Getting a proper overview isn’t always easy, in society, business or our personal lives. Navigating a complex world requires a lot of us. There are both spoken and unspoken rules, and we all know from experience that culture and context matter too.
There are lots of great books on the connection between culture, context and social mobility. One that I read a few years back is called Hillbilly Elegy, by JD Vance. In this book, it becomes clear that growing up in a dysfunctional family made it difficult for the main character to understand what options were available and which steps to take in life.
There is research on social mobility too. In the Nordic countries, social mobility is much greater than for instance in the US. Some reasons for this are gender equality, availability of kinder gardens and access to free education even at the university level. All these factors contribute to societies where there are more options for everyone.
But even in the Nordics, it can be hard to navigate. We know from our business that getting an overview isn’t easy. A lot of customers with financial difficulties feel that they have few options when trying to deal with their circumstances. Sometimes short-term options such as drawing your credit card, taking a consumer loan, or just not paying your bills become the way to keep floating, at least for some time.
We know that short-term fixes typically become longer-term problems. In our conversations with customers, we know that they struggle to see the whole picture. They simply don’t have the overview to see the whole problem. That is why we are committed to not only solving the individual cases but to finding a sustainable and holistic solution.
So, what is the challenge? One of the key challenges is that many customers have outstanding claims or debt with many debt collection agencies at the same time. Having more than one claim outstanding is more the rule than the exception. However, the different debt collection companies do not necessarily collaborate to present the customer with one view. There isn’t currently a well-functioning data exchange between the companies, and no entity summarizes the whole situation.
We think this has to change. Hence, we are supporting various initiatives to put in place the functionality and the governance of establishing one consolidated customer view. Through open banking, we can act on behalf of the customers to ask for information sitting at the other debt collection agencies, but without a proper system, this is a cumbersome process. Consequently, the whole industry needs to come together and step up the game to help the customers better. We need to provide the customers with the overview to make the best plan!
There are many good reasons to provide a plan to deal with the problem. If you don’t see the wood for the trees, it is hard to know whether or not you’re solving the right problem or not. How could we possibly give the right advice if we only see a fraction of the challenge? Having one trusted partner with the proper overview and insight is the way forward.
Alice in Wonderland was walking in the woods when she met the cat. Alice asked the cat:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
Our ambition is to be the company of choice – the company that customers with financial difficulties turn to for support and help. We want to offer a path forward, given the correct diagnostic. Our vision is «We help you make it»!
Klaus-Anders
