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Later this month, at TRMA’s 2011 Summer conference in San Francisco, U.S. Cellular’s John Stevenson will facilitate a panel discussion by industry experts entitled “How to Make a First-Party Program Successful.” Topics will include: roll-out, how to measure success, criteria in choosing a partner, experience around unsuccessful ventures and how to turn it around; training/recruiting (internal versus external). Panel – How to Make a 1st Party Program Successful Moderated by: John Stevenson, U.S. Cellular Wednesday, June 29 | 10:30 AM – 11:15 AM Panelists: Dave Hall, West Asset Management; David Rogers, GC Services; Sterling Shepherd, CPA ------------------------------------------------ KM: Thanks for joining us today, John. Before we get started, tell us about your background, including what you do for U.S. Cellular and your work on TRMA’s Board of Directors. JS: My pleasure Kathy. I have been in the wireless industry for over 25 years now, mostly with service providers, including U.S. Cellular, where I have been for the past five and half years. I lead the Financial Services organization, which is responsible for cradle to grave accounts receivable- credit, collections, fraud management, risk assessment and management, all the way through to debt sales and write off. I just joined the TRMA board earlier this year and am starting to dive in to all the activity going on. It’s really a strong trade association for sharing information and best practices that can help all members improve results. KM: The discussion you’ll be moderating is entitled “How to Make a First-Party Program Successful.” Can you briefly describe the focus of the proceedings and why you believe companies need this information? JS: Many of our member companies either already use, or are considering the use of an outsource partner for their first party collections. This panel is not going to get into whether a company should or should not, but will focus more on how to make it a success once you have made that choice. We have some real depth on our panel, they have seen a lot of programs and know what it takes to make it a success. We are asking the panel to really focus in on sharing some of the key points to address with a first party program. Our aim is that the TRMA members, both new and experienced with first party programs, have a couple of those AHA moments, where they pick up something new they can use in their own operations. KM: What are one or two other emerging telecom issues you think people should know about? JS: There is a recurring theme, and that is the ever changing risk profile that telecom risk managers have to deal with. The devices are more expensive, the services more complex, there is a lot of bundling going on. All that really emphasizes how important it is to ensure your models and strategy are current and continue to deliver the results you expect. That’s part of the value of TRMA, no matter what the latest trend or issue in risk management is, this is a great place to learn more about it, and talk to your peers and support partners about it. KM: Insightful as ever. Thanks so much for your time. ------------------------------------------------ Other sessions of interest at the TRMA Summer Conference Beyond Consumer Credit: Providing a More Comprehensive Assessment of Small-Business Owners Wednesday, June 29 | 3:15 PM – 4:00 PM Presenter: Greg Carmean, Experian Program Manager, Small Business Credit Share Main topic: new technologies that help uncover fraud, improve risk assessment and optimize commercial collections by providing deeper insights into the entity relationships between companies and their associated principals. Not registered for the TRMA Summer Conference? Go here.

