At a glanceWednesday, January 29, 2020

Collection Industry News At A Glance - January 29, 2020
Wednesday January 29, 2020
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LENDIT FINTECH USA 2020 – MAY 13 – 14, 2020 – Save with DC code

LENDIT FINTECH USA 2020 – MAY 13 – 14, 2020

LendIt Fintech USA 2020 returns to NYC as they host the world’s largest fintech networking event. Over 5,000+ fintech innovators, investors, commercial and regional banks, service providers, enterprise tech companies, the media, and government officials will gather for two days of networking, learning and deal-making. Save 15% on your registration with code DC15%

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JPMorgan Chase plans to cut hundreds of jobs in consumer division

JPMorgan Chase is planning to slash hundreds of jobs in its consumer unit, according to a report by Bloomberg.   The cuts represent about 1% of the division’s workforce, and employees will be given a chance to apply for other roles in the company, a source said. Affected employees are expected to be notified Feb. 6.   JPMorgan’s consumer unit houses the bank’s deposit, credit-card, home and auto lending businesses and contributes nearly half of the bank’s revenue, Bloomberg reported.

 

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California and New York Propose to Expand Consumer Protections

At the start of the new year, both California’s Governor Newson and New York’s Governor Cuomo proposed expansions to their respective state’s regulatory oversight of consumer financial services.   Of particular note, Governor Newson’s 2020-21 Budget Summary (California’s Proposal) explained that the reason behind California’s proposed regulatory expansion is the belief that “[t]he federal government’s rollback of the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)]” leaves consumers “vulnerable to predatory businesses and leaves companies without the clarity they need to innovate.”  Governor Cuomo’s 2020 State of the State Address (New York’s Proposal) based its need for regulatory expansion on a similar notion—regulating “many bad actors that go unchecked.”

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Florida-based lender will pay NC $825,000 to resolve illegal loan claims

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Florida-based lender will pay $825,000 while resolving a legal complaint that had accused the firm of making illegal small loans in North Carolina.   A Wake County judge agreed to the settlement between Approved Financial Inc. and Attorney General Josh Stein.   He had accused Approved Financial of unlicensed lending, unlawful debt collection, and unfair and deceptive activity.

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CRS2020 2 FOR 1 OFFER ENDS FRIDAY

So much to discuss at CRS2020 this year.  There is still time to register for the 2 for 1 offer to creditors at the Collection and Recovery Solutions conference. This special offer ends Friday, January 31, don’t miss out.

We are excited about all the speakers and content this year.  The conference will begin with our expert panel of Adam Mellem of Toyota, Doug St. Peters from Navient and others on the "The Changing Dynamics of Collections & Recovery" Thursday morning and then to the CFPB Update.  We are happy to announce our special guest the Honorable Christopher Jaime, United States Bankruptcy Judge, to discuss the recent decisions affecting the industry and mistakes to avoid in bankruptcy cases.

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Growing Up During Recessionary Times Does Not Suppress Gen Z’s Appetite for Credit

Generation Z consumers—those born in or after 1995—are actively seeking credit despite many of them growing up during severe economic recessions in their respective global markets. A new global TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) study revealed this broad desire to engage with lenders, although the prevalence of activity and type of credit they are pursuing differs when comparing established and emerging markets.

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Wawa breach update: 30M cards likely compromised

Last month, convenience store chain Wawa announced that more than 850 of its stores had been impacted by malware but did not estimate how many consumers had been affected. According to KrebsonSecurity, experts believe that more than 30 million cards were stolen and are now being sold on an underground site.

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Security admins checklist: 10 tasks to perform every year

Security administrators oversee the secured processes in place, safeguarding the day-to-day operations of an organization. While it is easy for users to focus solely on protecting computers and their devices, security admins are tasked with managing the overall landscape--including LAN/WAN, services, the devices used to access those services, and the most unpredictable factor of them all: The end user.

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Chattanooga City Council calls for lower interest rates from payday lenders, moves to to outlaw scooters

The Chattanooga City Council swiftly and unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night, joining Shelby County in a call for the state to lower maximum interest rates on payday loans. In an effort to ease the financial burden on citizens who take out payday loans, often referred to as predatory loans, District 9 Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod introduced a resolution asking her colleagues to call for the state to lower the maximum allowed interest rates.

