Leadpile’s Blog

Credit cards are a way of life for most Americans. According to Time.com, in the last 10 years credit card balances have gone up 75%, yet consumer’s wages have gone up only 4%. Increased balances and the number of credit cards consumers have, has allowed credit card companies to reap the rewards for years.  These credit card companies have always survived in tough economic times because they were able to generate lots of revenue from things such as late fees, however more and more consumers are now facing charge off. The charge off rate for default consumers is expected to reach 10%, which is double what the rate has been for the past 10 years. If there are more charge offs, that means credit card companies will be in the RED, because defaults/charge offs will far surpass the revenue they are bringing in from things such as late fees. So, what does that mean will happen?
In the case of American Express, they just became a bank holding company in order to receive some low cost funds and a piece of the $700 billion bailout. In the case of Citigroup, they layed off 10,000 employees and will begin imposing higher interest rates on it’s 54 billion cardholders. With other credit card issuers, there is bound to be some increased interest rates passed down to the cardholders and increased fees. The only way to really avoid the effects of these credit card issuer’s hardships, is for consumers to manage their money better where they avoid any additional late fees and also look at not incorporating any new debt. The only option I can see is looking at debt consolidation or debt settlement to avoid getting in a deeper hole. Leadpile Lead Exchange generates a lot of debt leads where consumers need help and need help now. Hopefully, they can ride the wave before any sort of credit card “bubble” bursts and they are affected in an even worse way.

Citigroup announced it is going to be helping some of it’s mortgage customers from going into foreclosure.  According to NPR News, Citi will be lowering mortgage payments on more than 100,000 people who have not yet fallen behind. They said they are looking at getting some sort of similar assistance to those people whose loan they service, but do not own. Other major lenders are also rolling out assistance programs to it’s customers to help try and help control more foreclosures from happening.  Some mortgage customers who are paying their mortgage on time, say what can Citi do for them for being a “good” paying customer?  This is a legitimate question, however at this point if Citi lets more people go in foreclosure, then this will hurt our home values and economy EVEN MORE!  We don’t want that.

My question is why did it take this long to roll something out like this? Shouldn’t this have been something the major lenders offered before we got to this point?  Some are still asking who is to blame for all this hardship in our economy and mortgage industry, however at this point it might be best to just get the economy headed in the right direction first. Wasting time on trying to place blame is something that Americans need to avoid, and instead focus on how we can get the economy headed in the right direction. Citi and these other mortgage companies, I do commend for helping to start getting the ball rolling!

Leadpile Lead Exchange comes across all sorts of consumers is all sorts of financial situations every day.  However, the number of people submitting requests for foreclosure, loan modification, debt consolidation are increasing dramatically.  These consumers need help and we are going to help in any way we can, just like Citi and these other mortgage companies are trying to do.  Everyone contributing to this resolution, will help us ALL get headed in the right direction.

You are probably saying why is a lead generation company talking about how to save money. Well, just as most financial companies come across those that are financially strapped, so does Leadpile Lead Exchange. We see the consumers that are really needing that payday loan or who need debt assistance.
Therefore, I thought I would share this article I came across on MSN.com.

10 ways you can potentially save $500:

1. Drive less
*The cost of gas and maintaining a car can be very costly. Use carpooling or public transportation.
2. Buy your own coffee or energy drinks instead of stopping each day
*The cost of a Starbucks coffee is at least $3.00 and energy drinks at your local convenience store are about the same. Buy your own coffee and energy drinks in bulk from the grocery store.
3. Conserve energy at home
*Increase your temperature you keep your home at while not there and also while at home. Adjusting it just a degree or two saves a lot of money in your monthly electrical bill.
4. Do your own landscaping
* Pull your own weeds. It is a nice way to stay active and save a lot of money.
5. Think twice about getting that new pet
* Taking care of a pet requires a lot of time and also money to maintain. This is an added expense that should be done when discretionary income is higher.
6. Consider buying store brand products around the house
* All grocery stores have their own store brand products. Some are better than others. However, trying the different variations will save a whole lot of money.
7. Limit internet, cable, and other media costs you have in your home
* Do we all really need 100s of channels to watch. Most Americans watch the same channels on a regular basis. This can be very costly if you don’t keep it to a minimum.
8. Sign up for any reimbursement plans available at work
*Find out if your employer has any sort of carpool reimbursement, tuition reimbursement and other programs they offer for their employees. This could save a lot of money on things you already do.
9. Eat in
* This is one of the biggest expenses we all incur, and also a place where we can save a lot of money by limiting how much we are eating out.
10. Pay at least minimum payments on credit cards to avoid future credit card fees
*Not paying your minimum payment amount leads to added fees from the credit card company, but is also affects your credit which makes your credit score go down. When you credit score goes down, that causes you to either not be able to get a loan or have to pay more to get the loan.