The end of 2010 was a transitional time for credit card lenders.  Card issuers were faced with the need to jump-start “return to growth strategies” as a result of diminished profits stemming from the great recession and all of the credit tightening actions deployed over the last two years.  Lenders were deliberate in their actions to shrink balance sheets eliminating higher risk customers.  At the same time, risk adverse consumers were, and continue to be, more thoughtful about spending, taking deliberate measures to buy what they perceive to be necessary and able to pay back. Being the only safe bet in town, the super prime universe went from saturated to abundantly over-saturated, and only recently have lenders begun to turn the ship in anticipation of continued relief in default trends.        As a result of sustained relief in credit card defaults and over-saturation in the prime+ space, more lenders have begun loosening policies. This has created price competition with 74% of new offers including low introductory rates for longer durations, averaging 12 months, up from 9 months just one year ago. The percent of annual fee offers decreased as well to 21% from 34% one year prior. Continuing the trend of competing for the prime+ segment, lenders have increasingly been promoting loyalty programs, in many cases, combined with spend-incented rebates. In fact, over a third of new offers were for rewards based products, up from 26% prior to the start of the economic turn in 2007. Lenders are now shifting gears to compete in new ways focusing on consumer demand for payment choices. Regardless of a consumer’s credit profile, lenders and technology providers are investing in innovative payment solutions. Lenders understand that if the Starbucks “My Coffee Card” is only available on their customer’s iPhone, Blackberry or Android using a re-loadable Starbucks app, then traditional card issuers will lose purchase volume. What is becoming more and more critical is a lenders ability to leverage new data sources in their targeting strategies. It is no longer enough to know what products provide the most relevance to consumer needs. A lender must now know the optimal communication channel for unique segments of the population, their payment preferences and the product terms and features that competitively match the consumer’s needs and risk profile. Lenders are leveraging new data sources around income, wealth, rent payment, ARM reset timing and strategic default, wallet spend and purchase timing.Loading...

About a month ago, Senior Decisioning Consultant Krista Santucci and I gave a presentation at Experian’s 2011 Vision Conference on Decisioning as a Service. Due to the positive feedback we received, I thought it might be of interest to members of the communications industry who might not have had the opportunity to attend. A common malady The presentation revolved around a case study of an Experian client. Like many communications industry companies, this client had multiple acquisition systems in place to process consumer and commercial applications. In addition, many of the processes to mitigate fraud and support Red Flag compliance were handled manually. These issues increased both complexity and cost, and limited the client’s ability to holistically manage its customer base. The road to recovery At the beginning of the presentation, we provided a handout that listed the top ten critical functionalities for decisioning platforms. After a thorough review of the client’s system, it was clear that they had none of the ten functionalities. Three main requirements for the new decisioning platform were identified: A single system to support their application processes (integration) A minimum of 90% automatic decisions for all applications (waterfall) The ability to integrate into various data sources and not be resource intensive on their IT department (data access)     Decisioning as a ServiceSM is a custom integrated solution that is easily applied to any type of business and can be implemented to either augment or completely overhaul an organization’s current decisioning platforms. We designed this client’s solution with a single interface that manages both consumer and commercial transactions, and supports a variety of access channels and treatment strategies. Following implementation, the client immediately benefited from: Streamlined account opening processes A reduction in manual processes Decreased demand on IT resources The ability to make better, more consistent decisions at a lower cost The agility to quickly respond to changing market needs and regulatory challenges     Evaluate your own business Do you recognize some of your own challenges in this post? Download our checklist of the top ten critical functionalities for decisioning platforms and evaluate your own system. As you go through the list, think about what benefits you would derive by having access to each of the capabilities. And if you’d like to learn more about Decisioning as a Service, please complete our form.  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a new regulatory agency that is still evolving. But even now it’s clear that it will have unprecedented powers with a broad reach across industries – including communications. Although there are questions about how the CFPB will operate, there are still steps you can take to prepare. To help you get ready, let’s review a few of the areas you should expect CFPB to affect your business, followed by three questions you can help your customers answer. 3 Ways the CFPB Will Impact Business: Consumer disclosures must be clear and easy to read. The goal is to ensure that financial terms and conditions of services (especially for credit cards and mortgages) are disclosed in clear, easy-to-understand terms that allow consumers to compare offers. Consumer products to be examined rather than industries – Regulatory agencies are typically structured around the kinds of businesses they supervise. With the CFPB, we’ll see a regulator with a perspective more focused on consumer financial products and services. Transparency on how credit scores affect terms & conditions – Greater transparency about credit scores and how they are used to determine loan rates will also be a priority. Lenders are required to disclose a score they used in all risk-based pricing notices and adverse action notices beginning July 21, 2011.   CFPB Takes Authority on July 21 The CFPB receives full regulatory and enforcement authority on July 21, so it’s important for covered entities to continue complying with current law and striving to follow industry best practices. Companies need to demonstrate that they have taken steps to increase consumer credit education and transparency of credit scores, as these items top the CFPB agenda. Experian Consumer Education Resources Experian is addressing the growing need for consumer education by offering Experian Credit EducatorSM, a credit education service in which consumers engage in a one-on-one credit education session with an Experian credit professional agent,  together reviewing  a copy of their credit report and VantageScore® credit score. Answers to 3 Consumer Questions: As part of Experian Credit Educator, consumers learn the answers to three main questions: What’s in a credit report? What is a score, and what types of information can increase or decrease a score? How does credit affect my financial situation?     Experian Credit Educator allows lenders to provide customers a personalized education service, thereby advancing customer engagement while improving customer satisfaction, loyalty, portfolio quality, and cross-sell opportunities. Do you have questions about the CFPB’s role? Leave a comment or contact your Experian representative if you need assistance in complying with new regulatory requirements.

