Encore Capital Group Inc 's

United States
The consumer credit recovery industry is highly competitive. We compete with a wide range of collection and financial services companies. We also compete with traditional contingency collection agencies and in-house recovery departments. Competitive pressures affect the availability and pricing of receivable portfolios, as well as the availability and cost of qualified recovery personnel. In addition, some of our competitors may have signed forward flow contracts under which credit originators or portfolio resellers have agreed to transfer charged-off receivables to them in the future, which could restrict those credit originators or portfolio resellers from selling receivables to us. We believe some of our major competitors, which include companies that focus primarily on the purchase of charged-off receivable portfolios, have continued to diversify into third-party agency collections and into offering credit card and other financial services as part of their recovery strategy.

When purchasing receivables, we compete primarily on the basis of the price paid for receivable portfolios, the ease of negotiating and closing the prospective portfolio purchases with us, our ability to obtain funding, and our reputation with respect to the quality of services that we provide. We believe that our ability to compete effectively in this market is also dependent upon, among other things, our relationships with credit originators and portfolio resellers of charged-off consumer receivables, and our ability to provide quality collection strategies in compliance with applicable laws.

We believe that smaller competitors are facing difficulties in the portfolio purchasing market because of the higher cost to operate due to increased regulatory pressure and because sellers of charged-off consumer receivables are being more selective with buyers in the marketplace, resulting in consolidation within the portfolio purchasing and recovery industry. We believe this favors larger participants in this market, such as the Company, because the larger market participants are better able to adapt to these pressures. As smaller competitors limit their participation in or exit the market, it may provide additional opportunities for us to purchase receivables from competitors or to acquire competitors directly.

The tax lien industry is highly competitive and fragmented. In Texas, Propel competes primarily on the basis of interest rate, the ease of negotiating and closing the tax liens with the municipality and the consumer, and the reputation with respect to the quality of services that Propel provides. Outside of Texas, liens are usually sold individually or in bulk to the most competitive bidders, although sometimes the local governments consider non-monetary factors when awarding bulk liens.

International
When purchasing receivables in the United Kingdom market, Cabot competes on the basis of the price paid for receivable portfolios, the ease of negotiating and closing the prospective portfolio purchases with Cabot, its ability to obtain funding, and its reputation with respect to the quality of services it provides. We believe that Cabot’s ability to compete effectively in this market is also dependent upon, among other things, Cabot’s relationships with credit originators and financial services companies, its ability to segment portfolios effectively, its high level of compliance governance controls, and its ability to provide quality collection strategies in compliance with applicable laws.

Similar to certain trends we are observing in the United States, we believe that smaller competitors in the United Kingdom are facing difficulties in the portfolio purchasing market because of the higher cost to operate due to the increased regulatory environment and scrutiny applied by regulators, and also because sellers of charged-off consumer receivables are being more selective with buyers in the marketplace, resulting in consolidation within the portfolio purchasing and recovery industry and the exit of portfolio purchasing and recovery companies from the marketplace.