The final day of ACA’s virtual conference brought attendees, speakers and sponsors together for education and business solutions.
3/25/2021 16:30
ACA IGNITE concluded Thursday with a comprehensive lineup of education on compliance and operations, plus forward-thinking presentations on the Innovation Stage and Sponsor Showcase.
ACA IGNITE featured 23 sessions, including six on “Fueling Operation Transformation” and six on “Compliance, The New Tomorrow,” as well as 10 Innovation Stage sessions presented by sponsors.
Click here to read about the main stage presentation from keynote speaker Betsy Ziegler and the Women in Collections Resource Council special event on mentoring.
Here are some takeaways from Thursday’s sessions.
In “Choose Your Innovation Adventure: Sparking Innovation and Creativity From the Best Minds in the Industry,” Kelli Krueger, ACA’s director of education, and Aaron Reiter, director of sales and marketing for The Interprose Corporation, reviewed the concept of innovation in the accounts receivable management (ARM) industry and how to get all employees involved.
“Innovation helps your company grow and innovation keeps your organization relevant,” Krueger said.
Reiter added that innovation takes having the right idea and the right team to help execute that idea.
Look for team members who will bring creativity, discernment and workable solutions to the project, Krueger said. Involve frontline workers and collection staff who can identify opportunities for improvement.
The end result? A more creative and engaged employee base.
Thursday’s sessions also featured a comprehensive compliance track.
In “The Age of Consent: Managing Consumer Communication Preferences in a Clear and Conspicuous Way,” Kim Phan, partner at Ballard Spahr LLP, and Lauren Valenzeula, corporate counsel at Performant Recovery Inc., reviewed the ins and outs of consent for consumer communications under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final debt collection rule (Regulation F).
They also noted the importance of tracking requirements from other regulators, such as the Federal Trade Commission, and state laws.
Best practices from the session include reviewing your online policies and terms and conditions for accuracy on at least an annual basis; using plain English when collecting consent from consumers; and checking the readability of consumer-facing text (i.e., terms and conditions) on your website.
Presenters stressed that tracking consumers who opt out of communications is just as important as getting their consent—make sure your systems for both these processes are connected. Consent mechanisms need to be formatted in a way to draw consumers’ attention. The consent should be in the same language as other consumer communications and the consent mechanisms should be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
If you missed or would like to revisit any sessions from ACA IGNITE, all sessions except for the WICRC event and the virtual escape room happy hour will be recorded and available on-demand for registered attendees on the virtual platform through April 30, 2021. Ziegler’s keynote presentation will also be available on-demand.
Thank you to all IGNITE speakers and attendees for participation in a successful virtual event.
Thank you to our IGNITE sponsors: Applied Innovation Inc., FICO, Interactions, Observe.AI, Attunely, NobelBiz, WebRecon LLC, Renkim, Payscout, Repay, Prodigal, Solutions by Text, Debt$Net Collection Software, VoApps, Collectors Insurance Agency, ezPay365, Learn.net Inc., American Business Communication, CT Corporation, Interprose, LiveVox Inc., KG Hawes, RevSpring, and Oliver Technology Corporation.
Join ACA for upcoming events, the 2021 Washington Insights Virtual Fly-in April 22, and the 2021 Annual Convention & Expo July 28-30.