While the majority of your customers may be consumers, most telecommunications companies also work with a number of business accounts. Understanding business credit scores — and what attributes have the most impact on them — can go a long way in helping you identify good customers as well as better manage risk. The following article was originally posted by Peter Bolin on the Experian Business Credit blog. There are a number of factors that impact business credit risk scores. Keep in mind that most risk models are built using multivariate statistical methods that not only look at each attribute, but also look for the interaction between the attributes. However, there are three general factors that will impact a business score. Recency: How recently has the business been delinquent? Events that have happened recently tend to be most predictive of business behavior in the near future. For example being days beyond credit terms (DBT) in the past 30, 60, and 90 days will tend to negatively impact, on average, a business’s credit score versus those that are current. Frequency: How frequently is the business delinquent or applying for credit? If a business has multiple beyond terms events then the algorithm will reflect this behavior and will tend to impact the score to the low side. In addition, if a business is frequently applying for credit (called inquires) then this will also negatively impact the score. Monetary/Usage: How large is the debt burden? Businesses that carry large balances in relation to credit limits tend to be more risky than those that carry lower balances in relation to credit limits. This is called the utilization ratio or balance-to-limit ratio. As the debt burden increases interest payments also grow placing more stress on cash flows. This tends to negatively impact a business’ risk score. Please comment on this post to let me know of specific topics you want to hear more about.

Managing commercial credit in today’s economy can be a real challenge. For telecommunications companies, pulling a report can be helpful in deciding whether or not to offer service to a consumer. But pulling credit reports alone is simply not effective to perform true, proactive portfolio management. The following article was originally posted by Minnie Blanco on the Experian Business Credit blog. If you make decisions just by pulling credit reports, you may want to think about how you can manage your accounts proactively. Pulling a report is helpful in deciding whether you should offer credit to a business. But, consider these basic steps when looking for any negative trends: Develop a policy for how you’d handle accounts that are current, delinquent, bankrupt, etc. Segment your portfolio by those accounts who pay within a particular range of time or who fall within a particular category, i.e. Current 1-30 days, 31-60, 61-90, 91 plus or filed bankruptcy. Review your accounts and apply your company policy to that particular segment.     By applying steps 1 -3, you’ll be able to proactively identify good candidates for increased credit limits, as well as those you’ll need to pay closer attention to because they may be headed for delinquency or collections. BusinessIQ allows you to easily pull reports, segment accounts and submit them for account review. It’s easy-to-use…plus, the Portfolio Module is free! Here’s a demo on the application. Look for future blog posts from me where I’ll write more about managing your portfolio. And, feel free to comment and let me know if there are specific topics you want to hear about.

