity is consistently presented across
the branding solution provider network.”

“Delivering our calls
with the highest level of authenticity so customers have the trust to answer
and interact with the brand is absolutely critical,” said Josh Gordon, Senior
Vice President of Commercial Marketing, InfoCision
Management Corporation.
“Defining and managing branding within Numeracle’s EIM platform allows us to
reach the largest percentage of mobile users with branding they recognize and
have the confidence to pick up or call back.”

To learn how your
brand may benefit from adding caller name and logo (where available) across
multiple networks and device types, visit www.numeracle.com/branded-calling.

About Numeracle

Numeracle’s Entity Identity Management™ (EIM)
platform empowers the delivery of legal, wanted communications. By working with
technology providers, carriers, device manufacturers, analytics companies, and
others, we provide visibility, control, and management across the major
stakeholders influencing communications delivery to give businesses control
over their brand’s identity. Core competencies include prevention and
management of improper blocking and labeling, KYC-based entity verification and
credentialing for STIR/SHAKEN, and branded communications through rich call
data (RCD). To learn more, visit www.numeracle.com

On March 24, Utah Gov. Spence Cox signed into law SB 227, the Utah Consumer Privacy Act.  This makes Utah the fourth state, behind California, Virginia, and Colorado, to enact comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation.

The Act will become effective Dec. 31, 2023.

The legislation moved quickly, from introduction to enrollment in less than a month, presumably due to its sponsors laying the groundwork in 2021 with SB 200.

Applicability 

The Act applies to any controller or processor that does business in Utah, or produces a product or service targeted to Utah consumers, and:

1. has annual revenue of $25,000,000 or more; and
2. satisfies one or more of the following thresholds:

• during a calendar year, controls, or processes personal data of 100,000 or more consumers; or

• derives over 50% of the entity’s gross revenue from the sale of personal data and controls or processes personal data of 25,000 or more consumers.

Exemptions

The Act contains a data-level and entity-level GLBA exemption, not applying to “a financial institution or an affiliate of a financial institution governed by, or personal data collected, processed, sold, or disclosed in accordance with, Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 6801 et seq., and related regulations.”

Other exemptions include, in part, protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Privacy Rule, and information subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Consumer Rights

The Act provides a consumer the right to:

1. confirm processing of, and have access to, their personal data;
2. delete personal data that was provided to the controller by the consumer;
3. obtain a copy of their personal data; and
4. opt-out of the processing of their personal data if it is being processed for targeted advertising or sale.

Notably, the Act does not include the right to correct personal data, unlike the California (CPRA), Virginia, and Colorado acts.

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Contract Requirements

A controller must require its processors to enter into a contract that:

1. defines the specific purposes and limitations of the processing, including the duration;
2. imposes a duty of confidentiality on the processor with respect to the personal data; and
3. mandates a similar contract between the processor and any subcontractor.

Enforcement

The Act does not provide a private right of action.  In the event of a violation, the Attorney General may bring an enforcement action seeking actual damages to a consumer, and an amount not to exceed $7,500 for each violation.  The Act does require the Attorney General to provide a 30-day opportunity to cure a violation.

Maurice Wutscher Impression

The Act is similar to the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act and Colorado Privacy Act and businesses that are gearing up to comply with either or both should have little problem incorporating the Utah requirements. 

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — After 20 successful years at Absolute Resolutions Corporation, Mark Naiman has announced that he, along with two partners, have acquired two premiere industry trade conferences – Collection and Recovery Solutions (also known as “CRS”) as well as Debt Connection Symposium (known to industry insiders as “DCS”) as well as all intellectual property surrounding these well-known events. CRS and DCS have been staples in the accounts receivables management (“ARM”) space for over 20 years and Mark is excited to build upon the existing foundation of the shows – to new markets, new originators and to dive deep into the wonderful world of fintech. 

