A panel discussion on dynamics in the consumer credit counseling service industry

On July 20, 2001 the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia sponsored a workshop on the consumer credit counseling service industry. Leading the moderated discussion were four senior executives from regional credit counseling firms associated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). Jerome Johnson, president and CEO and Ghyll Theurer, program manager represented the Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of South Jersey, a program of Family Service Association. James Godfrey, executive vice president, Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Maryland and Delaware, Inc. and Patricia Hasson, president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Delaware Valley, Inc. rounded out the panel. The discussions were enriched by the breadth of experiences represented by the panelists who come from a variety of industry and nonprofit backgrounds. The panel discussed the role of credit counseling firms mediating between financially troubled consumers and their unsecured credit card lenders. This paper is a summary of those discussions.