Scoring is one of the fundamental ways to improve customer management and acquisitions in any business. Companies use scoring to predict what kind of risk they will be working with before granting credit. When those predictions turn out to be wrong and the accounts move into collections, scoring is crucial in determining which actions result in repayment. Many companies handle each past due account in the same manner. They make sure they have updated phone numbers and addresses; then send letters and make phone calls--all of which are important steps. However, treating each account the same is neither an effective nor efficient use of resources. When dealing with a large number of collection accounts and a staff that needs to do more with less, you need a segmentation strategy to determine which accounts are most collectible, and focus your efforts on those accounts. Scoring has been used in collection efforts for many years; however the economy has changed dramatically since recovery scores were developed so it’s time to start considering new recovery scoring technologies. The use of blended data, which combines account-level transactional data and credit data, and advanced analytics, are vital to producing the most predictive recovery results. Leveraging geographic-based summarized data provides another level of segmentation allowing decisions to be made based on such things as local jobless rates or localized wealth pockets where income is higher in certain areas. Today’s most profitable collections operations utilize segmentation strategies that consider the customer’s capacity to pay and probability of recovery. Corresponding treatment strategies are then aligned so that more money is spent on those customers that are more likely and willing to pay, while spending less money on those that are not likely and less willing to pay. Regardless of your company size, the interest in minimizing costs within collections operations and maximizing dollars recovered should be your goal.  Innovations in recovery modeling will undoubtedly help you reach that goal. For additional information on recovery modeling, click here.

With cell phones overtaking landlines as the new “home phone” for many consumers, things could get tricky for credit card holders and other debtors as well as the creditors who need to reach them. The Federal Communications Commission wants to limit the ability of collectors to use autodialers to call cell phones. But the unintended consequences could make credit more costly as well as harder to get for younger customers. The FCC’s proposed revision At issue is a proposed FCC action to revise the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991 in an effort to align its regulations with Federal Trade Commission rules. The do-not-call rules already restrict telemarketers from calling cell phones. But the new FCC revisions would cover any call to a cell phone, including legitimate calls to collect a debt, notify a customer of a payment due, or request additional information to complete an application. Confusion about consent Businesses are puzzled at how compliance might work under the new rule. If approved, the proposed rule would no longer permit creditors to call a customer’s cell phone when the cell number was filled in on an application. The proposed rule changes the definition of what constitutes prior consent. Just having a phone number on an application wouldn’t be sufficient. Companies would be required to have written permission, such as “I consent to calling my cell phone when there’s a problem…” When a cell phone is the only phone This raises new issues. For instance, if a consumer needs to be contacted, but the company doesn’t know the cell phone is the only line, the company could still be liable for calling it. What now? The good news is that this issue hasn’t moved anywhere over the last year. The rule was proposed in March of 2010 and comments were accepted up to last May, but nothing has happened since. From a regulatory perspective, the level of industry concern over the FCC’s proposed rule warrants some caution. While some form of revision could still go forward, the modification may not be in line with FTC rules. Are you concerned about the FCC’s proposed cell phone rule? Let us know if you’ve developed contingencies in case it’s approved. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on any new developments, so watch this space for updates. For further reading on this issue: FCC Cell Phone Rule Would Raise Risk Debt Collectors Seek Right to 'Robocall' Cell Phones

Time certainly does fly — I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since TRMA’s Spring Conference in Las Vegas! Those of us who participated from Experian Decision Analytics had a great time interacting with all the telecommunications risk management professionals who attended, and the feedback we received on our presentations was overwhelmingly positive. Sharing our thoughts We had the occasion to get together recently to compare notes about the conference, and wanted to share a few observations with you: Attendees who participated in Jim Nowell’s SimTel business game were EXTREMELY engaged. (Click here to see photos!) A number of participants told Jim they’d like to have him run the game for their entire team back at the office. Greg Carmean reported that there was a lot of interest focused on credit consortiums, especially concerning who is participating in them within the telecommunications space. Linda Haran noted that attendees were curious about where jobs would be created (largely in the private sector) and where foreclosure activity would be the strongest (CA, AZ, NV and MI as expected, but increases have been observed in TX, WA, IL, GA and CO). Jeff Bernstein found that unemployment remains a concern, though increasing consumer confidence and spending seem to be moving us toward a slow but steady recovery. Collectability scores were also a big topic of interest. Attendees wanted to better understand whether these scores represent a consumer’s ability to pay or their propensity to pay. Finally, regulatory requirements continue to be an area of concern, especially surrounding the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).   Share your thoughts! If you attended TRMA’s Spring Conference, we’d love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts and impressions from the conference by commenting on this blog post. All of us at Experian look forward to seeing you at TRMA’s Summer Conference in San Francisco June 28 - 29, 2011.