Mark and his team are taking the torch from Judy Hammond, who after 35 years of commitment to the industry, which includes co-founding the Debt Buyers Association (now known as RMAi) and many instrumental industry events, is excited about the future potential for these events. 

“I am absolutely delighted to be able to pass this torch to my friend and industry veteran Mark Naiman and his partners. I know Mark and his team will do great justice to the work that we started, and we’ll be working collaboratively throughout the year to ensure a seamless transition, great shows, and wonderful attendee experiences,” said Judy.

Mark was a co-founder of Absolute Resolutions Corporation (“ARC”), an industry leading purchaser of distressed consumer receivables. Mark will step down as President of ARC to transition to his new role over the next 60 days. 

“I have attended almost every conference that Judy has been involved in. When presented with the opportunity to continue the legacy and brands that she created, I felt honored. It is exciting to capitalize on new networking opportunities, emerging technologies, and to enhance an unmatched onsite educational experience. CRS and DCS will remain unique shows – distinct from other industry events. Making this decision was a huge step for me. Leaving behind the company that I founded was only possible with the entrepreneurial blessing that my business partners bestowed – allowing me to consciously uncouple from my role at ARC,” shared Mark. 

During his tenure with ARC, Mark helped guide its growth from a small five person company slowly transitioning it into one of the largest privately held debt purchasers in the United States.

“Any company is better with Mark Naiman,” said Chris Winkler ARC’s CEO,  “When Mark and I first started talking about this potential project in late 2021, I knew that this moment was something of a cross-roads event – not just for ARC and Mark individually, but also representative of the changing post COVID environment. I’ve never seen a more unique personality aligning with a more unique opportunity within the space. The partners here at ARC will all be sad to see Mark leave the company, as he is a valued member of the management team, but we are all excited to see what comes next for him on this new journey. “

Mark is joined by ARM and fintech legal expert, Dara Tarkowski, Managing Partner at Actuate Law, LLCand host of the Tech on Reg podcast, as well as banking and fintech industry veteran Randy Rivera, Executive Director of FinTEx. “I could not be more excited to be on this journey with Mark and Randy. Mark was one of my first friends when I entered the ARM industry. He was a wealth of insight, a mentor, and I am giddy to now call him my partner. We are committed to bringing the best and most innovative content and attendee experiences to the industry,” said Dara.  Randy shared, “These shows are ready to expand to new and emerging markets and tackle topics that we have yet to explore in the industry – think Web 3, digital identity, blockchain and much more.”

This year, for CRS, the team will be partnering with Alloy Labs Alliance, a consortium of over 40 community banks driving innovation, to hold its member meeting in connection with CRS. “We are excited to partner with Dara, Randy and Mark to unite two significant communities in the financial services industry and look forward to continued collaboration,” said Jason Henrichs, CEO of Alloy Labs Alliance. 

The CRS conference https://collectionrecoverysolutions.com/ will be held at the Four Seasons in LV Nevada May 25th-27th. To learn more, email mark@debtconnection.com. 

On March 15, the D.C. Council of the District of Columbia Committee of the Whole met in a full hearing, in part to hear amendments introduced to B24-0357 by Councilmember and Chair Phil Mendelson (D).

B24-0357 is the Protecting Consumers from Unjust Debt Collection Practices Amendment Act of 2021, and was raised by Mendelson in July 2021 as a trio of legislation to address debt collection in the district during the pandemic along with Emergency B24-0347 and Temporary B24-0348. All three affect debt collection in D.C.; legislation such as this is often introduced as a series of emergency, temporary, and permanent bills. B24-0357 is the permanent version of the Protecting Consumers legislation.

At the hearing (video here), Chairman Mendelson gave a brief overview of B24-0357, and then introduced amendments to the bill. The amendments add considerable challenges to debt collectors looking to communicate with consumers or pursue legal remedies in the district.

• Revises the law so that it applies to any consumer debt, except a loan directly secured on real estate or a direct motor vehicle installment loan.

• Adds new definitions for “consumer” and “original creditor” to provide greater clarity in the law.

