Daily Digest - December 24, 2025

🎂 Happy Birthday to: Reggie Morris of Fox Collection Center, Bennett Van Pelt of Intuit, Luke Naude-Lorentz of Orca Fraud, and Tim Smith of Firstsource

🎉Congratulations for starting new positions: Kiersten Bateman as Collections Team Lead at Cherry.

New Speakers Being Added Daily

Check out ARMTech.live for the growing list of impressive speakers who are going to be in Dallas. This is going to be the must-attend event of the year!

Judge Scolds Plaintiff’s Attorney For Conduct During FCRA Settlement Conference

• A Magistrate Court judge in Pennsylvania has admonished a plaintiff’s attorney for her behavior before and during a settlement conference in a Fair Credit Reporting Act case, declining to hand out further punishment.

• More details here.

A MESSAGE FROM TCN

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Consumer Lender to Pay $750k to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

• A major regional lender with hundreds of branches across the Southeast has agreed to pay $750,000 and overhaul its accommodation policies after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accused the company of denying disability-related leave and terminating workers who asked for help. For credit and collection organizations watching federal enforcement trends, especially those managing large frontline workforces, this settlement offers a clear reminder that the EEOC is aggressively targeting failures to engage in the ADA interactive process.

• More details here.

CFPB Withdraws Earlier Guidance, Clarifies When EWA Triggers Lending Rules

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday published a sweeping advisory opinion declaring that employer-partnered earned wage access (EWA) products are not loans under the Truth in Lending Act, which is a major shift that resets the regulatory landscape for one of the fastest-growing consumer-finance products.

• More details here.

Judge Grants MSJ for Defense in FCRA, FDCPA Suit

• A District Court judge in Virginia has granted a defendant’s motion for summary judgment in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act case over claims the defendant continued to furnish information about the debt after a debt collection lawsuit had been dismissed.

• More details here.

40 Companies Seeking Collection Talent

• Is a new job under your Christmas tree? Want to start 2026 on your next step toward world domination? Check out this week's job listings summary and find out!

• More details here.

WORTH NOTING: Consumers are growing increasingly pessimistic about the economy even as it grows faster than expected ... Why California colleges can no longer withhold transcripts for unpaid fees ... The average payment for financing a new car is now more than $750 per month ... Common scams to be on the lookout for this holiday season ... It turns out that humans may have a lot more than five senses ... Games you will want to play during the holidays ... Young people are generous, but with their time and not their money ... Why AI is making the hiring process miserable for everyone.

Funny Friday on a Wednesday, part I

Funny Friday on a Wednesday, Part II

Webinar Recap: How to QA Digital Communications/Interactions

As consumer engagement increasingly shifts to digital channels—email, text, chat, and portals—the importance of quality assurance (QA) in these interactions has never been greater. In a recent webinar hosted by AccountsRecovery.net, sponsored by CSS Impact, moderated by Dennis Barton (Barton Law Group), panelists Karla Lewis (Sequium Asset Solutions), Lauren Wood (Better Call Center QA), and Rob Grafrath (CSS Impact) explored how agencies can build effective QA programs to ensure compliance, professionalism, and consumer trust.

The discussion highlighted that digital communications carry unique risks: unlike phone calls, emails and texts are permanent, easily shared, and subject to legal scrutiny. Panelists emphasized the need for structured QA standards, templates, and rubrics that balance compliance with consumer-friendly language. They also noted that while AI tools can help scale QA across channels, human oversight remains critical for assessing tone, empathy, and sentiment.

For organizations without a QA program in place, the experts advised starting with live, freeform interactions (such as email and chat), centralizing communication records, and adapting existing voice QA standards to digital formats. The consensus: QA is not just about compliance—it’s about protecting brand reputation and improving recovery outcomes.

🧠 Key Takeaways:

• Start with high-risk channels: Prioritize QA for live, freeform digital interactions (emails, texts, chats) where human error and compliance risk are highest.

• Build structured rubrics: Adapt existing call QA standards to digital communications, ensuring evaluations cover compliance, clarity, courtesy, and tone.

• Leverage technology, but validate with humans: AI can scale QA by scanning all communications for violations, but human review is essential to assess sentiment and consumer experience.

By embedding QA into digital communication strategies, agencies and financial institutions can reduce compliance risk, strengthen consumer trust, and improve operational outcomes.

Did you know you can get full access to all of my past webinars, along with transcripts and summaries of each, for only $29/month? Sign up to be a premium subscriber today!

The Daily Digest is sponsored by TCN