3 Tips to Build a Robust Compliance Management Program for Your Collection Practice

Compliance management is a critical part of the successful business operations of any collection agency. However, with ever-evolving regulatory landscapes and dynamic CFPB frameworks, staying compliant has become more of an ongoing effort today.

Having said that, robust compliance programs can keep your organization abreast of the changing regulations to avoid any legal implications. The very fabric of a compliance management program is woven into daily business operations. It lays down principles and ethical standards, which influence your collection agency’s policies, affecting your risk management, operational oversight, collection call monitoring, and corrective actions.

Building a robust compliance management program can also help you streamline compliance while increasing agent productivity and improving business scalability with a more flexible, remote workforce. Here are three tips that should help you keep your compliance program agile and dynamic in the most effective and stress-free manner.

1. Digitize your compliance

With a legacy compliance management implemented into your business, which is inherently difficult to deploy, onboard, and keep updated, the risk of engaging in misconduct is far too high. There is a hefty price to pay for noncompliance including reputational damage and call for regulatory scrutiny. To avoid such negative implications, switch to a SaaS-based compliance management system. From managing your remote workforce to overseeing client audits online, taking a digital-first approach to compliance will not only help ensure you’re compliant but will set you up to pivot faster in case of a new regulatory change in the future.

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2. Stay on top of your compliance game with automation

The compliance landscape for third-party collection players keeps changing, making it difficult for agencies to monitor and keep up with new standards. Implementing an automated compliance management system into your business not only helps you track the policy changes in real-time but also ensures your staff is re-trained as needed. As a rule, make sure you only choose or switch to a compliance management software that can let you easily visualize and document who on your staff has been re-certified on revised policy documents and who has not?

3. Make training a strong part of your agency's culture

A very essential aspect of a robust compliance management program is continuous compliance training. From compliance officers, and agents to vendors, everyone that forms a part of your collection organization (internally and externally) needs to be informed about relevant CFPB laws and regulations, corporate policies, and barred conducts. To achieve this, you should ensure that compliance training is not just part of onboarding and then put on the sidelines. Remember – continuous compliance training is all about building a compliance culture within your organization through learning to manage and address risk continuously and effectively.

Note: If you’re already looking for an advanced platform that can help you achieve and maintain compliance as you gain insight into your daily operations, check out our compliance management system here. IPACS helps your teams collaborate more cohesively and take full control of compliance efforts. With IPACS, you can design controls to keep your agency compliant and agile, even with the most advanced regulatory frameworks.