North Carolina is looking to backtrack on debt collection-consumer rights. In its new attempt to appease businesses, legislators are trying to make it legal for businesses and collection agencies to not give every bit of debt disclosure to consumers. This could either give way to a better system, or lead consumers into a darker path. We all know that debt collectors are not well liked, and this possible legalized lack of transparency will not help their image.
If you are a debt collector merchant, you need to make sure to keep an eye on North Carolina’s attempt at this new law. It may impact your business, but it might not be a good change. Debt collection merchant accounts are considered to be “high risk”, and if you are not currently using a high risk merchant account provider, such as EMB, you may find yourself with a merchant account. If the industry begins to look shaky, traditional merchant accounts and alternative payment processing accounts, such as PayPal, can close your accounts with little notice. You need to take care to find out your debt collection merchant account provider’s stance on any upcoming changes to the industry.
Industry changes come fast, and sometimes there is little notice to the industry, so it is a good idea to have a knowledgeable debt collection merchant account provider to keep you on top of changes. Often times, merchants are not alerted to changes, but processors are, thanks to industry-insider literature and new laws that they must implement. Another thing is that you need to make sure that your debt collection merchant account provider lets you know of upcoming changes, so that you can alert your customers and so no one will be surprised. This potential change in North Carolina is something that consumers should be notified about, and only a few great debt collection agencies will go to the trouble of doing it. Even though the industry is not well liked, you still need to have good customer service and your staff needs to treat debtors with respect. Alerting them to upcoming changes is one small way of doing so.