• Protects consumers, in addition to the current law, by prohibiting more and specific types of harassment against consumers, such as: Disclosing information of debt to consumer disputes; Disclosing citizenship status; and Visiting or threatening to visit a consumer’s home or place of employment (except for serving a lawsuit).

• Caps calls at four per account per week, with limited exceptions. “This is stronger than the federal law,” Mendelson explained. “If the consumer has two accounts in collections, the consumer could receive eight calls in a week under the cap in our committee print; under the federal law, it’s fourteen. So you can see that this is more protective of consumers.”

• Requires debt collectors to receive consent from the consumer to communicate via email, text message, and private message, and caps the number of electronic communications at five per week per account.

• Includes stronger validation and notice requirements than those the council adopted in B24-0348, including a provision that notices be in English and Spanish, except if a language other than Spanish was used in the contract; in which case, the notice must be sent in English and the language used in the contract.

• Requires the plaintiff in a debt collection case to submit proof of address verification and includes a photograph with coordinates and the date/time stamp on the photo.

After introducing these amendments in committee, Mendelson answered questions from other councilmembers. These answers provide additional insight into the D.C. City Council’s thinking on regulating debt collectors and protecting consumers.

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Councilmember Allen asked how the call caps would be enforced. Mendelson explained that they would be enforced “in the reactive sense;” that is, addressed after the fact, likely in a private right of action or enforcement. Councilmember Bonds reminded the committee that D.C. has the second highest number of debt collection complaints per capita, and then asked, “Why [is] the District … plagued upon so generously.” Mendelson referred the councilmember to the Racial Equity Impact Assessment for B24-0357, which discusses socioeconomic particulars specific to D.C. Bonds closed out her comments by noting that she felt four contacts per account per week is “still too many.”

These changes were unanimously approved by the council (with Councilmembers White and Gray absent).

The bill now returns to staff to make the technical and conforming changes, after which the bill will be re-heard and likely approved by the council. If passed by the council, the new legislation will take effect, following approval by the mayor (or in the event of veto by the mayor, action by the council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review, and publication in the District of Columbia Register.

OGDEN, UT– PDCflow and Debtmaster360 have partnered to provide secure digital
payment communication options to accounts receivable management companies. Now,
users can send secure email and text payment requests and e-signature with
consumers in minutes – all within the Debtmaster360 platform.

“We are
very excited to partner with PDCflow in offering Debtmaster360 customers a new,
efficient, and modern way to capture more payments,” says Ryan Vroman, Sales
Manager, Comtronic Systems, LLC. “‘The future is now’ with integrated email, text
messaging, and wet signature capture!” 

PDCflow’s
integrated Flow Technology is designed to simplify communication between
companies and their consumers, directly from their system of record. 

• Email and text
  workflows allow collectors to send a payment request while on the phone
  with consumers to complete in real time.
  

• Consumers can
  enter their own sensitive payment data, so agents never see or hear credit
  card information, keeping your business out of PCI scope.
  

• Digital
  communications make collaboration, tracking, document recall and reporting
  access easier for teams – whether they are in-office or working remotely.

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“The
technology renaissance is happening right now, particularly with providing
convenience to consumers as well as streamlining workflows,” says Heather Harris, National Account Executive,
PDCflow. “The Debtmaster360/PDCflow relationship will provide both of these
to our shared clients.”

With
the implementation of Regulation
F, debt
collection agencies now have clear guidelines for compliant text and email
communications. Offering these options simplifies business for offices and
satisfies consumers by using channels they prefer to resolve their accounts.

About
PDCflow

PDCflow
is a payment software that empowers organizations to engage consumers through
digital communication and digital payment channels. With patented FLOW
Technology, the software gives businesses flexibility and control over the
secure delivery and capture of business transactions, including payments,
signatures, photos and documents through digital channels.