DISH Network’s Team Summit scheduled for May 4-6 Team Summit is an annual event hosted by DISH Network for over 3,000 retailers in the digital satellite broadcast industry who are serious about growing their businesses and doing what it takes to succeed. This year’s Team Summit is scheduled for May 4-6 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. In addition to training, networking, meals, entertainment and more, Team Summit features a trade show that includes over a hundred companies showcasing the latest in technology, services and tools. At Experian, we’re committed to investing in new technologies in order to offer our customers the most effective ways to target, acquire and manage customers. Being a part of Team Summit helps us better understand how we can more effectively respond to the needs of one of the key industries we serve. It also allows us to share what we see as up-and-coming trends and new developments in all areas of customer lifecycle management. Learn more about Team Summit Click here for more details on DISH Network’s Team Summit and be sure to stop by our booth. We look forward to seeing you there, but if you can’t attend (or even if you can), be sure to follow us on Twitter for live summit updates, and check back here for post-summit blog posts.

As more and more consumers recover from the recent economic turmoil, they have a driving need to better understand how their credit situations impact their ability to make purchases and obtain services like wireless, cable television, Internet and more. Here at Experian, we recently launched a pilot program through our National Consumer Assistance Center (NCAC) to gauge consumers’ receptiveness to receiving credit education. A frustrated population The pilot program involved consumers referred to the NCAC by some of our utility clients. Like many cable, wireless and telecom customers, these people were frustrated about having to pay a security deposit to obtain service. Experian offered them a one-on-one educational session over the phone that included: An explanation of the major components of a credit report The distinction and relationship between a credit history and a credit score Definitions of negative elements on a credit history   Positive outcomes The results of the pilot program, as measured through exit surveys, were quite positive: On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, those who participated in the program scored the service as a 4.9 in terms of being helpful. 96% of respondents indicated they are “likely” or “very likely” to act on the knowledge they received and/or change how they use credit. Despite still having to pay a deposit, nearly 50% of respondents ultimately felt “positive” or “very positive” about the utility company whose actions led to their being involved in the educational session. Implications for communications companies The benefits of offering consumer credit education are far-reaching. Not only can it help you build stronger relationships with current and potential customers, it can also help your customers improve their own credit-worthiness, and thus increase their eligibility for the products you offer and decrease the need for hefty deposits. Did you know that April is Financial Literacy Month? In support of Financial Literacy Month, Experian is participating in a number of events with the JumpStart Coalition for Financial Literacy and providing education materials and resources to many different organizations that are conducting financial literacy programs around the country. We are also enhancing our consumer education web site and developing a package of credit education and mentoring services that communications companies can offer to their customers. Check back for more information on that development in future posts.

