Skip tracing is a tracing method that tracks defaulters that have gone underground. Although it is used in a myriad of sectors like health care, media and journalism, and banking the answer for ‘what is skip tracing?’ differs from sector to sector.
What is skip tracing in banking? In banking, it is a commonly used debt collection tactic. It is used to track or trace a defaulter. Debt collection agencies use a variety of methods to track down the respective defaulter. Understanding “What is Skip Tracing” is essential, as it is an important and crucial process.
While answering the question ‘what is skip tracing’, elements like the functioning need to be answered. This process has been facilitated due to the increase in technological efficiencies in the country. Now, even if debtors were to leave their registered location debt collector agents can trace them back easily. The primary duty of a skip tracer is to deploy tools and resources that enable them to track down the debtor.
It is performed in different ways and is executed in stages. It is performed by professionals in the field. There are a variety of tools also that can be used by debt collector agencies.
How is Skip Tracing Done?
After answering what is skip tracing, the next question that arises is how is it done. The most important part of this process is the collection of information of the delinquent account holder. It is done by combing through the account holder’s complete information like loan application, debtor’s history with the company, their credit score, personal information like telephone number and address.
Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis are a few of the online databases that are available, through which skip tracers can access and cast around for information. Nowadays some companies like First Credit Services offer skip tracing services. They perform in-depth and detailed research to expedite the process. Along with this, they offer many other services including First Part Services, Extended Business Office, and Third-Party Services.
Few tools also help you get the debtor’s social security and facilitates the analysis of gained information. Social Media is now fast becoming one of the popular resources for the same. Platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. provide huge amounts of information as they can also access data of relatives and friends of the defaulter. These resources and tools help in data monitoring and predictive analysis.
