Semaphore Conseil is an independent company specializing in consulting, research and competitive intelligence in bank marketing.
The Paris office of Semaphore Conseil contacted Lewis Alexander Financial Management in regards to the proposed new launch of our automated debt consolidation software / platform.
- After reading our blog posts with interest, the agency decided to write and publish an article about our new debt management software in their newsletter on innovation and best practices in the banking and insurance world.
- Below you can find the article in French and then in English, however, the article in English has corrections due to errors and lost communications that occurred during translation of the interview.
Une gestion low cost et automatisée des dettes: le logiciel du courtier Lewis Alexander. Selon un sondage conduit en 2012 par l’association de consommateurs Which?, 2,3 millions de foyers britanniques (10 % du total) ont été en situation de défaut de paiement (crédit à la consommation, factures ou prêt immobilier/loyers). De plus, 1,5 millions de foyers ont eu recours à un découvert non autorisé ou à un “payday loan” (prêt d’une durée maximale de 30 jours avec des TEG très élevés) pour parvenir à la fin du mois. C’est dans ce contexte morose que le courtier spécialiste du rachat de crédit, Lewis Alexander a annoncé le lancement en novembre 2013 d’un logiciel permettant aux clients une gestion automatique de leurs dettes, une première sur le marché britannique. Le logiciel “Financial Debt Check and Health Test” actuellement dans sa phase beta permettra aux particuliers d’identifier eux-mêmes la solution la plus adaptée et de gérer leurs dettes de façon autonome.
L’O3i a sélectionné cette nouvelle pour les raisons suivantes :
Une tarification “low cost” grâce à une automation poussée du processus de négociation de dettes. Si le test en ligne et le pré-remplissage de la demande de faillite personnelle sont gratuits, la gestion automatique de dettes est facturée à 19,99 livres/mois, tarif très compétitif comparé aux frais moyens de 89 livres/mois facturés sur le marché britannique du RAC, selon notre contact à Lewis Alexander
- The following article is the same as above by Semaphore Conseil but is translated into English;
A low cost, automated debt management plan: the software agent is Lewis Alexander.
According to a survey conducted in 2012 by the consumer association Which? 2.3 million UK households (10% of the total) were in default of payment (consumer credit, bills or mortgage / rent). In addition, 1.5 million homes have been using an unauthorized overdraft or a “payday loan” (a maximum loan period of 30 days with very high TEG) to reach the end. It is in this context that the specialist credit redemption broker, Lewis Alexander announced that in November 2013 a program allowing customers an automatic management of their debts will be launched, a first for the UK consumer finance / personal debt market. The “Financial Health Check and Debt Test” software, currently in its beta phase will allow individuals to self-identify the most suitable solution to manage their debts independently.
- The O3i selected this news for the following reasons:
Solution “all inclusive” and completely automated: the first screen prompts the user to learn about the various debt solutions under UK law (CAR debt restructuring, bankruptcy, mortgage equity, etc..). The user is then asked to answer simple questions: length at current address, occupation, monthly income, amount of debt, number of creditors, the amount of current monthly payments, any difficulties encountered during the repayments, delays in the payment of rent or mortgage repayments, etc. Based on this information, the most suitable debt solution is recommended (bankruptcy, debt restructuring, etc. In case of bankruptcy, the official application form pre-populated with the information collected is made available to the user. The customer only has to add the missing information, print and send the document to the competent authorities. If the RAC is recommended, the software offers the service of “automatic debt management.” If the customer purchased the product, the software calculates the reduced monthly payments and automatically sends emails to creditors with proposals weekly / monthly. In case of refusal by creditors, a new email will be sent to them with a new proposal, etc. Once the creditors agreement is obtained, monthly payments will be automatically deducted from the customer’s current account and redistributed to creditors. Customer service representatives will answer Skype client questions 24/7 in case of difficulties. Lewis Alexander is positioning itself as a “turnkey” personal debt consolidation solution with client support for any eventuality (personal bankruptcy, debt restructuring, debt management, IVA, Trust Deeds, etc.).
Pricing is “low cost” through extensive automation of the process of debt negotiation. If the online test and pre-filling the application of personal bankruptcy are free, automatic management of debt is charged at £19.99 per month, very competitive price compared to the average cost of £35 per month charged on the market British RAC, according to our contact Lewis Alexander.
- For help and advice regarding personal debt problems please call our personal debt helpline using;
- Call 0800 018 6868 Free
- Calls are free from most UK land lines but mobile call costs may vary!
- From mobiles it may be less expensive to call 0161 872 3383