There’s no question times have been tough for consumers in the last few years due to the higher incidence of unemployment, bankruptcies, home foreclosures and increased credit balances. Unfortunately, these issues have a way of trickling down to communication companies’ collection departments, many of which are scrambling with heavier workloads and fewer resources. The key for cable, wireless, and telecom companies like yours is to prioritize your collection portfolio by first contacting the people most likely to pay. Once you’ve identified these people, your next task is to access and record any changes to their accounts, such as a new phone number or any improvements to their credit profile. But how can you get these updates without having to check their credit reports on a regular basis? Trigger program to the rescue By scrapping the usual manual skip tracing activities and using a “trigger” program, telecom industry collection staff can proactively obtain information as fresh as 24 hours old. Most trigger programs allow you to monitor any type of data, such as phone numbers, addresses, or places of employment. You can even use events, such as a change in the debtor’s financial status, to trigger an alert. This is especially helpful for cases in which your collection team has the right contact information, but the customer does not have the ability to pay. Being the first to contact the debtor when he or she again has money is crucial, because many collectors are likely competing for these funds to pay off debt. Save time, save money Most trigger program providers will monitor your portfolio for free, only charging on a per-trigger basis. Not only does this save valuable collector time, it also avoids the expense of pulling a full credit report on the consumer (and hoping that the information was recently updated). As more and more of your collection accounts become active again, and your customers’ credit improves, a trigger program helps your company be first in line to contact them for repayment. To learn more about how collection account monitoring tools can benefit your company, read our case study about how accounts receivable management firm First Financial Asset Management, Inc. was able to increase its collections by $3.5 million—a return of $72 for every $1 spent on trigger data.

The subject of “bill shock” has been getting an increasing amount of coverage lately. On one side, the FCC and consumer groups are advocating new regulations mandating customer alerts and other information to help customers avoid unexpected monthly charges, or “bill shock.” On the other side, three wireless industry groups, CTIA, the Rural Cellular Association (RCA) and the Rural Telecommunications Group (RTG), have come out in opposition to the FCC’s proposed mandate. The consumer view According to Consumer Reports, bill shock is a common occurrence: One in five survey respondents reported receiving an unexpectedly high bill in the previous year, often for exceeding the plan's voice, text, or data limits… half of them were hit for at least $50, and one in five for more than $100. The industry view In comments to the FCC, the CTIA maintained that new mandates were not only unnecessary but costly, and that carriers already provided sufficient monitoring tools for customers. In addition, the CTIA argued that the FCC did not have the authority to impose such rules and that they would violate First Amendment protections: The FCC should refrain from initiating prescriptive rules that not only would likely cost carriers (and therefore consumers) tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars to put into practice, but that also would raise numerous legal issues, create substantial implementation challenges, and force companies to upgrade to a set of government standards instead of creatively competing in the provision of service to customers. A No-Win Situation? The issue puts carriers in an awkward position. Even if they prevail with the FCC and prevent the proposed mandates, they may still lose in terms of public relations with consumers. Connected Planet Blogger Susana Schwartz got to the heart of the matter with the question of who is ultimately responsible: the customer or the carrier? At what point is it too much responsibility to put on the carriers’ shoulders and at what point should people be held responsible for their choices? Regardless of the answer to such philosophical questions, there are the three key FCC proposals that wireless carriers need to be aware of as the issue moves forward. Three New Potential FCC Mandates   Over-the-Limit Alerts: The FCC’s proposed rules would require customer notification, such as voice or text alerts, when the customer approaches and reaches monthly limits that will result in overage charges.   Out-of-the-Country Alerts: The FCC’s proposed rules would require mobile providers to notify customers when they are about to incur international or other roaming charges that are not covered by their monthly plans, and if they will be charged at higher-than-normal rates.     Easy-to-Find Tools: The FCC’s proposed rules would require clear disclosure of any tools offered by mobile providers to set usage limits or review usage balances. The FCC is also asking for comment on whether all carriers should be required to offer the option of capping usage based on limits set by the consumer.   How will these proposals affect your business? Let us know your concerns. We’ll keep a close watch on this issue as it develops and keep you posted.

