July 2013

President’s Message:

Recently, I mentioned to colleagues that this is exciting times for everyone involved in the life cycle of a receivable - consumer or commercial. Each day seems to provide us with new challenges in extending credit and collecting from customers. Current or delinquent, the issues are very similar irrespective of industry or asset class. An informed decision is always preferred yet often, our collective voice is unheard.

This one simple thought is what led to the founding of this association along with the opportunity for synergy across all parties to create a powerful, more efficient and customer centric business model that foster the sharing of best practices.

With this in mind, I am pleased to present our new Board of Directors elected at our recent Annual General Meeting. You will find this to be a diverse & talented group of individuals who are recognized leaders in their fields. I am looking forward to working together while leveraging our collective capabilities to continue building a stronger association.

Executive Committee

Chair/President:      Mark Ball, Bank of Montreal

Vice President        Steve Sheather, SCORE Statistical Consulting

Secretary               Scott Coffin, Canaccede Financial Group

Treasurer                Dale Leslie, Canadian Tire Financial Services

Membership            Rina Mancini, 360 Credit Management Inc.

Board

Felicia Durastanti, Desjardins
Don Hale, FCT Default Solutions
Rod Hooktwith, Aktiv Kapital
John Lavecchia, Equifax Canada
Rocco Mortelliti, Techcom Software Solutions
Marty Rosik, MJR Capital Services Inc.
Todd Skinner, TransUnion Canada

Past Chair               George Preece, Canadian Tire Financial Services      

RMA Canada was founded in 2011, and as such we are very much still in a growth mode. This is especially the case as we establish ourselves as a national association representing the common interests yet at times, divergent interests of a large industry. This diversity is also a great strength and presents a tremendous opportunity to share and learn from each other.  As a Board our focus will continue to grow and develop RMA Canada which includes the following;

·         Build our membership to ensure that we have a diversified membership that represents the receivable management industry across this country.

·         Provide a forum for information sharing, awareness building and solutions.

·         Build on common interests irrespective of industry, asset class

·         Respond & address where appropriate changes that will have an impact on our industry

These four areas are central the 2013 Fall Conference and registration is now open on the website under the Upcoming Events Tab on the web site.

We are very excited that Ed Rigsbee will be presenting on how to drive a higher ROI through the development of stronger strategic alliances within industry and for associations such as ourselves. Ed has also agreed to help facilitate a number of sector specific workshops with the objective of assisting RMA Canada’s members in prioritizing its work for the near future.

Social Media is transforming the way we work and live from both the personal & business perspective. Paul Nazareth will present his views on networking and the power of social media as a business tool.

Mike Lipkin will present what will it mean to thrive in 2014 and what core social values contribute to success irrespective of the surrounding environmental change.  

In addition, we can confirm that the OSB has committed to participate and we expect to confirm shortly the participation form other legislative representatives from across Canada.

The Conference is shaping up very nicely and we expect a strong attendance in keeping with our last conference which was a sold out affair.

Please register early to avoid missing the event.

On our website, you will notice a Blog section. We are always looking for content and encourage all readers to post their comments on our LinkedIn site

In closing, I would like to thank the past Board of Directors for their leadership and in in particular the vision and passion of our founding President, George Preece in leading us from idea through to fruition.

Thank you