News & Updates from Merlin Information Services Winter 2010
In This Issue
Merlin Offers Full Suite of Collections Solutions
by Todd Twete, VP Sales & Marketing

Understanding the dynamic and challenging landscape in the collections industry, Merlin has embarked upon a corporate initiative to offer collection agencies a comprehensive suite of industry leading solutions.

The premise behind this initiative is simple; collection agencies are striving to gain efficiencies and increase returns. As such, agencies are consolidating vendors, seeking additional intelligence about their portfolios, demanding increased hit rates, and in general, trying to do more with less.

Merlin’s collections solutions are designed to meet this industry demand by providing agencies with multiple skiptracing, analytic, and batching solutions. The solutions outlined below represent the first components of our collections suite.



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Acxiom® InsightCollect

Courtesy of an enhanced strategic relationship with Acxiom, Merlin’s suite of collections solutions continues to grow and improve. InsightCollect, now available online or through a batch process, provides accurate, actionable information to help locate and contact debtors. As InsightCollect is a flat-rate subscription product, it is ideal for high volume collection agencies or any business looking to effectively budget skiptracing costs.

Named by Collection Advisor as one of the top 10 skiptracing tools in 2006, InsightCollect searches over 7 billion records from more than 100 cross-referenced data sources. At the core of InsightCollect is an unmatched wealth of public and proprietary data that produces some of the best hit and contact rates in the industry. This single repository of rich data is reliable and easy to use.

InsightCollect search features span several key databases:

  • People -- Uniquely comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date. Within the people search, expand your search to include relatives and associates.
  • Phones -- Continuously evolving with over 150 million telephone numbers and extensive real-time phone directory records.
  • Property -- One of the most comprehensive national property databases available. Updated monthly, this database includes assessor records from over 1,600 counties and recorder data for 85% of US households.
  • Bankruptcies, Judgments and Tax Liens -- Bankruptcy information from every courthouse in the nation is available in this database.

Wondering if InsightCollect makes sense for your business? Phone Merlin today at (800) 367-6646 for a free online demonstration!

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New Batch Solutions
Discover and Monitor Debtors’ Bankruptcy Records!

Merlin’s new batching system is designed to provide higher quality and greater completeness of data. Scrub new placements and monitor your existing portfolio daily. You will receive immediate notification when a debtor’s bankruptcy status has changed.

Having the industry’s best matching algorithm, the system boasts 100% confidence and zero false positives. Take advantage of data sources and technical capabilities either not available to or not implemented by other bankruptcy data providers.

  • 6 external SSN append sources -- over 98% of bankruptcy cases in the system have complete SSNs. Each SSN is verified with the actual Court SSN, eliminating the incorrect SSN appends by other bankruptcy data providers.
  • 100% standardization and CASS certification of all addresses.
  • 100% standardization of all names, including unlimited AKA capabilities. Other bankruptcy information data providers limit the number of AKA’s.

Contact a Merlin Account Manager to take advantage of the most accurate, current bankruptcy data on the market!

Coming Soon! FDCPA Litigant Data Batch

Benefit from Merlin’s strategic alliance with WebRecon. Merlin will soon offer this addition to our many batching solutions. This data can be used to identify debtors with a history of suing debt collectors.

Credit and collection lawsuits are spiking! The FDCPA Litigant Data Batch will help you reduce the risk of lawsuits by repeat litigants. Protect yourself from known litigious consumers by comparing FDCPA/FCRA/TCPA litigants to debtors in your database.

This rapidly growing database has details on over 40,000 FDCPA, FCRA and TCPA lawsuits filed since 2001. Almost a thousand new consumer litigants are loaded into the database each month. The proprietary system uses highly developed logic to find geographically relevant matches to the names in your database, and generates a new file with information on each match.

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Tips to Better Searching
Dig Deeper with Merlin’s Comprehensive Reports

Once you’ve identified your subject with a Link to America or Link to America Pro search, use Merlin’s comprehensive reports to dig deeper and gather more information. Results can be accessed right from the LTA Results List. Simply click on the Report Menu icon ( Report Menu Icon ) next to the subject’s SSN to open the Report Menu. From there you can select one of the following reports:

  • Current & Historical Phones at Address, plus Neighbors
  • Possible Family Members & Associates
  • Investigator Background Report
  • Complete Report - New and Improved!
  • Credit Headers

NOTE: Access to some Merlin reports is restricted to qualified customers with GLB permissable purposes.

