July & August 2016 Credit Management magazine

CREDIT MANAGEMENT
CM
THE CICM MAGAZINE FOR CONSUMER AND
COMMERCIAL CREDIT PROFESSIONALS
the
Editor’s
column
A FOOL AND HIS MONEY
DIRECT Debits have seemingly been
part of our banking lives forever, and
jolly good things they are too. They
help thousands of businesses make
and receive millions of payments safely,
securely and reliably every year. The facts
speak for themselves, and it would be a
foolish man who stood up and said anything
against them.
Having been a tremendous fan at school
of Feste in Twelfth Night, perhaps because
we shared a similar surname, allow me to
step forward and stick my head above the
parapet. There is an issue with Direct Debits,
specifically in relation to fraudulent Indemnity
Claims (see article on page 25), and it’s
causing CICM members more than a little
angst.
Now the good news is that Bacs is alive
to the problem, and goes to great lengths to
reassure credit managers that the percentage
of Direct Debits refunded through such claims
is a mere fraction of those collected. Mike
Hutchinson’s openness and transparency, and
the best advice he provides in helping credit
managers to minimise the chances of an
Indemnity Claim being raised, is encouraging.
Bacs also says that it is working with
paying banks to support them in identifying
inappropriate claims for refunds before
they even reach the stage of becoming an
Indemnity Claim. My attempts to engage with
the British Bankers Association (BBA) via
its press office proved less than successful,
which is a great pity since it is with the banks
that our members have the biggest issue and I
would have been delighted to have carried the
banks’ views.
Three quarters of CICM members who
responded to a recent survey said that
the banks had been singularly unhelpful in
resolving disputes involving fraudulent claims.
Does that mean that the banks simply don’t
care, or are they more bothered about blindly
following process rather than exploring their
part in helping to allow a fraud to take place?
That alone, I would have thought, was
worth a comment.
CM MAGAZINE | CONTACT AND PUBLISHING DETAILS: ISSN 0265-2099
Publisher
Chartered Institute of Credit Management
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OAKHAM
LE15 8NB
Telephone: 01780 722910
Fax: 01780 721333
Email: editorial@cicm.com
Website: www.cicm.com
CMM: www.creditmanagement.org.uk
Managing Editor
Sean Feast
Deputy Editor
Alex Simmons
Art Editor
Andrew Morris
Telephone: 01780 722910
Email: andrew.morris@cicm.com
Editorial Team
Tom Berger, Imogen Hart and Iona Yadallee
Advertising
Anthony Cave
Telephone: 0203 603 7934
Email: anthony.cave@cabbell.co.uk
Printers
Warners (Midlands) Plc
2016 subscriptions
UK: £85 per annum
Overseas: £110 per annum
Single copies: £10.00
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magazine do not, unless stated, reflect those of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. The Editor
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4 July / August 2016 www.cicm.com
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