Foreign news: OnDeck lifts revenue and yields, 'overbiffing' on debts

Banking Day staff
NYSE-listed online small business lender OnDeck has announced third quarter 2018 net income of US$9.8 million, an improvement on the net loss of US$4.1 million in the comparable period last year. Origination volume increased across all channels and all geographies to US$648 million, up by 22 per cent from a year ago. Gross revenue increased to US$103.0 million, up 8 per cent from the prior quarter and 23 per cent from a year ago. Higher yields from improvements in funding costs and the cost of funds rate was due to the refinancing of two secured debt facilities in August with a new US$175 million facility priced at 1-month LIBOR plus 3 per cent, OnDeck stated.

Overstating a debtor's balance in full - also called "overbiffing" - is the latest outrage in unfair debt collection, reports Credit and Collection News, citing a recent case where regulators alleged a New York debt collector named Robert Heidenreich may have tricked thousands of consumers into paying far more than they actually owed by fraudulently inflating consumer balances and using profane, abusive and illegal tactics to collect the fabricated bills. According to complaints filed by the Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General's office, Heidenreich even went so far as to encourage his debt collectors to pose as lawyers or members of law enforcement.