Merlin Releases New Verified Place of Employment (VPOE) Solution

Merlin Information Services recently announced the release of its new Verified Place of Employment (VPOE) solution.  The solution, designed specifically for debt collectors, offers a reliable, cost-effective alternative to the processes collectors use to verify employment today.

Todd Twete, Merlin’s VP of Sales and Marketing said, “Today’s economy is forcing a change in collection practices… more and more debt collectors are relying on place of employment information to contact the debtor, serve legal process, collect on a judgment, or garnish wages.”

Despite the need for places of employment, many debt collectors have been reluctant to partner with an outsourced vendor to obtain high quality, verified results.  There are several factors affecting this decision including a lack of analytics to truly quantify and track internal costs, plus a belief that debt collectors can do the work more effectively and less expensively than an outsourced partner.

Debt collectors routinely push low-cost, unverified place of employment data to the floor, asking collectors to research phone numbers and make dozens of calls.   Typically, only 5-10% of the results associated with this approach find a debtor’s actual employer.  The success rates are low because sources of unverified place of employment data typically provide a high percentage of incorrect or outdated information, collectors struggle to ask the right questions, and the associated labor and data costs are high.  “Merlin was eager to embrace the challenge to offer an effective improvement to this methodology,” said Twete.

Thirty years of investigative experience and a proprietary process are leveraged to deliver Merlin’s guaranteed, Verified Place of Employment results.  The VPOE process uses numerous data sources, custom systems and automation, plus high volume phone techniques.  Verified results include employer name, address, and phone number.  Results are guaranteed for 30 days.

Each VPOE engagement begins with a “pilot” to benefit both the debt collector and Merlin.  The pilot runs a statistically significant sample of a debt collector’s portfolio through Merlin’s VPOE process.  The Merlin team analyzes the characteristics of the file, calculates a price for each verified result, and identifies any special resource or scheduling requirements.  In addition, the debt collector has an opportunity to evaluate the accuracy and consistency of the pilot’s results and calculate a return on investment.

“Based on customer feedback, statistics are showing that Merlin’s VPOE solution is improving debt collectors’ ROI,” said Twete.

To learn more about Merlin’s new Verified Place of Employment (VPOE) or to inquire about running a pilot, please contact Merlin Information Services at 800-367-6646 or visit www.merlindata.com.