When Blake Enterprises entered into the payday advance business in 1997, Elaine Blake formed D and E Enterprises to audit and supervise the stores. Elaine was determined to make the venture a success. Five years later, she has realized her vision and now supervises and audits thirty-three highly successful payday advance stores in the southeast, most of which operate under the name Cash In a Flash Check Advance.

How does Blake keep profits high and losses low while building her business? She uses Teletrack. Blake knows that Teletrack's unique non-traditional consumer data can provide her stores with the critical consumer credit information services they need to help ensure that a maximum number of advances are made while minimizing exposure to risk.

“We had been operating our first few stores for about a year and we realized that to keep profits high, we needed to have as much control over losses as possible. That's when we decided to start using Teletrack,” stated Blake in a recent interview.

By choosing to use Teletrack's risk analysis, fraud detection and skip-tracing services, Cash In A Flash is able to stop bad debt at the source by identifying consumers that pose the highest likelihood of charging-off. Cash In A Flash was able to easily add Teletrack into their thorough verification process. Among other things, store employees check to make sure the applicant is not in the process of filing for bankruptcy. They also verify employment, an open bank account and a permanent residence. To complete the process, store personnel then submit the consumer's information to Teletrack to be compared against records gathered from Teletrack's nationwide network of businesses who cater to a non-traditional clientele.

According to Blake, store personnel are trained to look for specifics when they receive a Teletrack report. “Primarily, our managers want to know if the consumer already has an advance out with another store,” commented Blake. They also pay close attention to whether or not the applicant has skipped on another payday advance company in the past.”

When an individual falls into the non-traditional category Teletrack is an excellant source of consumer credit information services about the individual's history with finance and other consumer agreements. Information from Teletrack's database can provide a more accurate portrait of an applicant by giving you a clear view of the individual's transaction history. Teletrack will alert you if the individual has a history of charging-off on specialty finance, rental or service agreements, has two or more open advances or is using a fraudulent Social Security number.

Blake explains, “If we didn't run a Teletrack report, we wouldn't have a source of information on our consumers. We've turned people down based on the information in a Teletrack report and that doesn't bother us because we view Teletrack as a safeguard against a potential charge-off. Our philosophy is that if you find out someone has already skipped on another payday advance company, then you can avoid giving an advance to someone who has shown a propensity for not paying them back.”

“Our store employees like using Teletrack,” comments Blake. “They use it as a tool to help them decide whether a consumer is going to be a good risk for an advance. The reports are easy to understand and are effective in alerting the staff of individuals who have the highest likelihood of skipping on an advance.”

Blake goes on to explain that she has included an incentive to help ensure her employees are using all the resources available to make good consumer decisions. “Employees receive a bonus based on the profitability of their store, so the more profitable their store, the more money they will make. It really motivates them to keep a close eye on their profits and losses. And it's a great reason for them to use Teletrack.”

Employees also understand that they can keep their profits and losses in line by regularly reporting their skips and charge-offs back to Teletrack. Once reported, Teletrack will notify Cash In A Flash whenever one of their charge-offs attempts to engage the services of any of Teletrack's thousands of businesses nationwide, and immediately provide them with recently obtained consumer information.

“My store employees know that we expect them to report all of their skips and charge-offs to Teletrack so that when one of our reported accounts shows up at another store, we can find them,” states Blake. “We had a case where we had reported a consumer to Teletrack as a charge-off, and a short time later, the charged-off consumer attempted to rent some furniture from another Teletrack member business. The rental purchase store manager saw on the Teletrack report that the consumer had charged-off with us and he declined the rental. The consumer learned that he had been declined because of information on the Teletrack report. In this case, the charged-off consumer came to the store and paid us the money he owed. Because of Teletrack, we collected.”

“Overall I'm very satisfied with Teletrack,” concludes Blake. “I have recommended Teletrack in the past, and I continue to recommend Teletrack to others in the industry today because Teletrack gives us a more accurate picture of who our consumers are, what their history is, and it indicates their willingness to pay their debts. I'm sure we wouldn't be as successful if we didn't use Teletrack in all of our stores.”

Elaine Blake is the owner of D and E Enterprises, formed when Blake Enterprises expanded their operation into the payday advance business in 1997. She audits and supervises 33 locations in Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi and currently employs 70 people.

Parent company Blake Enterprises has roots in the small loan business and has been in business for over 30 years. Elaine Blake graduated with a B.A. and M.S. from the University of Memphis and has a professional background in marketing.

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