The collections industry has undergone major transformations over the past decade.

In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), producing the most reform to financial regulation since the Great Depression and authorizing the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a regulatory agency charged with overseeing financial products and services offered to consumers.

The collections landscape has since continued to evolve, with consumers beginning to make a dramatic shift in how they interact with their financial service providers, moving away from phone and mail, and communicating online instead. Debt collection departments and agencies, large and small, have adopted new technologies to ensure that they comply with consumer demands and changing regulations. But challenges remain in the fast-moving regulatory landscape.

The number of regulations imposed on financial institutions has grown significantly over the past five years, and the level of complexity behind each regulation is high, requiring in-depth knowledge to implement and comply. Lenders have to understand the full complexity of both national and international regulations, so they can find the unique balance to meet compliance obligations while identifying profitable business opportunities.

Justifying financial investment for compliance and fraud prevention technology is challenging. In addition to understanding the numerous and complex compliance agendas, one also must equate the value of business enablement to the bottom line. Businesses are seeking cost-effective, flexible tools that will allow them to meet current and future guidelines, manage risk and ultimately authenticate as many good customers as possible — all while segmenting out only the real fraudsters and noncompliant identities.

Understanding the benefits of such a robust program that supports both risk mitigation and the customer experience is essential to building the business case for fraud prevention.

Calling your consumers - even once - means you must also adhere to the regulations established by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Failure to follow the rules can result in per instance fines as high as $1,500. Our two-page paper outlines the details you must know about TCPA, as well as strategies to set up a compliance process and manage accounts.