Student Loans: The Next Big Thing for the Collection Industry?

Registration is now open for Ontario System’s free webinar, Diving In To Student Loan Collections: Demystifying the ARM Industry’s Biggest Market.

The student loan market is often framed in terms of the Next Big Thing for the ARM industry. Unpaid student loans make up the highest-growth collections market in the country, topping $1 trillion in 2013. However, the market segment remains confusing for those that want a chance to work student loan paper.

“It’s a different kind of collections,” according to Brian Davis, CEO of Coast Professional, servicer for several well-known government and private sector student loan portfolios. “Student loan collecting requires more of a relationship-aspect of working with consumers to resolve their issues.”

To help educate the market – those not already on the government’s Default Resolution Contract – technology leader Ontario Systems is offering a free webinar that looks at clarifying what the risks and opportunities are in student loan collection: Diving In To Student Loan Collections: Demystifying the ARM Industry’s Biggest Market. The webinar is scheduled for 13 March 2014, at 2.00 p.m. Eastern. 

“There are a lot of misconceptions to this market,” says Brad Dey, COO and Principal of Second Order Solutions. “A lot in the industry stay away because they give it too much credit for being this black box. What they’re missing, though, is that this industry has unique tools to encourage repayment. Most agencies just need a firm handle on the ins and outs.”

Davis and Dey are co-presenters, along with Ontario Systems’ own Systems VP, Jason Harrington. The webinar will lay out what the experts know that can help you dive head-first into the pool; and, what kinds of technology and workflow make the process efficient.

Attendees of this webinar will leave with a better understanding of:

• What makes student loan debt attractive and unique
• The complexities of processes such as rehabilitation
• Keys to successful leadership in the market
• Inherent risks, and how to mitigate them with workflow and technology 

Both Dey and Davis agree that entering the vertical as a subcontractor is the best way for an agency to get its feet wet. “There are unique aspects to the department, and unique requirements. It’s not as though an agency can say, ‘I was doing the same work; I can do the same for you.’ Collecting these accounts is not like any other kind of collection, really.”

Dey sees a lot of opportunity for those agencies looking to expand and better exploit their technology options: “It’s become a data-driven operational strategy. You have the ability to segment, the ability to look at the intensity, using data available to you.”

Registration for the webinar is free, and you can sign up by following this link: Diving In To Student Loan Collections: Demystifying the ARM Industry’s Biggest Market.