ACCOUNT RECEIVABLE SOLUTIONS, INC
P.O. Box 184 • 301 N. Clinton Avenue • St. Johns, MI 48879
Phone Toll Free 877-385-5729 • Fax 989-227-9511
www.ar-s.net • E-mail [email protected]
A Message from David A. Mageli
All of us have been caught in the telephone maze of pushing
ten different keys on our telephone pad, then hoping we get to
the right person at the business we are calling, and chances are
we don’t. As consumers we do know what that is like.
Recently, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) issued
a long awaited ruling on the use of automated dialing devices
(ADD) when calling a consumer’s cell phone. Now that this ruling
has been issued, many industries, including the debt collection
agencies are left scratching their heads as to how our legislative
leaders failed to really address the issues of modern technology,
while permitting legitimate business to continue.
Our industry unfortunately became a part of a much larger
problem created by many that did not have a legitimate business
relationship with the consumer. For several years we have been
prohibited from calling a consumer’s cell phone with any type of
ADD equipment. This mandate has led us to a very labor
intensive process of manually dialing each cell phone and thus
limits the volume of contacts we can make daily. And while
violations of the collection laws are far and few between, our
business insurance carrier specifically excluded this coverage in
our policy. The penalties for such violations are costly and on a
“per occurrence” basis and we need to proceed very carefully.
Some of our competitors have requested that their clients
include a “permission to call” in the customer agreements. While
that may certainly help it does present challenges to determine if
the consumer consent officially flows to a third party agent.
While there are risks in any business we try to err on the side of
caution always, and scrub all phone numbers to determine if they
are land lines, cell or ported to a cell. Those we call manually.
The second part of this ruling is even more perplexing. While
you may not use an ADD to call any cell number, they added
language that if your present telephony equipment could be
manipulated to call a cell it could potentially place the company
in jeopardy, leaving most of the big companies scrambling on
what to do. Certainly you could turn off your dialer equipment,
yet if your dialer can be hooked back up to your phone system,
then this very well may be a violation. Thankfully, we have kept
up with this modern technology in order to remain competitive,
all the while maintaining our collection and phone systems
separate. And with the old adage of “doing things the old
fashioned way” have found that our bad debt recoveries have
increased. As I began this article, we as consumers don’t want to
push a bunch of buttons to talk to an attendant.
This is the last newsletter for 2015 and I hope you have had a
safe and enjoyable summer. Thank you for your trust and
business.
SEPTEMBER 2015
Do You Know Your Credit Score???
Ask most people if they know their credit score and
you will get a resounding…”NO”.
If you have not pulled your credit report and score in
the last year, you probably should. Last year, creditors,
insurance companies and potential employers purchased
over 10 billion scores. That is 43 scores per person per
year
based
upon
2010
census
information.
Understanding what a good credit score is requires
understanding how scores are calculated.
Credit scores are three digit numbers that are
calculated according to a mathematical formula with the
information in your credit report and how it compares to
millions of other people. The number predicts how likely,
or unlikely, it is that you will pay your bills. There are
three different credit scoring models most often used by
lenders to decide whether or not to extend an individual
credit, but most commonly used credit score is the FICO
score. A creditor may pull your score to evaluate you for
a credit application or to evaluate whether to increase or
decrease your credit lines. An insurance company may
pull your credit score to determine how much to charge
you for car insurance. A potential employer may pull your
credit score before offering you employment.
All this sounds pretty important, right? And it is.
That’s why it is so important to review your report for
accuracy and keep track of your credit score. By Federal
law you are allowed to obtain your credit report once per
year for free. One of the best sites to go to according to
many experts is www.annualcreditreport.com
Below is a credit score chart with ranges.
