UK Credit Cards

With the credit markets tightening up everywhere, businesses are finding it difficult get customers approved for financing through their current consumer finance programs. Many of the big banks that are players in the retail finance industry are also players in the mortgage industry as well as other sectors that are not performing to par. This has forced them to tighten up on credit and take a much more conservative approach when deciding who to approve and in what markets they want to continue to offer financing in. This is bad news for businesses as less approvals means less sales and revenue and for many businesses no financing means NO REVENUE.

Fortunately there are solutions to this problem. This situation has created an excellent opportunity for smaller finance companies as well as indirect lenders and other debt buyers to step in and fill the void. Typically these institutions find it difficult to compete with the big boys on pricing so they typically take on the role of a 2nd look option for a business’s customers. Many of these small finance companies and debt buyers aren’t regulated the same ways as the big banks like GE, Citi, Wells Fargo, Chase, etc so they can remain versatile and can approve a wide arrange of credits even in tough economic times.

Using smaller finance companies and debt buyers will solve a businesses approval rate problems and can provide great consumer finance programs but not without a price. These institutions have a higher cost of funds then the big banks and usually higher overhead so the programs are more expensive in terms of discounts. However, it is far less expensive then having a customer walk out the door because you can’t get the financing for them.

Our office has been flooded with calls from businesses experiencing consumer financing trouble, but fortunately we are able to help them. No one knows how long this credit crunch will last. The businesses that survive will be those who find acceptable alternative finance solutions until the big banks bounce back.

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Product Description
Written for consumer banking or similar financial institutions staffs, Risk Management in Consumer Financial Institutions by Jesus Cornejo shares the brass tacks of the consumer finance industry products and services. Surprisingly accessible and written in laymen’s terms, this guide is clear, succinct, and practical. Broken into three main sections with a strong focus on risk management, readers will learn essential methodologies and key variables of risk management in consumer financial institutions, such as Portfolio Management techniques and Credit & Collections state-of-art processes.

RISK MANAGEMENT in Consumer Financial Institutions: Modern Tools & Guidelines for all Business Units, Including Country Managers and CEO´s

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Product Description
“Managing a Consumer Lending Business” summarizes the lore and the knowledge of the business as the new century begins. It covers many subjects a good manager should know: the importance of how to attract enough good accounts to offset the inevitable bad accounts that every lender will get, controlling line sizes, encouraging use by good customers/discouraging or controlling the bad customers, managing profitability with predictability, if he or she is to effectively run a high-volume consumer business.

Managing a Consumer Lending Business

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Texas Couple Charged with Credit Card Fraud
Bryant Police cracked a credit card fraud conspiracy that crossed state lines. Officers arrested Patrick Long and Jennifer Bonilla Friday. Both are charged with 23 counts of conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Read more on KARK Little Rock

(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-15 18:57 WRAPUP 2-Credit card data signals US consumer stress easing
By Jonathan Spicer

Read more on Interactive Investor

(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-15 18:56 WRAPUP 2-Credit card data signals US consumer stress easing
By Jonathan Spicer

Read more on Interactive Investor

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Arkansas Cooperatives Receive Loans
Two electric cooperatives in Arkansas are among 29 nationwide chosen to receive federal loans to build and repair distribution and transmission lines.from Channel 7

Read more on Arkansas News Bureau

‘Green loans’ to make homes energy efficient
The Government has announced plans for “green loans” to help householders make their homes more energy efficient.

Read more on ITN via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News

Toronto-Dominion Profit Rises on Consumer Banking (Update1)
March 4 (Bloomberg) — Toronto-Dominion Bank , Canada’s second-largest bank, said profit climbed for the first time in two years on higher deposits and real estate loans at its domestic consumer bank.

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Product Description
How to make sure your credit history, financial data, account information and other essentials are strong and safe! In 2001, the average North American consumer spent nearly $40,000 on credit cards. By 2005, this average person will carry over $50,000 in consumer debt – not counting mortgages or car loans! This unsecured consumer debt is fundamentally changing the way Americans live: * the tradition of a home owned free and clear has become unusual as people borrow against their homes and refinance repeatedly to pay for discretionary spending * financing vacations, electronics and dining out with multiple credit cards is commonplace At the same time, credit scores have become the golden keys to successful borrowing. But what does it all mean? How do you know you’re managing your credit wisely? In a credit-based economy, your credit score means as much to you as money in the bank meant to your grandparents –and here’s how to protect it!

Credit Scores, Credit Cards: How Consumer Finance Works: How to Avoid Mistakes and How to Manage Your Accounts Well

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If you own or run a business that has a product or service that sells for $300 or more, chances are that you have searched for second-look financing or other ways to provide your customers a method of payment to purchase your product or service should they not have the cash, room on their credit card, or are denied by your primary financing option. Nothing is more frustrating then when a customer is ready to buy your product and gets denied for financing. It is like revenue flying out the window.

The best way to solve this problem is with the use of second look financing or sub prime financing programs. Generally these terms can be simply defined as financing for customers that have credit scores in the low 600’s and below. Every first look lender has different criteria for approval and it can vary greatly depending upon the product or service being sold.

Second-look consumer financing or sub prime consumer finance programs that work for your business can be tough to find. You can’t just apply for them at your local bank and most primary consumer lending institutions do not do business in the sub prime world. In addition to being tough to find, each company can vary greatly when it comes to how they structure their programs and what industries they do business in.

Here are some tips to help you find sub prime lenders:
1. Search for “debt buying companies” as opposed to “finance companies”. Many of today’s debt buyers have consumer financing programs and are used to dealing with sub prime debtors.

2. Talk to other businesses in your industry. One of your “friendly” competitors may already have a successful program in place.

3. Contact billing or servicing companies. Many billing or servicing agencies collect paper for debt buyers or other finance companies that deal in second look finance. They might refer you.

4. Ask your first look lender for a recommendation on what to do with turn downs. They may partner with sub prime companies on other deals they are doing and these companies might work with your deal.

5. Work with a receivables management consulting who can build a customized program working with their network of second look financing lenders. Generally these firms earn fees from lenders so the work they do for you costs you nothing and you get much better results in a much shorter time frame.

6. Check with your local banker in charge of commercial accounts. Commercial bankers get asked all of the time by their customers about consumer finance programs which they typically don’t do. He or she may have a referral for you.

In the near future I will discuss some of the important factors involved in working with a lender, once you have found one, to get the best program that is right for your business and your customers.

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Standard Chartered to buy GE’s Hong Kong consumer finance business
HONG KONG: Standard Chartered Bank plc said it had agreed to buy General Electric Corp’s Hong Kong consumer finance business, a transaction that will add a roughly US$1 billion (US$1 = RM3.41) mortgage portfolio to the bank’s Hong Kong consumer banking business.

Read more on Business Times (Malaysia)

No impact on inflation in medium term: Finance Secretary
NEW DELHI: Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla on Friday defended the budgetary proposals and did not think the duty on petro-products would add to the inflationary pressures in a big way.

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Standard Chartered to buy GE’s Hong Kong consumer finance business
HONG KONG: Standard Chartered Bank plc said it had agreed to buy General Electric Corp’s Hong Kong consumer finance business, a transaction that will add a roughly US$1 billion (US$1 = RM3.41) mortgage portfolio to the bank’s Hong Kong consumer banking business. The companies aim to complete the deal in the first half of 2010, said Standard Chartered spokeswoman Gabriel Kwan yesterday. At the …

Read more on Business Times (Malaysia)

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