Consumer Empowerment through Flexibility, Diversification, and Data: an iA Strategy & Tech Recap

We wrapped up iA Strategy & Tech 2021 on July 15, and if you missed some (or even all) of the conference, we put together a recap here for you! Remember, the sessions are available to attendees until Sep 30, 2021.

The underlying theme of many of the sessions at iAST 2021 was consumer empowerment. As early as the first session, “Leading Strategically Through Rapid Change,” Brad Bone (M&G Solutions) Dave Wasik (2nd Order Solutions), and Brian O’Malley (BCG), discussed how to use digital services to improve consumer experience. During their panel discussion, Brad predicted that charge offs will be up and payments will be down, potentially as soon as the second half of 2021, and how the shift to digital might cause a problem for smaller agencies who don’t make a strategic investment in that area.

Tim Collins (InDebted) Le’nore Caldwell (Spring Oaks Capital) and Carrie Coker-Aivaliotis (LexisNexis) discussed consumer preference in more obvious ways during their workshop, “Consumer Preference and How it will Shape the Future,” which tackled the preference as outlined in the new CFPB rule, how companies can use it to their advantage, and why it makes sense to start tracking and using preference now, even before enforcement of the new CFPB Rules. Of course, Joann Needleman (Clark Hill) and Stefanie Jackman (Ballard Spahr) lead a deep discussion during their panel, “Strategic Impacts and Countermeasures of the CFPB Rules,” where panelist Ami Lipman (Citizens Bank) talked about how creditors and their vendors need to work together to ensure compliance with the CFPB rules.