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Fintech Adoption in North America Lags Global Acceptance

Over the last several years, the awareness and usage of non-traditional financial services has risen exponentially across almost all regions of the world. As fintech firms have matured from small specialized start-ups to include global organizations offering a broad array of financial services, consumers are increasingly trusting these relatively new organizations to hold funds, process transactions, provide credit and offer advice.

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Innovation Lessons That Respond to Fintech Challenges

Anyone who has read The Financial Brand articles I write, listened to my Banking Transformed podcast, or have seen me speak at events knows that I believe that the only way for financial executives or the banking industry to move forward is to ‘disrupt themselves’. The term ‘disruptive innovation’, as it relates to business, was first coined by innovation guru Clayton Christensen in a Harvard Business Review article in 1995, followed by his 1997 book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma” and many subsequent works.

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Sallie Mae reverses course on personal loan origination

Student loan giant Sallie Mae discontinued new personal loan originations less than two years after beginning to accept them, it said last week during its quarterly earnings call, opting to focus on core strategic priorities.   Separately, the company said it plans to sell off $3 billion in student loans this year and use the proceeds to buy back $600 million of its stock. The buyback should offset the effect of a new accounting standard that Sallie Mae warned would force the company to triple the reserves it sets aside to cover loan losses.

 

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WebRecon Stats for Dec 2019 and Year in Review: How Did Your Favorite Statutes Fare?

Well, 2019 is officially over, and with the end comes no real surprises. Everything was down for the month of December: FDCPA -.3%, TCPA -12.4%, FCRA -6.7% and CFPB complaints -6.6%.   None of that is particularly surprising, but it isn’t all that important in the grand scheme either. Here is something that is more relevant: Full year 2019 numbers appear to have cemented in some long standing trends in consumer litigation filings.

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New credit loss accounting standard expected to pummel retail income

Retailers who rely on in-house branded credit cards to fuel sales face a potential revenue hit this year because of a change in accounting standards that affects their bank partners.   Under the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard that went into effect for SEC filers for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, banks are required to set aside reserves for their entire book of loans based on estimated losses for the full life of those loans.

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Growing Student Debt Burden for Parents

A new study adds to growing concerns about a federal program that allows parents to take out loans to help finance their children’s undergraduate education.   Roughly 3.6 million parents had taken out $96 billion in outstanding loans under the federal Parent PLUS program as of late last year, the study from Trellis Research said. Parent PLUS loans now account for about a quarter of total federal lending for undergraduates, a share that grew from 14 percent in 2012-13.

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Aiming to rein in student loan industry, Virginia House passes ‘borrowers bill of rights’

Legislation aimed at forcing student loan service companies to be more transparent and forthcoming in their dealings with borrowers cleared the House of Delegates with bipartisan support Monday.   The bill creates a “borrower’s bill of rights” and would subject the student loan industry to rules in line with what are currently in place for banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders, says its patron, Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax.

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CTR Refresher: FinCEN Revises CTR Instructions Again

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently updated its CTR Electronic Filing Instructions, providing technical corrections and clarifications for financial institutions dealing with complex currency-related situations.   Quick Refresher. As outlined in the FFIEC BSA/AML Examination Manual, credit unions are required to electronically file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for each transaction in currency (deposit, withdrawal, exchange, or other payment or transfer) of more than $10,000 by, through, or to the credit union. Currency is defined in the Manual as coin and paper money of the United States or any other country as long as it is customarily accepted as money in the country of issue. Therefore, transactions not involving currency are not subject to CTR reporting requirements.  

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Smaller Companies Need to Step Up Their Cyber Security Efforts

Whenever we hear about major cyber security attacks such as data breaches, it’s typically larger enterprises that are the victims. That makes sense, considering those events can potentially impact a lot of people and therefore are more likely to grab headlines and garner attention. But that doesn’t mean small and mid-sized companies (SMBs) are immune to such attacks. In fact, smaller organizations are frequent targets of cyber incidents, and they generally have far fewer resources with which to defend themselves.

