Nco Financial

NCO Group, Inc. (formerly National Collection Office, Inc. ), based in Horsham, PA, is a collection agency that manages customer service, outsourcing and accounts receivable for its clients. Its subsidiary, NCO Portfolio Management, handles delinquent accounts from credit card companies. NCO also purchases delinquent debt from a variety of companies, such as credit card companies, hospitals and other industries, that it then attempts to collect. NCO Group is currently the world's largest collection agency , owing to its recent acquisition of large U.S. competitor, Outsourcing Solutions, Inc. (OSI)

With that acquisition, several former OSI subsidiaries became NCO subsidiaries. The following subsidiaries continue to operate under their own brands: North Shore Agency, Inc. (NSA), Transworld Systems, Inc. (TSI), and University Accounting Service, LLC (UAS).

NCO Group was founded in 1926, and it was publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol NCOG from 1996 until November 2006, when the company’s management team and private equity bought the company and took it private. The company’s Portfolio Management unit was separately traded under the ticker symbol NCPM until it merged with the parent company in March 2004. NCO still files with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission because it issues public corporate bonds and debt.

NCO Group has over 30,500 employees in 140 locations in 10 different countries. In 2007, the company reported revenues of $1.2 billion, although the figure is expected to be significantly higher in 2008 due to the OSI and SST, Inc. acquisitions.

FTC ruling

In May 2004, NCO Group division NCO Financial Services, the collections division of the company, was forced to pay $1.5 million in penalties to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for violations of the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FTC stipulated that NCO used later-than-actual delinquency dates of potential debtors, which allowed the alleged delinquency to be noted on that individual's credit report. The fine was the largest in U.S. history for a collection agency. According to the FTC, the division violated terms of the FCRA related to reporting the date of last delinquency, making it subject to fines of $2,500 per offense.

NCO has also been accused by many consumers of habitually violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, refusing to verify and validate the debt, contacting third parties about the debt, claiming that they were calling from a law firm, attempting to collect debts that were past the statute of limitations, and harassing and threatening people on the phone.

In 2006, NCO paid a $300,000.00 settlement to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for violations of the state's consumer protection statute.

SST, Inc.

Systems & Services Technologies, Inc. (SST, Inc.) is Located in St. Joseph and Joplin, Mo. SST is one of the nations largest consumer loan servicing companies. SST is a third-party servicer for originators and purchasers of consumer assets. They have boarded and serviced receivables with original balances of $22 billion. They provide customized servicing solutions across the credit spectrum (sub-prime, non/near prime and prime) for auto loans and leases, recreational vehicles, boats, motorcycles and power sports equipment, credit cards, signature loans, manufactured housing and other consumer receivables. SST is also the leading provider of back-up and data aggregation services on public and private securitizations and warehouse financings.

JPMorgan Chase Acquisition

SST was purchased by JPMorgan Chase's Structured Finances Services group of the Treasury & Securities Services Division in 2002. The financial terms were not disclosed at the time.

One Equity Partners Acquisition

SST was further purchased in January 2008 by ALW FINANCIAL, INC. a subsidiary of NCO group, a further subsidiary of One Equity Partners, the private equity investment arm of JPMorgan Chase. Upon the sale of SST to ALW the company was downsized by eighty employees.

References

1. ^ NCO Group > Contact > Feedback / Info
2. ^ BW Online | March 19, 2001 | NCO Group Is All Set to Collect
3. ^ insideARM.com | March 3, 2008 | NCO Group Completes Acquisition of OSI
4. ^ insideARM.com | Nov. 16, 2006 | NCO Announces Completion of Merger; Company Now Private
5. ^ The Daily Record | Dec. 16, 2003 | NCO Portfolio Management to be bought out
6. ^ NCO Group > About NCO > NCO Fact Sheet
7. ^ "NCO a major employer". Nation Newspaper. 2009-02-09 . http://www.nationnews.com/story/330779842223534.php . "CLOSE TO 1 200 YOUNG BARBADIANS are now on the payroll of NCO Financial (Barbados) SRL and there is room for about 200 more."  
8. ^ S-1 filing with SEC by ALW Financial, Inc., 5/13/2008
9. ^ NCO Group > News > Recent News
10. ^ NCO Group to Pay Largest FCRA Civil Penalty to Date
11. ^ "Don't Pick Up The Phone" Philadelphia Magazine By: Fagone, John January 2009 http://www.phillymag.com/articles/the_economy_dont_pick_up_the_phone/
12. ^ "Don't Pick Up The Phone" Philadelphia Magazine By: Fagone, John January 2009 http://www.phillymag.com/articles/the_economy_dont_pick_up_the_phone/
13. ^ Business Directory for SST, Inc.
14. ^ JPMorgan Chase Completes Acquisition of Systems & Services Technologies, Inc.
15. ^ S-1 filing with SEC by ALW Financial, Inc., 5/13/2008
16. ^ SST lays off workers

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