499 or less
2% of the population
500-549
5% of the population
550-599
8% of the population
600-649
12% of the population
650-699
15% of the population
700-749
18% of the population
750-799
27% of the population
800 +
13% of the population
New Credit Cards
are hard to Counterfeit
Banks in the U.S. are changing the insides of credit
cards. They are adding something called EMV
technology, which stands for Europay,
MasterCard, and Visa. These new credit cards will
be equipped with a computer chip that is
extremely hard to counterfeit. If you have
received a new card recently, chances are it has
this new technology. The chip embedded inside
the card changes after each transaction in order
to combat fraud and is much more difficult to
copy.
Consumers and store clerks need to know that if
you have one of these new chip cards, the chip is
located on the front of the card. Cards will
continue to have a magnetic strip on the back so
that you can use it at merchants who do not
accept chip cards yet. During the transition to
chip, you can still swipe your card and follow the
prompts. If the card terminal is chip enabled, it
will prompt you to insert it instead.
Almost half of the world’s credit card fraud now
happens in the U.S. while we complete only 25 %
of all credit card transactions. These new chip
cards are credited with dropping Europe’s fraud
rate by 64%. While Europe has been using chip
cards for years, the U.S. is actually the last major
market still using magnetic-striped-only cards.
Businesses will need a new processing device to
read the information in the new chip technology
cards. And by October 1, 2015, businesses that
don’t have an EMV processing device could be on
the hook for fraudulent chip card transactions.
Electronic Version of $olution$
You may receive this newsletter electronically.
Please email Hank at [email protected] to be
placed on the list to receive it first and fast.
Thanks.
AGING…………………
Some thoughts on aging from those
of us who never thought we would
have made it as far as we have.
Some people, no matter
how old they get, never lose
their beauty they merely
move it from their faces into their
hearts.
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles
have been.
Age is an issue of mind over matter, if you don’t
mind it doesn’t matter.
Brains of older people are slow because they know
so much. People do not decline mentally with age,
it just takes them longer to recall facts because
they have more information in their brains, many
scientists believe. Much like a computer struggles
as the hard drive gets full, so humans take longer
to access that information. Researchers say
slowing down is not the same as cognitive decline.
According to the renowned Dr. Michael Ramscar,
the human brain works slower in old age, but only
because we have stored more information over
time. The brains of older people do not get weak,
yet to the contrary they simply know more.
And finally, at least for me, as older people go to
another room to get something and when they
arrive at that room they stand there wondering
what they went there for. I have concluded that
it’s nature’s way of making older people get more
exercise.
The Top Six Regrets of those Dying
1.
I wish I had saved more money for my retirement.
2. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to
myself, not the life others expected of me.
3. I wish I had not worked so hard.
4. I wish I’d had the courage to truly express
my feelings.
5. I wish I would have stayed in touch with my friends.
6. I wish I would have let myself be happier.
Editor’s note; this is a short list and could be expanded by many more.
Things We Learn From Dogs
Be loyal • Never lie • Take naps
Protect your family
Never hold a grudge
Follow your instincts
Love unconditionally
Run, romp and play daily
Delight in the joy of a walk
Always stretch when you rise
Let people reach out and touch you
Don’t bite when a growl will suffice
Let others know when
you are in pain
If you want something
keep digging until you find it
When it’s hot, drink lots of water
and sit in the shade
The Best Age to Start Giving
Your Kids Chores
If you need a reason to establish a regimen of chores
for your children beyond saying “These rugs won’t
vacuum themselves,” science has your back. Research
shows that cleaning the house, taking out trash,
washing windows or whatever else you might throw at
the kids instills a sense of mastery, self-reliance,
responsibility, empathy and respect for
others……….and the sooner you start the better.
The study which included
children during preschool
and then at ages 10, 15 and
in their mid-20’s, found that
the ones who began chores at
ages 3 and 4 were more likely
to have good relationships,
achieve academic success and
be self-sufficient than those who started as teens or
had not done it at all.
According to Richard Rende, a developmental
psychologist in Paradise Valley, Arizona, doing chores
may actually be a better strategy for long-term positive
social and academic outcomes than whatever extracurricular activities your kids are doing that make them
too busy for chores. Parents today should want their
kids spending time on things that can bring them
success, but ironically, they have stopped doing one
thing that’s actually been a proven predictor of
success, and that’s household chores.
