Third Party Collection agency

It was only in the 1950’s that credit cards began to be regularly used.  Diners Club was the first major credit card.  Then came American Express, followed by BankAmericaCard which eventually became the Visa Card.  In the 1960’s Mastercard started.  There are all types of credit cards for all types of purposes: balance transfer credit cards, cash back credit cards, instant approval credit cards, travel credit cards, low interest credit cards, rewards credit cards, auto and gas credit cards, student credit cards, and others.

In 2009 there were over 72 million credit cards issued in Canada.  In that year, Canadian consumers and businesses spent over $260 billion on purchases.  The total amount of debt on those credit cards was over $78 billion at the end of 2009.  Over $3.5 billion of that credit card debt was overdue.

$3.5 billion is a lot of money.  The companies that issued the credit cards want that money.  When the companies, primarily banks, attempt to collect their money, these efforts are known as first party collection efforts.  However, their business is not collecting delinquent accounts, it is lending.  Therefore, when the accounts get to a certain point of delinquency, these lenders hire third party collection agencies.

If you hire third party collection agency, the lenders gain the experience and training of these companies who are professionals in their area of expertise – the collection of past due debt.  Not only do these collection agencies of third party have the latest technology and sophisticated techniques, they also know the law.  There are different statutes in each province concerning the collection of bad debts from consumers.  There is no national statute that regulates third party collection agencies.