The Analysis CSA
A year in review
2017 was busy for the association and wider industry, and that does not seem likely to change in 2018
Peter Wallwork CEO, Credit Services Association
info@csa-uk.com
It has been an exciting year for us, a year in which we released our revised Code of Practice, were accepted on the Register for Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP), and negotiated a host of challenges thrust upon us by new regulations and directives. The launch of the revised Code of Practice
took place in the summer, with an event held at the House of Commons. This updated code, implemented on 2 January 2018, demonstrates our commitment to reflecting new developments within debt collection, and reinforces the importance of best practice to continue to improve standards. As well as outlining expectations for areas such as business set-up,
fair treatment of customers, and staff training, the code now addresses member firms which find themselves outside of the FCA consumer- credit regime due to the specialist collection services provided, such as utility or commercial debt. We believe the code fills that space and creates an even and consistent playing field, regardless of debt type. The press launch event enabled us to highlight the importance of
the code to MPs, government officials, senior representatives from regulators, and industry stakeholders, such as debt-advice charities. Learning and development continued to be a major focus and our
appointment to the RoATP was an achievement that we must now capitalise on as an industry. We are well placed to create and shape new apprenticeship standards, and such training presents opportunities for firms from every industry to invest in their staff’s development within key areas of their business, including credit control. We are delighted to have already welcomed the first of our apprenticeship cohorts for the Level 3 Advanced Credit Control/Specialist Collections and Level 6 Senior Compliance Risk Specialist. We launched CSA Compliance Essentials, where those holding a
licence receive regular compliance updates directly to their inbox, and are then tested on this knowledge. We are pleased to see this picking up pace as we head into 2018. Our dedicated compliance forums, which keep members abreast
of the latest developments, proved to be popular throughout the year. They complement our larger, showpiece events, including the award-winning UK Credit & Collections Conference, which next year moves to Crowne Plaza Stratford-upon-Avon. Critical regulation and directives, including the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR), still cause understandable concern within our membership, and both the forums and main conference
January 2018
provided an excellent environment to learn more from peers, and share best practice. We have played a key role throughout the
GDPR debate, engaging with FENCA and forming our own dedicated GDPR Working Party, with a focus on developing tools to support members, and the wider industry, in implementing the new regulations. We are continuing our emphasis on GDPR
by kicking off our members meeting and AGM in Manchester on 6 February with a GDPR keynote, followed by dedicated workshops to work through where member firms should be three months from implementation.
This year will also bring changes to card-payment charges from 13
January, which mean firms will no longer be able to charge surcharges for processing card payments, and so should prepare and make any necessary changes to processes to meet these new requirements. This is only one of many challenges our members face in the year
ahead. The Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR), for example, will exercise the minds of a great many member firms, large and small. We have also responded to the Information Commissioner’s Office in relation to its draft GDPR guidance on contracts and liabilities, and wait to see how this unfurls. At a macro level, the uncertainties of Brexit, and growing
consumer indebtedness are ongoing concerns. A mounting debt crisis does not signal a bonanza time for the professional debt collection sector, despite what the media might think. We are seeing an increase in media attention as a result of this and, in recent weeks, the CSA’s position as ‘voice of the collections industry’ was called into play when the association, and a selection of members, came under the spotlight from the national press. One trying to predict the next financial crash and the drivers for that, while another focused on what areas are under scrutiny from the FCA. Thankfully, through successful communication and collaboration with both member companies and the regulator, the resultant stories brought some calm to the storm the journalists may have been trying to create. Our members continue to be praised for the work they are
continuing to do to further improve standards, which includes identifying the most vulnerable in society and those with mental- health issues. The meeting we attended at Number 10 with other stakeholders to discuss the Debt and Mental Health Evidence Forms was part of an ongoing dialogue, and we will look to build on those discussions in 2018. CCR
www.CCRMagazine.co.uk 11
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