Here are a few things to keep in mind.
When loved ones come home,
always run to greet them and never
pass up the opportunity to take a
ride with a friend
Allow fresh air and the wind in your
face to be pure ecstasy
When you are happy, dance around
and wag your whole body
When a loved one is sad, be silent,
sit close and nuzzle
Eat with sheer gusto
and enthusiasm
• It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Thanking
your children for “being a good helper” creates a
positive identity. Saying “let’s do our chores”
underscores cooperation. Complaining about your
chores guarantees they will too.
• Prioritize chore time. It should be seen as equal
in importance to soccer practice or the church
choir.
• Turn chores into a game. “Did you know the
world record for bringing the trash and recycling
to the curb is 48.7 seconds? Think you can beat that?”
• Focus on the family. Whatever you have them
doing, it should benefit everyone in the family
and not just them (or you).
• Leave money out of it. Financially encouraging
a child for being a helpful member of the family
sends the wrong message. Children should get an
allowance, yet it should be considered a different
subject matter.
Are YOU invisible?
Useless Information
One in 10 U.S. adults is invisible to much of the American
economy because they have no credit report or score
according to a recent report by the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau. It found those 26 million adults have
virtually no chance to borrow money or use credit cards.
And another 19 million adults have credit reports so thin
that they are unscoreable by traditional methods and are
also left behind by the credit system.
Seventy five percent of U.S. families put up a
Christmas tree, fifty four percent are artificial.
Together, that means 45 million Americans, or one in five
adults, have no traditional credit score. Maybe you are one
of them.
This report sheds light on the millions of Americans who
are credit invisible. A limited credit history can create real
barriers for consumers looking to access the credit that
often is so essential to meaningful opportunity to get an
education, start a business, or buy a home.
Most of the American adults left behind by traditional
scoring methods are young. Over 10 million of the 26
million credit invisibles are younger than 25 according to
the report.
Consumers can have thin credit files for a variety of
reasons. Recent immigrants or young adults might simply
not have had the time to build up credit events on their
report. Consumers with bankruptcies in their past may have
stopped using credit and switched to cash only transactions.
Those consumers who live in low-income neighborhoods
are more likely to be invisible or unscored. In poor
neighborhoods, nearly one-third of the residents are
invisible compared to 4 percent who live in higher-income
neighborhoods.
If you are not sure where you stand with your credit, you
can get a free credit report once per year from each of the
three major credit reporting agencies or an up to date free
credit score from www.creditkarma.com
ARS Mission Statement
It is the mission of Account Receivable
Solutions, Inc. to understand and fulfill the
needs of our client in the collection and
processing of their accounts receivable. This
will be accomplished by competitive pricing,
focusing on value added services and
utilizing the latest technology. Our goal
will be achieved through employing a
quality oriented team who is dedicated to our
objectives and our clients’ success.
None of the Beatles knew how to read music,
Paul McCartney eventually taught himself.
The average color television lasts 8 years.
Lake Nicaragua in Nicaragua is the only
freshwater lake in the world that has sharks.
The U.S. mint stamps out 37 million pennies,
4.6 million nickels, 6.6 million dimes,
5.8 million quarters and 14,400 half dollars
in an average day.
An estimated 400,000 homes in the U.S.
still lack indoor plumbing.
City dwellers have longer, thicker, denser nose
hair than those who live in the country.
Goldfish remember better in cold water
than in warm water.
John Adams, our second president,
lived to be 90 years of age.
“Vodka” is Russian for “little water”.
"Account Receivable Solutions, Inc.
and
Integrity Consulting Group, LLC
are Michigan based companies
serving the healthcare community
and other businesses
of the great State of Michigan.
Doesn't it make sense to work
with those companies whose
employees utilize your services
in Michigan?"