This is the third post in our series about bundling. In the previous two posts, I discussed 1) the many benefits of bundling services and 2) how to determine who might be a good candidate for bundled services. When it comes to maximizing upside and mitigating risk, of primary concern is knowing your customer’s payment history and creditworthiness. But once you’ve identified good candidates for bundled services, just what is it you should offer? An offer they can’t refuse As with most marketing practices, there is no exact formula for creating a successful bundled package. Some considerations include: Making sure the package is worth more than the sum of its parts. If it costs the same to buy each of the services separately, your customers might very well go shopping elsewhere for each individual service.   Creating a package that makes it easier to choose from various options. An overly complicated offer is more likely to drive customers away. On the other hand, an offer that simplifies your customer’s life is going to be more attractive.     Ensuring that the customer feels at least one product in the bundle is a “need” item. For example, many consumers require a landline for an alarm system, which makes the landline a “need item” for them. Linking an essential service or product (“need item”) to a luxury product/service (“nice to have”) adds value to the package and makes it more attractive to certain consumers. Because the package includes a need item, these consumers would think twice before skipping a payment.     Providing a few choices rather than a one-size-fits-all offer. Create several packages at different price points that include different options. To determine the most appropriate services to bundle, you need to drill down to find out what products are most appealing in a particular market. For instance, bundling might be more appealing in some higher income point populations as opposed to lower income areas.     Understanding a customer’s cash flow situation and accommodating for a certain degree of bill shock can go a long way toward creating bundled offers that customers actually respond to in a positive way.     Any questions? If you’re thinking about getting into the bundling game — or expanding on your current bundling strategy — you have a lot to consider beyond these three posts. If you have specific questions in the realm of bundling you would like to see addressed, please be sure to comment on this post.

Issues that could have a major impact on how telecommunications, cable and energy companies conduct business will soon be decided, as all 50 state legislatures go into session. It’s not every year that this happens, since some state legislatures only meet biannually.Two Big Issues to Watch: Breach Notification & Employment Screenings1) Breach NotificationNow that 46 states have a breach notification law on the books, lawmakers are looking at whether those standards should be expanded. So far, at least 12 state legislatures are considering proposals.At the heart of all breach notification laws is a set of conditions, or “triggers,” that have to occur before a company is required to send out a breach notification to consumers. For most states, the requirement is based on some level of harm for consumers as a result of the breach. Some states have begun to look at those triggers and conclude that all types of breach, no matter the risk, should be report to consumers. Additionally, included in some pieces of legislation is a requirement to report all breaches, no matter the size, to the state attorney general. The concern of many in the private sector is that attorney general notification opens up new liabilities for companies, as many states will post a list of breaches on a government website, even if there is no harm to a consumer.States are also examining the types of information that should be provided to consumers as a result of a breach. For example, should consumers be notified of information such as the time, location and type of information exposed during a breached. The challenge is that all of this information would be made public, possibly creating additional risk.2) Employment ScreeningsWith a weakened economy, state legislators are looking for ways to help the unemployed find new work. As a result, lawmakers are looking into placing new restrictions on the ability of employers to conduct credit checks on prospective employees. The intention driving the discussion is to help consumers who might be negatively affected by poor credit history out of concern that the information will result in an individual’s ability to be hired.Currently, only four states have statutes that regulate an employer’s use credit history data. This year, at least fourteen states are considering their own restrictions.Why Check a Job Applicant’s Credit?Misconceptions about the content of credit reports used for employment purposes have encouraged the proposals. The result, however, of such legislation would be to remove a valuable tool from employers to evaluate and compare different candidates under consideration for a job.Since employers are held responsible for the actions of their employees, it’s only natural they take steps to protect themselves. Such measures are already regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Some legislatures may also soon expand those restrictions. The result of using credit is not fewer employees being hired, but hiring the best candidates for the job.What’s Next? Stay TunedAs most state legislatures are composed of part-time lawmakers, many will be in session only through April, but these trends will likely impact discussions at the national level. For instance, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has already held hearings to examine employers’ use of credit checks. And Congress is contemplating a national breach law.We’ll be monitoring future regulatory developments, so check back frequently or subscribe to keep up on these issues and others affecting your industry.