The Data Issue

Provided by Credit Today

At Credit Today’s Data and Technology conference in London, creditors, consultants and industry experts discussed how the credit industry was still catching up with advances in technology. Senior executives at major high street banks outlined the challenges of inheriting many old data storage systems, and explained the difficulties of ensuring compliance around data protection guidance.

The labyrinthian compound of rules and regulations that lenders face in this area demands constant, prescriptive attention, expert analysis and rigorous assessment. The requirement to demonstrate transparently to regulators the
fact that customer data is managed minutely has only intensified in recent years.

Creditors are also obliged to show how accurate and up-to-date the data is on their customers. The Financial Services
Authority, to name but one, has magnified its focus on mortgage books to ensure that such information is held, managed and used appropriately.

The high street banks, after a spate of unprecedented acquisitions following the financial crisis, have been working around the clock to both improve legacy systems and introduce new processes that have a vital quality: flexibility.

*These requirements present a massive opportunity to those suppliers who specialise in this field, who can help lenders navigate these tasks without the worry of information falling through the cracks. *
Some banks, who by their nature were already bulk processors of vast personal financial data, have been creaking under the weight of integrating systems and information. They still need the expertise of analytics professionals to keep them informed about their customers’ current predicament, where risks are emerging, and what financial situation their customers are heading towards. And it’s not just the major lenders who are going to need help.

The public sector will also require the private sector’s tools, expertise and application. The credit reference agencies (CRAs) have already been called upon to help the government sift through data on benefit claimants in order to establish where there are patterns of behaviour that need investigating.

The agencies have come under fire from some civil liberties campaigners, who seemed to think that the CRAs were being hired as bounty hunters. But the government, which might have been a little more robust in its defence of this initiative, needs the skills of the CRAs now more than ever. If the comprehensive revamp of the welfare system is to work efficiently, then ministers and officials can capitalise on decades of professionalism among the reference agencies. It surely cannot achieve it alone, and after all, aren’t we all in this together?

  • Bounty hunters or public servants?

Harvey Jones asks why credit reference agencies have come under fire for helping
the government sift through its data to track down benefit fraudsters

  • A question of perception

Terry Hiles, managing director of data management specialist Capscan, examines
the politics and perceptions around firms’ attitudes to managing data quality

  • Accepting the challenge

Mike Gordon, vice-president and managing director, EMEA at FICO, explores how
champion/challenger testing can deliver a return on investment in collections

  • The mail mountain

Debt management companies face challenges when corresponding with debtors.
Rik Page at The Content Group says new technology could ease the strain

Credit Today would like to thank Callcredit, sole sponsor of this Data supplement.

 

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