Flexible
and customizable APIs allow platforms to easily integrate, giving their users
the ability to accept payments through multiple channels and electronic
communication methods while keeping their software out of PCI scope.
Integrators save on the cost and time of PCI compliance while still having
control over their user experience.

Programming
and customer operations for PDCflow’s national client base have been completed
in-house in Ogden, Utah, since the company’s founding in 2003. Find out more
about PDCflow at https://www.pdcflow.com/ 1.877.732.4814 or sales@pdcflow.com.

About Debtmaster®360

Whether you’re a small office or a large agency
with many call centers, Debtmaster®360 can help you manage
compliance, enhance security, and provide quality service for clients and
debtors. At Comtronic Systems® we develop fully integrated collection
technology that delivers all your debt management, phone system, and client
reporting needs in one secure platform. Easily accessible with cloud or
hybrid deployment options, your office is limitless in size and number of
locations…and the friendly Comtronic staff provides all service and support.

The core of the system empowers collectors with
the best in workflow management, debtor information, payment utilities,
reporting tools, documentation, and compliance resources, all available with
just a few clicks Comtronic has more than 35 years of experience working within
the collection industry, incorporating feedback and best practices to create
the best collection technology on the market. www.debtmaster.com, (800) 414-2814 or sales@comtronic.com

The way debt collection agencies communicate with consumers is evolving rapidly. You need to know how digital consumer communication strategy has changed – or hasn’t changed – at your vendor / partner debt collection agencies. Want to find out how to evaluate your agency partner’s performance and digital debt collection strategy efficiently? Want to make sure agency partners have consumer communication strategies in place that are both effective and consumer friendly?

The following KPIs will tell you a LOT about the state of your partner’s digital communcation strategy.

Opt-Out Rates

How many consumers are opting out of a particular digital campaign? Individual opt-outs could indicate a specific consumer preferring a different communication channel or time, but a higher overall opt-out rate might mean your agency is inundating consumers with contacts.

What’s more, a high opt-out rate across all of your partner’s digital channels is a red alert that their digital strategy is not consumer friendly. While Regulation F doesn’t specifically provide limits on SMS or email contact, it’s not a total blank check. Your agency partner still needs to be concerned with UDAAP and potential harassment allegations. And so do you.

Even outside of regulatory and legal concerns, there is an element of reputation risk for you here, too. Consumers will only tolerate so much before becoming irritated with your agency partner, and by extension, your brand.

Click Through & Open Rates

How many customers are clicking on your agency partner’s emails and paying? Or clicking on a hyperlink in a SMS to visit their portal? This is a KPI you need to receive from your agency partners. If click through and open rates are abysmal, then the strategy isn’t effective.

Not every consumer who receives a text or email from an agency will click it or open it, and the target rates will vary based on where the account is in its lifecycle. It’s important to establish a baseline early for the click through and open rates, and monitor those rates for major fluctuations. Emails especially are sensitive to being labeled as spam, so it’s important to maintain a reasonable open rate on those campaigns.

Inbound Call Volumes

As your agency partner’s outbound communication efforts (SMS and email) increase, their inbound call numbers should follow suit. Even if they have a great customer portal and web chat, the increased outbound efforts should result in increased inbound calls (unless your partner has two way email or texting, but not many are advanced in this area yet). Your partner should be shifting their frontline agents to fielding more inbound calls, and an increase in inbound calls is a clear indicator that their outbound digital communication campaigns are working effectively.

And Don’t Forget to Make Sure the Documentation Is Right

Your partner’s digital strategy should be well documented and they should be able to show it to you in the form of process flows and policies and procedures. Ask to see how the strategy and tools they are using flow through their Compliance Management System and Change Management Process. (Yes, they should be following their CMS and Change Management Process when their digital strategies change!)

Your agency partner should also have a good understanding of several KPIs (including the ones listed above). They should be tracking and documenting those KPIs to share with you.

When you thoroughly review the documentation behind your partner’s digital strategy, you’ll not only understand it better now, but you set the foundation for more effective audits in the future.