Wescot Credit Services have announced a new multi-million pound contract with global information services company Experian for data services provision over the next two years. The contract extension ensures Wescot will have access to information, which ensures their ability to better assess customer characteristics and enhance its collections performance. As part of this new contract, Wescot will also become one of the first to be integrated into Experian’s new ExPin platform, a dynamic new initiative which changes the way in which data is matched by issuing each client with a unique PIN number. This greatly reduces the chances of data duplication and improves on both data quality and overall match rates. By maximising the opportunity to retrieve data accurately, ExPin will enable Wescot to gain a far more comprehensive portrait of its customers in order to improve upon the services they receive.
Wescot are one of the largest debt collecting agencies in the UK, employing over 650 people across three offices. As an ethical debt collecting agency, Wescot Credit Services pride themselves on following stringent government regulations. In some cases, Wescot have even been instrumental in the formation of the regulations themselves, thus determining the debt collection industry standards. The core focus of Wescot is within the banking, telecoms, utility and retail finance sectors. The valuable debt recovery skills which have been built up by the team at Wescot are increasingly being sought by the public sector. Wescot Credit Services also continue to work closely with blue chip clients, with the aim of bringing about favourable resolutions between clients and individuals who have fallen into arrears.
The strategic partnership Wescot have undertaken with Experian will allow the company to improve upon their collections operating model, by delivering further insight into client portfolios and individual customers. Once the ExPin system has been implemented, Wescot will be able to further enhance their performance on behalf of their clients and deliver favourable solutions to debt management, which are tailored to the individual. Wescot remain committed to adhering to the highest standards of compliance in order to protect both their clients and the Wescot brand.
st a conference addressing some of the more important topical issues which affect the financial services and credit services sectors. As one of the sponsors of MAS, Wescot Credit Services proactively engage with the debt advice sector to identify and implement best practice across the board, especially in these times of huge change for the financial services industry.
As part of a one-off exercise, Swift Advances wished to trace some 2,000 customers who had already paid off their loans in order to issue them with a relatively small refund. Wescot were asked to help by using their Locate experience, skills and technology in order to trace these customers. Within the space of just two weeks, Wescot were able to give positive trace results on almost 80% of all the customers, a far higher figure than Swift originally expected.
Another indicator of the success of Wescot and the solid reputation the company enjoys can be found in the fact that this year it was involved in a sponsorship capacity in two of the most prestigious annual events in the credit industry calendar. Wescot was the main sponsor of the 2013 CCR Interactive event and the Credit Excellence Awards. The purpose of this annual event is to spread the latest best practice principles across the industry. It is also a very useful forum for debate concerning the challenges faced by the credit industry now and in the near future.
This year, Wescot was the principal sponsor of the CCR Interactive conference and Credit Excellence Awards. This conference is the flagship annual event for the credit industry. Wescot was also one of the sponsors for 2013 Money Advice Scotland conference. This particular organisation is an umbrella group for the many companies and independent bodies that provide impartial and confidential debt advice across Scotland. The 
As Wescot fully appreciates, these are challenging times for any business directly or indirectly involved in the consumer credit niche. In some ways this is linked to the dented reputation experienced by the banks in the aftermath of the credit crunch. There has been a knock-on effect for the entire financial sector. Certain niches within the consumer credit industry have been subjected to particular scrutiny. These include the payday loans providers and credit-based retail stores. Many businesses will be extremely wary about the collections agencies they work with. In particular, they will want to avoid being tarred with the same brush as some of the more unscrupulous elements within the industry.
Wescot also has a highly effective locate team. Swift Cover, one of the country’s leading insurers, recently selected Wescot to complete a specialist-tracing project on its behalf. Swift was legally required to make small repayments to a large number of former customers. As part of this, approximately 2000 customers had to be traced. Because this was outside of the usual type of activities Swift is engaged in, the insurer did not have the resources or the expertise to carry out the tracing project itself. Swift chose Wescot as its partner. The choice was warranted. The Wescot locate team was able to track down 80 per cent of the individuals Swift was attempting to trace. This exceeded the insurer’s expectations.
It is extremely fitting that Wescot was the principal sponsor of this year’s event. Since its conception in Scotland over 30 years ago, Wescot has gradually grown from strength to strength. The company now has nationwide coverage and employs over 650 employees at offices in Glasgow, Saltcoats and Hull. It has expertise across a number of distinct areas including debt recovery, early stage collections, customer tracing and debt purchase.