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Democrats urge Supreme Court to save consumer agency from chopping block

Democrats are rallying around the consumer protection agency Congress created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis as conservatives urge the Supreme Court to declare the regulator unconstitutional.   The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) could be on the chopping block as it faces a Supreme Court case over whether its unique structure violates the Constitution. Current and former Democratic lawmakers argued in court filings this week that the justices should reject the attacks from conservatives and free market groups against an agency they see as crucial to defending ordinary people from predatory financial firms.

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The Supreme Court could upend consumer financial protection as we know it

A case before the Supreme Court has the power to dramatically reshape how the U.S. government polices financial fraud and other misdeeds against consumers — which many experts fear would weaken existing protections and expose the public to more harm. The case, which concerns the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, could ultimately lead to the dissolution of the agency, which lawmakers created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and was bestowed with broad powers to issue and enforce consumer protection rules in areas such as banking, student loans, credit reporting, mortgages, payday loans and debt collection.

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NEW EXHIBITOR ANNOUNCED AT THE COLLECTION AND RECOVERY SOLUTIONS 2020 IN LAS VEGAS, NV MAY 6-8

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020 is happy to announce that Williams & Fudge, Inc. will be exhibiting at this year’s conference, May 6-8 in Las Vegas, NV at the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas.  Be sure to visit them in booth 41 in the Expo Hall.

For more information about the Collections and Recovery Solutions conference please visit us at http://www.collectionrecoverysolutions.com/

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LIVEVOX ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF SPEECHIQ

SAN FRANCISCO, CA —  January 27, 2020 —  LiveVox, the leading provider of customer service and digital engagement tools, today announced the acquisition of SpeechIQ.   SpeechIQ is an AI-driven speech analytics and quality assurance platform that will enable LiveVox to substantially strengthen its WFO application suite. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, SpeechIQ is an easy-to-use, cost-effective solution that helps drive agent productivity, operational efficiency, and improved customer engagement in contact centers.

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24 state attorneys general step up to defend CFPB

A coalition of two dozen state attorneys general has filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s regulatory powers should be protected. The coalition, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, filed an amicus brief in Seila Law, LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The case stems from a 2017 investigation by the CFPB into Seila Law, a California law firm, for its debt-relief practices. Seila Law sued to block the investigation entirely, arguing that the CFPB’s structure was unconstitutional because its director could only be removed for cause.

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Ransomware attacks are causing more downtime than ever before

Ransomware attacks are becoming more disruptive, with the amount of downtime for organisations that fall victim to network-encrypting malware campaigns on the rise. According to figures in the new Ransomware Marketplace report from cybersecurity company Coveware, the average number of days a ransomware incident lasts is now 16.2 days – up from 12.1 days in the third quarter of 2019. The increased downtime has been driven by a rise in attacks against large organisations, which often need to spend many weeks remediating and restoring their systems.

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CFPB Announces Policy Regarding Prohibition on Abusive Acts of Practices

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today issued a policy statement providing a common-sense framework on how it intends to apply the "abusiveness" standard in supervision and enforcement matters.   The Dodd-Frank Act is the first Federal law to broadly prohibit "abusive" acts or practices in connection with the provision of consumer financial products or services. However, nearly a decade after the Act became law, uncertainty remains as to the scope and meaning of abusiveness. This uncertainty creates challenges for covered persons in complying with the law and may impede or deter the provision of otherwise lawful financial products or services that could be beneficial to consumers.

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Student loan servicer appeals landmark $220,000 bankruptcy ruling

appealing a bankruptcy judge’s watershed decision to discharge all of a U.S. Navy veteran’s student debt." data-reactid="15" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: #26282a; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">A student loan servicer is appealing a bankruptcy judge’s watershed decision to discharge all of a U.S. Navy veteran’s student debt.   Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) — a nonprofit that guarantees and services student loans on behalf of the Department of Education (ED) — is challenging the January 7 decision made by Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Cecelia G. Morris, who discharged $221,385.49 in student loan debt for Navy veteran and lawyer Kevin Rosenberg under chapter 7 bankruptcy

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Former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf barred from industry, to pay $17.5 million for sales scandal

The U.S. government announced that former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf is barred from ever working at a bank and will pay $17.5 million in connection to scandals at Wells.   The OCC also said the former head of Wells Fargo’s Community Bank unit, Carrie Tolstedt, is still fighting the allegations against her.

