 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Our Subscribers Say...
I think Credit Today is fantastic. You cover many practical topics in the credit field that I use regularly. Just one recent example—a conversation on the ListServ about preferential payments—gave me tips that I used in an actual case. The specific information I picked up from this one discussion saved me $10,000, enough to cover my membership for many years!
- Steve Savino
Manager of Credit & Collections, ASSA Abloy Americas Division, New Haven, CT
Credit Today's Resource Directory and their online e-mail forum (ListServ) provide information on almost any credit-related topic you can think of. It is a great way to exchange information with other credit professionals. As the saying goes, "You don't know what you don't know."
- Scott Goen,
Credit Manager, Big Lots Stores, Inc., Wholesale Division
"We've recently started using the ListServ tool within Credit Today. This is phenomenal and powerful forum for gaining immediate feedback, ideas, and suggestions, relative to any credit topic under the sun, all in a real-time e-mail format."
-Javier Vela, Senior Credit Manager, Global Credit Services, JDA Software Group Inc.
"Being a part of the Credit Today online community is like having the expertise of hundreds of credit managers at your fingertips. These credit execs are willing to help you solve topical business issues as they arise. In the current environment of ever increasing competing priorities which reduce our opportunities to meet peers out of the office face-to-face, this is the most valuable tool you can have on your desktop! It's important that we have a mechanism to reach out to our counterparts quickly to exchange knowledge as well as to stay on top of industry trends."
- Victoria Artis, Director of Customer Financial Services, Pfizer, Inc.
"Over the last 10 years I've seen Credit Today evolve from a monthly credit publication into a quality source of information and guidance for the B2B credit community. The website, with its user friendly form downloads, will take you from examples of new account credit applications to bankruptcy forms and everything in between.
The Credit Today ListServ has become the pre-imminent online forum, providing an opportunity for discussion and comments (and occasional humor) from an impressive list of credit professionals."
David Dungan, Director of Credit
Justin Brands, Inc. (A Berkshire Hathaway company)
Fort Worth, Texas
"There are numerous credit periodicals available to the credit professional today. How good is Credit Today? Is it relevant? I always have to read it late, or online because my credit analysts want to read it the minute it comes in. When my staff wants to read a publication before I have a chance to read it then something is working in that publication. We have cancelled our other subscriptions. When you have the best you do not need the rest."
Ron Woods
Corporate Credit Manager-World Wide
Thales Navigation, Inc.
"The newsletter, coupled with the website and the ListServ, are to us, more valuable than any other credit publication, bar none. I try to use at least one article out of each newsletter for departmental training/discussion sessions."
D. Mark Constantine
Corporate Credit Mgr
Fulton Paper Company
"I love Credit Today and read every issue cover to cover. For me, the greatest perk of a subscription is ListServ. I believe Credit Today's ListServ members may be the most knowledgeable Credit brain trust in existence today. I have saved and categorized hundreds of contributions on a wide variety of topics which I refer to often. It's an easy and cost effective way to network and learn."
Doug M. Thomas
Kimberly-Clark Customer Financial Services |
|
|
 |
Fraud: We're ALL Situationally Honest
By Rob Lawson
A few weeks ago I wrote about the fraud triangle - the concept that, for a fraud to occur, three things must be present: Opportunity, Pressure, and Rationalization. That helps offer up a framework to understand the psychology of fraud, something important for anyone in credit. This week we'll cover a second concept in the fraud arena - "situational honesty."
The vast majority of people are what you would call situationally honest. Very few are outright pathological liars, willing to tell a lie without worry. And very few, or perhaps no one, is honest all the time. Most fall into that middle ground of "situationally honest," though Joseph Wells, Chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, doesn't believe anyone is completely honest, noting that even a scrupulously honest person is likely to lie to avoid execution.
I remember when I first learned about these two concepts - the fraud triangle and situational honesty - at an educational seminar put on by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. The conference was in the Washington, DC-suburbs, and as such, was very well-attended by many government investigator-types. The roster included FBI agents, Postal inspectors, attorney generals from various organizations, prosecutors, and so on. It was a packed and large conference room where noted criminologist Dr. Stephen Albrecht went over these principals for the audience, which was listening carefully and busily taking notes.
It was the first session of the morning, and a break was scheduled for 10:30. Perhaps it was too much coffee, but I decided I needed to step out just before the break.
Talk about opportunity and pressure!
|
|
As I left our conference room, I noticed at table full of big, fat chocolate chip cookies piled up on the table outside ANOTHER conference room, for a conference totally unrelated to our certified fraud examiner sessions.
My stomach was growling and I was pretty hungry, so this was quite the temptation. In addition, no one was around, but I thought to myself, "nah, those aren't for us. Those are for the other conference. I'd better just leave them alone."
By the time I returned to that same spot, the fraud examiners conference had begun its break and the participants - hard-nosed law enforcement officials - were milling around the hotel hallway area. As I passed the same table, I noticed that the cookies had been decimated! What was once a big and pristine pile had been worked over pretty good! And the door to that conference was still closed. They weren't going to see their cookies (which, if you've ever priced hotel cookies, are outrageously expensive). So at that point, on seeing what my fellow fraud investigators had done, I succumbed to the opportunity and pressure, and thought, "oh, what the heck, everyone else here has enjoyed these cookies. Why not me?"
And all of a sudden it hit me.
This is the fraud triangle in action! AND situational honesty - all the lessons we'd just learned!
When I first happened upon that beautiful pile of chocolate chip cookies, I had opportunity (a big pile of juicy cookies with no one around), strong pressure (a growling stomach), but I couldn't rationalize it (it was obvious they weren't mine).
STOP Fraud in Its Tracks!
Find everything you'll need to establish bullet-proof anti-fraud procedures for your credit and collection operation. It's far more cost effective to have systems in place to spot fraud up front, before it happens, than to try to get your money back after-the-fact. Get our best practices on fraud to help you and you staff setup a world-class system for minimizing business credit fraud in your operation...
Check out Credit Today's
Business Credit Fraud Prevention Portal
|
But when I saw that nearly everyone in our group had taken advantage of the situation, I thought "what the heck," and dove in to that tempting pile. So I'd added rationalization and then found myself guilty of situational honesty.
Talk about driving home the lessons of the morning session!
So, prior the end of the break, I approached Dr. Albrecht at the podium and told him what had just happened - that our esteemed group seasoned law enforcement officials had just decimated the cookies that were clearly reserved for another conference, demonstrating and proving the concepts he'd just taught us all!
He, too, was struck by the irony and the lesson as well, and shortly thereafter lead off the next session by relating that story to the audience.
The ironic and funny thing is, his story did not resonate with the group of largely high-level Federal law enforcement officials. Very few, if anyone, actually laughed! I don't think they viewed themselves as either situationally honest, or so easily subject to the three elements of the fraud triangle. They were there to learn about the REAL bad guys; this couldn't be about US!
We'll get into more fraud-fighting specifics in the future, but it's safe to say that if you can understand these two simple concepts, you'll be a much more effective fraudfighter within your organization.
Stay vigilant out there!
| |
|
 |
Credit Groups 2012
Wonder What the ROI is on Credit Groups?
Find out here...
It's been 4 years since our original ground-breaking survey on credit groups and we're revisiting this most important topic. Among other topics, we're investigating:
- What are the top services being offered by credit groups
- How much credit groups cost
- What the value of credit group services is
- What the value of credit group services is in comparison to credit reporting services
- How data is submitted
- What percentage of credit groups reveal terms
- What percentage of credit groups share data outside the credit group
And much more...
Click here to participate!
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
May 2012
|
|
| S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| |
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
31
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Webinars