In Focus Consumer Credit Time for reflections


Looking backwards and looking forwards for a positive future for the industry and its customers


Arthur Kaufman Independent writer and speaker arthur35art@hotmail.co.uk


After having had a dozen articles that have appeared in CCRMagazine, I thought it was time for a little reflection before submitting this potentially unlucky thirteenth. It all began in April 2016, when my initial attempt at writing on how bank managers used to be before computerisation of credit and finance took hold. At first, I tried sending it to banking


publications, but after not even receiving a polite rejection nor a non-committal acknowledgement, I decided to browse a little further. Fortunately, I managed to come across


the magazine you are reading today. And, despite being a total novice in monetary and related matters, I thought these 1,330 words might be of interest to those who earn their living by ‘doing’ credit when compared with Yours Truly who, only recently discovered how extensive this industry is, and its importance to both the public and the economy at large.


More topics Having now written on many more topics connected with money, or the lack thereof, such as family problems and borrowing, my being owed money (lots) from solicitors, an imagined political address on personal debt, in praise of uncertainty, and a proposal for teaching children all about credit and interest, plus what I have gleaned from other CCR writers, I soon found myself on a steep learning curve. On this journey, the role of credit and


the collection of debts were recurrent themes, including the ever present risk- taking taken by large lenders and individual entrepreneurs, whose loans might be repaid only in part, or not at all, or, worse still, they might end up in court with costly legal proceedings.


April 2018 It was, therefore, not surprising that my


learning curve on matters credit soon began to level out, since I had little in the way of technical knowledge and formal training to fall back upon. At first, it seemed almost overwhelming where the vast business of loaning money was concerned, with much of it being conducted by way of instant transmission, and the amounts involved ranging from minute to eye-watering multi- zero figures. Apart from learning what I read from


other CCR contributors, who, unlike me, were actually qualified to write about credit and related matters, more knowledge was gained in meeting many of the delegates at the CCRInteractive conferences in 2016 and 2017. I was also impressed by the openness and friendliness of those I met, and also from those who sat and patiently listened (and who smiled at my attempts at amusing interjections) to my ‘outsider’ presentations, which was a pleasant change, when compared with much of what I had experienced in many academic and clinical settings. It was also challenging to have to write in


a new style, for new readers, and to explore what the credit and repayments aspects of money were all about, at least the parts I could understand, even though some of the jargon used (all professions, old and new, have their ‘secret’ ways of communicating to the exclusion of others) left me wondering what I was missing, especially during formal addresses by some obviously experienced speakers, when the room was darkened and what seemed to be highly technical information being projected on a large screen (sometimes, indeed, on two screens simultaneously) when every one in the audience, except Novice Me, seemed to appreciate what it all meant.


www.CCRMagazine.com


I was also impressed by the openness and friendliness of those I met, and also from those who sat and patiently listened (and who smiled at my attempts at amusing interjections) to my ‘outsider’ presentations, which was a pleasant change, when compared with much of what I had experienced in many academic and clinical settings


Even so, I was left particularly impressed


when all those, apparently with smart phones, were invited to take part in a group competition with a prize awarded for correctly responding, to queries over which I could not even pretend to comprehend. This seemed far more complex than my naive assumption that all business transactions, whether real or part of an executive game, were all just down to ‘cashflow’. In addition to the practical side of this


exercise, those taking part (or what seemed 100% of the audience, less myself, with a concealed ‘geriatric’ mobile), appeared to be enjoying themselves, thereby adding to the ‘fun’ of the job, an important factor sorely lacking in those businesses and professions weighed down by overloads of unnecessary pressures and arbitrary performance targets. which, in the long run, are likely to do more harm than good to employee morale and job satisfaction.


>> 25


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52