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Meet the Sales Team!
Todd Twete

Todd Twete
Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Todd’s background is in technology, having served as VP of Sales & Marketing for several software and network integration firms, and as a Regional Manager for two national wireless Internet service providers.

One of Todd’s primary responsibilities is to continually assess the ever changing industry trends and Merlin customer needs, then use this information to help plot Merlin's strategic direction. Though the building blocks are just beginning to be assembled, Todd’s strategic vision centers on increasing operational efficiencies for many of the industries that Merlin currently serves. Merlin President Mike Dores sums up the long term aspiration simply, “We want the data tools and services that we provide to do more for our customers. Todd’s expertise and understanding of our customer’s needs will be essential to building the next generation of data solutions.”

When asked what he enjoys most about working at Merlin, Todd replied, “working with a talented group of professionals with a history of success”.

Todd and his family have called Montana home for ten years and they enjoy the outdoor recreation in our area. In his spare time, you will find Todd camping, skiing, hunting, fishing, backpacking, cycling, or canoeing!

Meet Todd in March at the National Association of Professional Background Screeners Conference in San Antonio, TX, the World Investigators Conference in Dallas, TX, or the North American Repossessors Summit in Irving, TX.

Katie Fries
Marketing Coordinator

Katie coordinates Merlin’s marketing campaigns and tradeshows - you will likely meet her at an industry tradeshow where she enjoys meeting customers face-to-face to help them determine the best data solutions for their business.

Katie brings a Marketing degree from Montana State University and has worked at Merlin for two years. She “loves working at Merlin and couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with”.

In her free time, Katie takes advantage of living in the beautiful Flathead Valley -- camping and fishing with her husband, waterskiing, and riding her horse.

Meet Katie in March at the National Association of Professional Background Screeners Conference in San Antonio, TX, the World Investigators Conference in Dallas, TX, or the North American Repossessors Summit in Irving, TX.

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Upcoming Trade Shows and Conferences
Merlin will be at the following trade shows and conferences. Please stop by our booth and meet the Merlin team!
March 7-9, 2010
National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS)
San Antonio, TX

March 10-13, 2010
World Investigators Conference (WIC)
Dallas, TX

March 12-13, 2010
North American Repossessors Summit
Irving, TX

April 29-May 1, 2010
National Association of Professional Process Servers (NAPPS)
Lake Buena Vista, FL

May 13-15, 2010
National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA)
Washington D.C.
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Community Support and Involvement
Annual Veteran’s Food Pantry Drive
Merlin’s annual Veteran's Thanksgiving Food Pantry Drive was a success! Employees contributed 234 pounds of food as well as a cash donation. Our donations went far to assist the Veteran’s Food Pantry in providing special Thanksgiving food boxes in addition to its regular monthly food services.

Salvation Army Kettle Campaign
Merlin employees volunteered as bell ringers for the Salvation Army’s Kettle Campaign during the recent holiday season. Besides sharing lots of fun with elf ears and Christmas carols, Merlin was proud to have earned” top kettle” in our local area on both of our assigned days!

CASA for Kids!
Thanks to Merlin employees, many children’s holiday wishes were fulfilled! Employees purchased Christmas gifts for 32 local foster children, supporting the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for Kids program.

Red Cross Blood Drive Honors Former Employee
Earlier this month, Merlin hosted a blood drive in honor of a former Merlin employee who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Merlin employees donated 15 pints of blood to the American Red Cross.

Merlin Blood Drive

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Careers at Merlin

Merlin is hiring!  If you have the talent and motivation to excel in a dynamic environment, Merlin Information Services welcomes your inquiry. Send resumes to hr@merlindata.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

National Sales Executive
This senior sales position is responsible for selling Merlin data products and solutions via our direct and indirect distribution channels. The National Sales Executive focuses heavily on business development with high volume customers and is also responsible for ongoing relationships and retention for key Merlin accounts. This position may be located at our main office in Kalispell or work out of a remote office.     READ MORE >>
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