Daily Digest - October 30 2025

🎉Happy Birthday to: Scott Walterbach of Bessine Walterbach, Shawn Krieser of Neo Financial, Mary Shores of Midstate Collection Solutions, and Richard Rodriguez of National Creditors Connection.

📝 Quick Notes

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🔔 Upcoming Meetings

🚨TODAY @4pm ET: Small Agency TechTactics

Getting to Know Taylor Klingenberg of Resurgent Capital Services

• Reading her answers, it’s clear that Taylor Klingenberg is articulate, thoughtful, perceptive, and slyly funny — all the things you want in someone whose job it is to be a great communicator. Combining her love of analytics and design, coupled with an ambition to deliver an amazing customer experience, she has found a home here in collections. Read on to learn more about Taylor, why it’s a good thing if she ever offers you constructive criticism, and why you should never mistake her being quiet for being disengaged.

• More details here.

• This series is sponsored by TEC Services Group

A MESSAGE FROM TCN

TODAY‘S WEBINARS

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Ninth Circuit Upholds Use of Bona Fide Error Defense in FDCPA Case

• The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of a defendant that was sued for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, agreeing with the lower court that the defendant’s actions entitle it to use the statute’s bona fide error defense.

• More details here.

Senators: Trump Cuts Could Spike Medical Debt

• A group of top Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.], is pressing the Department of Health and Human Services for answers about how many Americans could be pushed into bankruptcy as a result of the Trump Administration’s proposed healthcare cuts.

• More details here.

FCC Advances Major Caller ID Overhaul to Boost Trust, Curb Robocalls

• The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously this week to adopt the “Improving Verification and Presentation of Caller Identification Information Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,” a sweeping proposal aimed at giving consumers more verified information about who’s calling and cutting down on illegal and spoofed robocalls.

• More details here.

Finvi Appoints Jamie Fernandes as Chief Product Officer

• Finvi, a leading provider of intelligent workflow and payments solutions for the accounts receivable and revenue cycle industries, today announced the appointment of Jamie Fernandes as Chief Product Officer (CPO).

• More details here. 

WORTH NOTING: May not want to trust your artificial intelligence tool to tell you the news ... Kids continue to just be money pits for parents ... Some interesting trends related to who pays when they are the victim of a ransomware attack and how much they are paying ... Signs that the economy is recovering are stalling ... More and more consumers are living paycheck to paycheck and not getting by ... Why your kid may be on the hunt for a potato instead of chips or a chocolate bar tomorrow night ... Americans have spoken: here is the best way to make a grilled cheese sandwich ... Why car insurance premiums have soared, and what drivers are doing about it.

Top 10 Thursday, part I

Top 10 Thursday, Part II

Webinar Recap: Trends in Commercial Collections

The commercial collections landscape is evolving rapidly as economic uncertainty, state-level regulations, and emerging technologies converge. In this webinar, hosted by Mike Gibb of AccountsRecovery.net, industry leaders Meg Scotty (Brennan & Clark), Humberto Matz (Creditors Adjustment Bureau), Alex Rosen (A.F.M.), and Nick Ciabattone (Corporate Advisory Solutions) shared insights on navigating these challenges while sustaining performance and compliance.

Panelists agreed that while recovery rates remain stable, warning signs—rising bankruptcies, tightening credit, and sector-specific slowdowns—signal a tougher year ahead. “There’s always another crash coming,” said Matz, “but experience and preparation get you through it.” Firms that remain proactive—investing in data, client relationships, and workforce development—are best positioned to weather volatility.

Training emerged as a recurring theme. Scotty emphasized the importance of empathy and adaptability: “The human touch isn’t going away. We have to learn to talk to people again.” Panelists stressed developing soft skills, negotiation abilities, and compliance awareness among younger collectors—many of whom lack direct communication experience.

The discussion also explored technology and AI, which panelists agreed are valuable tools for analytics, skip tracing, and automation but not yet ready to replace human negotiators. “If you’re not doing anything with AI today, you’re falling behind,” said Ciabattone, urging agencies to build a roadmap now.

Regulatory change—especially in states like California, New York, and Illinois—is blurring the line between consumer and commercial collections, prompting agencies to apply stricter compliance standards across all accounts.

🧠 Key Takeaways:

• Invest in people: Continuous training in empathy, communication, and compliance will future-proof your workforce.

• Leverage technology wisely: Use AI and automation to enhance, not replace, the collector’s role.

• Stay compliant and proactive: Treat commercial accounts with consumer-level rigor to stay ahead of state regulations and client expectations.

Webinar Recap: Using AI to Automate and Optimize Document Processing

In a recent webinar hosted by AccountsRecovery.net and sponsored by Bell Vista Software, industry experts Jeff Batista, John Coppola, and Kyle Huff explored how artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining document processing in the collections industry. Despite years of digital transformation, collection operations remain mired in manual tasks—scanning, sorting, and validating documents like garnishments, disputes, and client placements. The panelists discussed how technologies such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can eliminate inefficiencies and uncover new value in previously inaccessible data.

Jeff Batista emphasized starting small: “Look for your biggest bottleneck or choke point. Start simple so you can get quick wins.” John Coppola shared real-world examples from his operation, where automating small daily tasks through Microsoft Power Automate freed supervisors to spend more time coaching collectors—a change that boosted both performance and engagement. Kyle Huff cautioned that while automation improves speed, companies must retain human oversight to ensure compliance and accuracy: “Electronic images of documents are dumb. The real power comes from giving them intelligence that lets them make decisions for you.”

As collection operations face mounting pressure to do more with less, the message was clear: AI-driven automation isn’t about replacing people—it’s about empowering teams to focus on higher-value work.

🧠 Key Takeaways:

• Start Small, Scale Smart: Identify one repetitive task that consumes time and automate it to build confidence and momentum.

• Keep Humans in the Loop: Even the best AI tools need quality assurance to maintain accuracy and compliance.

• Focus on Strategy, Not Just Technology: Map out where your team spends the most time, then deploy automation where it drives measurable efficiency and engagement gains.

The Daily Digest is sponsored by TCN