If you are ever questioned as to whether or not debt collection helps the economy, just know that a new survey conducted by Ernst & Young revelas the third-party debt collection industry returned $67.6 billion to creditors in 2016. The report shows that healthcare, local government and all U.S. households benefit from the efforts of collectors.
Other key findings include:
• The collection of consumer debt by third-party debt collection efforts represent $579 in savings on average per household by keeping the costs of goods and services lower.
• Third-party collection agencies directly employed 129,262 people in 2016 and the industry indirectly influenced the creation of 89,000 more jobs.
• Third-party collection agencies and their employees paid $852 million in federal taxes and $677 million in state and local taxes.
• Third-party collection agencies and their employees contributed $17.7 million to charitable community causes and volunteered 521,700 hours.