FCVic has a lot of new members this year, for those who haven’t had the chance to meet you yet, could you please provide an overview of your role and your team at Credit Corp?

I’m the escalation point for the financial counselling community and other not for profit agencies, so if something is not as it should be, speak to me.

I also provide a conduit so that feedback from you, whether it is provided as part of a feedback session we run, a regional meeting we attend or an email that’s sent, is discussed within our business, and we can continue to improve how we interact with our customers.

I’m also responsible for assessing waivers requested by financial counsellors, for financial difficulty and family violence. Jannine Cook who some of you have spoken to and emailed over the last 12 months has been assisting me with waiver requests.

What were your highlights from the FCVic Virtual Gala Awards Event last month?

Oohhh there were a few highlights. The hats of course! Being able to catch up with the FC community at last. And I really enjoy hearing some of the background story of the award winners. I always like to understand the bigger picture.

You mentioned at the event that you had thought 2020 was going to be a year of “vision and clarity” – what is the biggest revelation that you’ve had this year?

I’ve realised how important each aspect of my job is: working from home, conferences, travelling to visit FCs, being in the office. The combination is great and I hadn’t realised before how carefully it was balanced. I’m over the first, missing the second and third and really enjoying my day in the office.

What projects have Credit Corp been working on that you can tell us about?

The main project I’m personally working on at present is improving the experience the FC community has with Baycorp and NCML, Credit Corp’s contingency businesses. We have the feedback provided in the “Rank the Banks” report and are about to kick off a series of meetings to get some more detailed feedback. In our debt purchase business, Credit Corp has been working on developing and improving our online self-service area for customers, and for compliance and customer experience we’re working on an intelligent system designed to quality assure every single phone call we make.

What is the main message you want to share with financial counsellors?

Please continue to use any opportunity you can to provide feedback wherever appropriate. We’ve had some great feedback in the 10 years we’ve been actively meeting with the sector and we hope it continues for years to come. Whether it’s something that needs to be escalated, frustration with a process or interaction, or even just sharing a suggestion or two, you’re welcome to contact me anytime.

Laura Pringle – [email protected] My direct line is (02) 8651 5562 or 0424 156 724.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I’m looking forward to the conference next year, especially the dinner. And the dancing!