TRACED Act Becomes Law of the Land

The Pallone-Thune TRACED Act is now the law of the land. President Trump signed the bill yesterday. Enactment triggers a number of obligations under the statute regarding rulemakings and reports by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The TRACED act pushes carriers to kill robocalls before they ring, and gives the FCC  some extra juice to pursue the wicked ones perpetrating them. Extends …

FTC Proposes Stricter Standards for Safeguards Rule

The FTC has extended until August 2, 2019 a notice and comment period, first announced in March, to proposed changes to the Safeguards Rule (16 CFR 314) issued under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The proposed changes would essentially require all financial institutions to adopt the NY Department of Financial Services’ strict information security program requirements and impose, among other things, a …

Why TCPA Compliance Matters

You’ve probably heard us tout our TCPA compliance and you know it’s something you’re supposed to look for when you’re looking for a company to handle your collection calls, but do you ever ask, “What is TCPA compliance, and why does it matter?” TCPA stands for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. It updated the Communications Act of 1934 to …

Overcoming Distance in Outsourcing

No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth. - Robert Southey One thing we hear from time to time is, “Yes, you can save me a lot of money and your operation is very professional, but the distance is a problem for me. I want to …

Your Offshoring Fears Do Not Apply

Offshoring often gets a bad rap. Sometimes, in some industries, there is some merit to the arguments people use to decry the practice, but those arguments don’t hold up when it comes to Astra Global. Here are five of the top reasons people give for why offshoring is bad, and why that’s simply not the case when you hire Astra …

Industry Veteran Rakesh Kumar Forms Global Channel Partnership

Industry veteran Rakesh Kumar, a pioneer in global business process outsourcing (BPO) who most recently filled the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at iQor, has announced the formation of StrataEdge Pvt. Ltd. This new entity in turn has made a strategic investment in Astra Global Pvt. Ltd.  Astra was formerly a subsidiary of U.S. based Radius …

Thinking Strategically in the Current ARM M&A Landscape: Dissecting the Central Credit Services - Astra Transaction

The accounts receivable management (ARM) industry is still operating under severe financial constraints, like the rest of the economy, especially when it comes to securing resources for expansion. But mergers and acquisitions are happening for those with the strategic vision to creatively integrate operations. Many deals in the ARM industry are tactical; they are driven by the need to expand …

ARM Firm CCH Increases Global Footprint with Astra Acquisition

Jacksonville, FL: Central Credit Holdings, Inc. (CCH), parent company of Central Credit Services (CCS www.ccscollect.com), an accounts receivable management solutions provider headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, has announced the acquisition of Astra Global (Astra www.astraglobal.com).  The transaction closed on June 11, 2009. As a result of this transaction, Astra will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of CCH.  Astra currently employs …

Financial Services Industry Veterans Launch Collection Agency with Indian Operations

Cambridge, MA - Feroze Waheed has launched Astra Global, a U.S. debt-collection agency with operations in India and a management team that has, on average, more than twenty-five years’ experience in lending and collections. At a time of record consumer debt and rising interest rates, Astra is responding to pressure from U.S. businesses to recover a greater share of their …