Bob Srygley had spent many years as the owner of a successful McDonald’s franchise prior to opening the first $howmethemoney Cash Advance store in 1997. He knew that there was tremendous opportunity in the payday advance industry and he was ready to take on a new challenge. As Srygley built his business he saw revenue increase, but he also saw bad debt grow at the same pace. Realizing that the standard identity verification process was not enough to keep bad debt to a minimum, he decided to take action. He turned to Teletrack.

Srygley discovered that Teletrack’s unique non-traditional consumer identity verification provided his stores with critical information to help ensure that as revenues grew, bad debt was held to a minimum.

"Bad debt is the biggest line item for a payday advance store. If bad debt gets out of control, you’re going out of business," stated Srygley in a recent interview.

"Before we started using Teletrack in the stores, the charge-off rates varied all across the board and we saw bad debt as high as 70% in some of our new stores. We also used to operate under a different philosophy before we started using Teletrack. Back then if a customer came into the store I’d let them have some money. Doing business that way left me open to losing a lot of money in charge-offs and bad debt." Srygley continues, "When I started using Teletrack our bad debt percentage went down and now it helps us keep it down. I wouldn’t be in this business without Teletrack," said Srygley.

"When I started using Teletrack our bad debt percentage went down and now it helps us keep it down."

Now that $howmethemoney is using Teletrack’s risk analysis, SSN verification and skip-tracing services, they are able to stop bad debt at the source by identifying customers that pose the highest likelihood of charging-off. Srygley’s store managers get to base their decisions on more than just basic application data. When they send the customer’s application data to Teletrack, the information is compared against records gathered from Teletrack’s nationwide network of businesses who cater to a non-traditional clientele.

Information from Teletrack’s database provides a more accurate portrait of an applicant by giving a detailed view of the individual’s past transaction history. Teletrack alerts you if the applicant has a history of charging-off on non-traditional finance, rental or service agreements, has two or more open advances, or is using a SSN verification.

"Srygley explains, "Teletrack can tell you a lot about a person that an application can’t. We use the standard verification process and ask for two forms of I.D. and references. We also go by gut feeling, but the fact is that you can’t tell by looking at someone if they’re honest or not. Everyone that comes into the stores seems to have an honest face, but Teletrack helps us find out who’s really honest and who’s got bad paper out with other payday advance stores. That’s why Teletrack is the number one tool for us now in our verification process."

"Plus," continues Srygley, "Teletrack is so easy to get up and running in the stores. We use Ideal software in all of our locations and it’s already got Teletrack built in, so it’s painless for everyone. It’s fast and the customers don’t even realize that we’re using it. To them it’s just one of the steps for getting the advance. We just enter the information into the system and we’re set."

Srygley trains his managers to use Teletrack to safeguard against potential charge-offs while making the maximum number of advances to good risk customers. Store managers understand that keeping bad debt to a minimum is a key factor in helping them reach their goals for bonuses. "We train all of our new managers by placing them in an existing store with an experienced manager. The new manager learns all about how we operate and learns the importance of using Teletrack to help ensure that bad debt stays within our standard of 10% of revenue. This is particularly important because it plays a large part in whether or not he’ll qualify for a bonus."

Srygley continues, "My managers know our policy; we Teletrack all of our new customers and every three months we go back and Teletrack them again to make sure they’re still a good risk. If the manager gets a report back from Teletrack that says the applicant has bad paper out, then he knows not to do the loan. I learned a long time ago that if a person has charge-offs with other payday loan stores, then we don’t need to give that person a loan. We also look at multiple inquires from other stores. If a customer has a bunch of inquiries we know that customer is actively looking for money in a number of places and we should investigate before giving them any money."

"Without a doubt I’d recommend Teletrack. You’d have to be nuts to get into this business without it."

$howmethemoney store managers also know that they can reduce their bad debt percentages by reporting all of their skips and charge-offs back to Teletrack. Once reported, Teletrack will notify $howmethemoney 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 customer information. Once a charge-off is reported to Teletrack, we continue to look for that customer until you tell us to stop. Srygley follows a similar philosophy when it comes to locating bad debt.

"We never stop working bad debt and Teletrack plays a big part in that. We may have a check that’s two or three years old and we continue to work it because if they show up somewhere else, Teletrack lets us know. If a customer that charged-off in one of my Missouri stores turns up in California, Teletrack lets us know and we go after that customer to get our money. When that happens it’s a thrill. It’s like finding money in the street," comments Srygley.

"I tell my people that we are in the collections business, not the payday advance business. If you don’t look at it that way, you won’t stay in business for very long. My managers know they wouldn’t have a prayer of collecting if it wasn’t for Teletrack and that’s why I see Teletrack as a necessity for each of my stores," concludes Srygley.

Bob Srygley, owner of $howmethemoney Cash Advance stores, founded the company in 1997. When the business began to take off a year later, he sold his McDonald’s franchise to focus on payday loans full time. He has been the driving force behind the company’s continuing success and he plans to continue to expand in the future through the acquisition of new locations. Great customer service, the company’s main goal, will also contribute to continued growth. $howmethemoney Cash Advance is headquartered in Arkansas with approximately 150 employees working in 44 stores located in the states of Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana.

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