LIVE FROM THE DBA CONFERENCE: An Industry Arrives

By Patrick Lunsford, CollectionIndustry.com

The debt purchasing industry has officially arrived in a very important way. The debt buying business model, long admired by Wall Street and private equity firms and reviled by popular press and consumer groups, is now attracting attention from all corners of the business world. Nowhere was this more apparent than at the opening reception of the Debt Buyers’ Association 9th Annual Convention Tuesday evening.

Walking around the immense and beautifully appointed — and packed — main conference hall at the Mirage in Las Vegas, conference attendees were treated to complimentary top quality food and drink and over-the-top only-in-Vegas trappings: a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, pictures taken in real racing cars, a magician on a little too much caffeine, etc. But it was the offerings of the vendors in the room and the attendees themselves that signaled the coming of age of an entire industry.

All of the major technology and service vendors have a presence at this conference of course; big name players offering their best in class services to the attendees. But what really stands out is the breadth and shear number of smaller vendors who have niche offerings for the debt buyers. Everything from a subprime credit bureau to exclusively Spanish-speaking portfolio collectors is represented here. And everyone has a scoring model to sell. Small service providers clamoring to offer super-niche products to an industry speaks volumes of the cash flow being generated by this unique business model.

The attendees themselves also signal an industry on the rise. Mixed in with easily recognizable industry veterans and pioneers were young professionals who will lead this industry in the coming years. The enthusiasm that these upstarts bring to the industry can only propel it onward. Outside of the convention hall, a diverse group of eight attractive and stylishly dressed 20-somethings laughs and howls and swaps jokes and stories; a typical scene in any place, to be sure. But the stories aren?t about excessive drinking and compromising situations, and the jokes don’t begin with “A priest, a rabbi and Tonya Harding walk into…” These folks are talking about debt purchasing, and loving every minute of it. They throw around industry buzz words and are generally engaging in conversation that almost no one else in the entire world would understand. One of the punch-lines to a joke was “out-of-stat paper.” They are freely and openly discussing the trade they chose, and from the looks of them, they had plenty of options coming out of college.

If Tuesday evening was any indication, this Debt Buyers’ Association convention should be nothing if not terribly interesting. Wednesday is the conference’s lone full day, packed with speakers and breakout sessions covering all aspects of this complicated and growth-oriented industry. The keynote address will be given by Bud Reitzel, Chairman of Asset Acceptance. There will be a session on debtor scams. ChoicePoint and LexisNexis will discuss data security.

It defintely will be a very interesting day.