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Google Ban Fails to Stamp Out Short-Term Payday Lending Apps

(Bloomberg) -- In August, Google announced a global crackdown on Android apps that offer short-term loans, saying it wanted to protect consumers from what it called “deceptive and exploitative” terms. But five months later, payday-style applications offering fast money for one or two weeks are still easy to find in many countries on Google Play, the company’s marketplace for Android apps. Some charge interest rates that can exceed 200% annualized.

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NEW ROUNDTABLES ANNOUNCED FOR COLLECTION AND RECOVERY SOLUTIONS 2020 IN LAS VEGAS, NV

Resource Management Services, Inc. is pleased to announce three new round tables at the Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020 conference at the Four Seasons Hotel, Las Vegas May 6 – 8, 2020.

We also have a double-header round table with Sherri Althoff of Alliance Data and Marian Sangalang, of The Bureaus, Inc. talking about Debt Buying and Selling.  Chris Straiter of BECU, will moderate the Post Charge Off Recovery Strategies round table.  Last but not least, we have Cynthia Victory of U.S. Bank will hold a discussion on TCPA Cell Calls and Texts.  

These are only 3 of the roundtables that are being held at CRS2020.  You don’t want to miss out.

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NY DFS Unveils Consumer Protection Task Force, adds Former CFPB Deputy Director

Less than one month into the new year, New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) has taken strong measures to make good on its proclamation that  “2020 must be the year of the consumer” by: (1) unveiling a 12-member Consumer Protection Task Force to help implement an extensive consumer protection agenda; and (2) adding former CFPB Deputy Director Leandra English as a special policy advisor to the Superintendent.

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Berger asks Kraninger for FFIEC to lead on data privacy guidance

NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger, in a letter Thursday, asked CFPB Director and Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) Chair Kathy Kraninger to provide interagency guidance related to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) to help credit unions and other financial institutions comply with data privacy laws.

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How new FICO changes may lower — or boost— your credit score

The newest version of the FICO credit score unveiled on Thursday will have a broader view of how you manage your debt and will boost as many scores as it will hurt.   Instead of relying on just a snapshot of your financial behavior, the new score, called FICO Score 10, will be able to peer into your financial habits for the past 24 months and determine – based on that history – if you’re a risky borrower.

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FTC issued more than $1.6 million for Nevada consumers in 2019, agency says

The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday it issued more than $1.6 million in refund checks in 2019 for Nevada consumers, a fraction of the reported $15 million lost in 2019 due to scams and fraud. According to the agency, residents filed 35,220 complaints with the FTC last year, most of them being identity-theft related incidents.

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OCC Issues Notice of Charges Against Five Former Senior Wells Fargo Bank Executives, Announces Settlement With Others

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today issued a notice of charges against five former senior executives of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and announced settlements with the bank’s former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other members of the bank’s operating committee.   “The actions announced by the OCC today reinforce the agency’s expectations that management and employees of national banks and federal savings associations provide fair access to financial services, treat customers fairly, and comply with applicable laws and regulations,” stated Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting.   The charges stem from the executives’ role in the bank’s systemic sales practices misconduct. 

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New FTC Data Shows that the FTC Received Nearly 1.7 Million Fraud Reports, and FTC Lawsuits Returned $232 Million to Consumers in 2019

New data released by the Federal Trade Commission shows that FTC actions led to more than $232 million in refunds to consumers across the country in 2019.   A core part of the FTC’s mission is to return money to consumers who are harmed by illegal business practices. Over the last four years, consumers have cashed more than $1 billion in FTC refund checks.

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Attorney General James Leads Coalition Fighting To Ensure Consumer Protections Are Not Reversed

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 24 attorneys general fighting to ensure that the states can continue to benefit from powerful tools under Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act that help them protect consumers from fraud and abusive consumers practices. In an amicus brief filed in Seila Law, LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the U.S. Supreme Court should preserve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other significant consumer protections provided by Title X.

