DiGennaro Puts Collins Focus on 'Technology, Compliance, and Integrity?

The new head of debt purchaser Collins Financial Services, Inc. told insideARM.com today that he has big plans for the industry and his company, saying the firm is expanding into new segments and product types.

“I want to change the face of debt buying,” said Bob DiGennaro, who was named CEO in July. “This industry is poorly portrayed and people need to realize this is a very sophisticated business that is driven by analytics. The new mantra for Collins is ‘technology, compliance, and integrity’.”

DiGennaro sees the debt purchasing industry as an integral part of the credit market. “Without the debt buying industry, many creditors and issuers would not be able to meet their quarterly objectives,” he said.

Prior to joining Collins, DiGennaro was a senior vice president at GE Money – Americas with direct responsibility for the company’s collections and recovery. Before that, he was at GE Card Services. DiGennaro said that he wants to use the lessons learned from GE and give Collins access to new relationships and new market segments.

“Collins has traditionally focused on older charged-off paper – secondary, tertiary, and later. And that will continue to be our core competency. But we really want to open new segments and increase others that we are already involved in, like medical and government/student loans.”

DiGennaro said that Collins has been “going into the medical segment full force” recently, and that the company is evaluating government portfolios on the federal level as well as on a state-by-state basis, with a focus on student loan debt.

Gary Wood, president of Collins, added that a focus not only on new segments and relationships, but on different product types is also a priority.

“Because of our age (11 years), we are a little late in the game,” said Wood. “There are a lot of players ahead of us for that prime paper from major issuers. But we will be focusing on primary and secondary portfolios from mid-sized issuers. In addition, we want to be in the habit of going after higher balance portfolios.”

“With Bob on board, and with solid financial backing now, we feel we are ready to play with the big boys,” said Wood.

Collins uses a blended portfolio liquidation model mixing internal collections, outsourced collections, and resale. The Austin, Texas-based firm counts nearly 300 employs in two locations.

Wood will continue as president of Collins and Walt Collins, the company’s founder and chairman, will continue serving in a strategic role, creating deals and offering guidance. DiGennaro and Wood, who is also president of DBA International, expect to be the faces of the company.

“The industry should keep an eye on us,” commented DiGennaro, “we are going to be a company worth watching.”