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Microsoft Security Shocker As 250 Million Customer Records Exposed Online

A new report reveals that 250 million Microsoft customer records, spanning 14 years, have been exposed online without password protection.  Microsoft has been in the news for, mostly, the wrong reasons recently. There is the Internet Explorer zero-day vulnerability that Microsoft hasn't issued a patch for, despite it being actively exploited. That came just days after the U.S. Government issued a critical Windows 10 update now alert concerning the "extraordinarily serious" curveball crypto vulnerability. Now a newly published report, has revealed that 250 million Microsoft customer records, spanning an incredible 14 years in all, have been exposed online in a database with no password protection.

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NY Proposes Substantial Restrictions in Debt Collection Licensing Bill

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed a bill to license consumer debt collectors. The proposal comes as part of the governor’s 2021 “budget bill” and was introduced on Jan. 21. A copy is available here. The bill proposes an effective date of Oct. 1, 2020.

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Insurers look to curb ransomware exposure as U.S. cyber rates rise

The changes follow a challenging year of hackers using malicious programs, known as ransomware, to take down systems that control everything from hospital billing to manufacturing. They stop only after receiving increasingly hefty payments. The attacks happened less frequently in 2019, but the problem remains significant, cybersecurity experts said. “Ransomware is more sophisticated and dangerous than we saw in the past,” said Adam Kujawa, director of Malwarebytes Labs.

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Industry Events

 
RMAi Annual Conference

ARIA Resort & Casino
3730 Las Vegas Boulevard , Las Vegas, NV 89158, US
February 04 - 06 , 2020

Questions about registration or sponsorship? Contact Sylvia Done at sdone@rmaintl.org or 916-482-2462

The Payments Summit 2020

The Payments Summit

Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek
75 South West Temple , Salt Lake City, UT 84101, US
February 24 - 27 , 2020

1.800.556.6828

2020 Annual Utilities Credit & Collections Symposium

Conferences By Monticello

Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, Florida
50 Alhambra Plaza , Coral Gables, Florida, United States, 33134
March 02 - 04 , 2020

(843) 277-1620

ACA International 2020 Spring Forum & Expo

ACA International

M Resort Las Vegas
12300 S Las Vegas Blvd , Henderson, NV 89044
March 11 - 13 , 2020

(800) 269-1607

BUMP Collections! Dallas

A "CollectoRMSeries" course by Resource Management Services, Inc.

March 12th BUMP Collections! course to be taught in Dallas, Texas. A June course is expected to be announced for Southern California. An October course is expected to be announced for Atlanta. Call us if you're interested in those courses, and we'll provide info as it is confirmed.

March 12 - 12 , 2020

562-906-1101

Commercial Payments International

EuroFinance

Hilton Amsterdam
Apollolaan 138, 1077 BG , Amsterdam, Netherlands
March 16 - 17 , 2020

+ 44 207 576 8555

AFCC Spring Conference – 2020

Eden Roc – Miami Beach
4525 Collins Ave , Miami Beach, FL 33140
March 22 - 23 , 2020

https://conference.americanfaircreditcouncil.org/

NAPCP Commercial Card and Payment Conference: P-Card, Travel Card, ePayables

NAPCP

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South , Las Vegas, NV 89109
April 06 - 09 , 2020

952-546-1880 ext. 4

NCUCA – National Credit Union Collection Alliance 2020

NCUCA National Credit Union Collections Alliance

Bellagio Las Vegas
3600 S Las Vegas Blvd , Las Vegas, NV 89109
April 15 - 17 , 2020

https://www.ncuca.com/contact/

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020

Collection & Recovery Solutions - produced by Resource Management Services, Inc.

Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas
3960 Las Vegas Blvd South , Las Vegas, NV 89119, US
May 06 - 08 , 2020

562-906-1101

LendIt Fintech USA

Save 15% with our Discount Code: DC15%

Javits Center, New York
New York
May 13 - 14 , 2020

www.lendit.com

National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees 2020

National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT)

Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina
333 W Harbor Dr. , San Diego, CA 92101
July 08 - 11 , 2020

800-445-8629

Debt Connection Symposium & Expo 2020

Resource Management Services, Inc.

Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa
11011 W Charleston Blvd , Las Vegas, NV 89135
September 15 - 17 , 2020

562-906-1101

Auto finance Summit 2020

Royal Media

Wynn Las Vegas
3131 S Las Vegas Blvd , Las Vegas, NV 89109
October 20 - 22 , 2020

https://www.autofinancesummit.com/contact-us

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