It is easier said than done with these items, however making a good effort to save here and save there will allow consumers to cut back on their monthly costs.

Now might be the time to go out and get your new GM auto. According to MSNBC, the employee discount promotion will not be extended past the end of this month. If you are wanting any type of GM, now would be the time to go out and get it and save some money! The discount was saving some consumers anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars on that new car. This promotion has been going on since mid August, however sales are still down from the year before. Fortunately, it has allowed GM to have less of a “slump” compared to Ford and Chrysler.
If you are a consumer who is wanting to get that new auto NOW.. Let Leadpile connect you with dealerships in your area. Go to my loan and debt website to get matched up with an auto dealer.
If you are a publisher or advertiser, we would love to work with you here at Leadpile Auto Lead Exchange to connect consumers with dealership near them!

How many of you read the fine print at the bottom of your credit card or loan applications? I know I don’t always do that, and I am learning that maybe we ALL need to pay closer attention to the fine print of agreements we sign. The reason we want to make sure and do this is with a practice called “universal default”. According to Bankrate.com, if you are late to ANYONE (lenders) you have the potential of having your interest rate adjust really high, potentially affecting your payment amounts, and maybe even affect your credit. Bankrate states that the complaints about this happening is increasing because more and more customers are feeling the affects of it. In years past some credit card companies and lenders would not implement this practice. However, with tougher times affecting all businesses, they are resorting to “old” practices such as universal default.
An example of this would be if you had a debt owed to creditor A, and you fell 30 days late on it. Creditor A could call up creditor B to inform them that you fell behind on their debt. Because of what creditor A said, creditor B (who you are currently paying on time) could increase the interest rate you are being charged. This is legal because of the tiny print in your creditor agreement where it talks about universal default. Basically it gives the creditors a right to adjust the interest rate on any of your creditors if you are 30 days or more late on another one. In years past this provision was in loan agreements, but not always enforced.
Word to the wise….. read all the fine print and ask lots of questions before doing any new loans or debts.
Leadile Lead Exchange can help those customers that maybe get in the situation where they get behind on their accounts, because of situations like this.

Today I was not surprised to read that CNNMONEY.COM reported that due to the housing markdowns, and the effects of the mortgage industry, GMAC Financial will close 200 retail offices and lay off about 5,000 employees.  According to the article, they anticipate the lay off to be about 3,000 employees by the end of this month, and another 2,000 by the end of the year.
Layoffs like this one, is one of the reasons why the unemployment rate is at the highest peak ever. More and more Americans are loosing their jobs and finding themselves more in debt.  The mortgage industry is facing a downturn, however at the same time I know there are still many companies that are doing well. These companies are trying to take advantage of the new “creative” programs to close loans.  Mortgages will always exist, therefore certain companies will make it through this period with a bumpy road and then be around another 20 years!

What do you think in regards to the Market?  How long do you anticipate it being before it gets better?

Leadpile Lead Exchange needs Credit Card Processing leads. If you are generating credit card processing leads, bring them in our marketplace.  Honestly, everyday I’m having a new advertiser sign up DEMANDING this lead type. It’s the new lead type that will sell! Think about it for a quick sec…… Who in this time of age does not have a credit card? Some teens might not have one, but even they are getting them younger and younger.  It makes logical sense for every business out there to accept credit cards. What I can not believe is that many new businesses do not accept credit cards.  This could be affecting their revenue. Overall, when businesses accept credit cards, their sales should be higher.  Reality is most people would rather charge a purchase versus pay cash.
Credit Card Processing companies are really targeting these businesses that do not currently accept credit cards.  This makes perfect financial sense in the fact that the business gets the credit card machine, and the credit card processing company makes a sale!  Now evaluate all the new home based business seekers that are working from home. There are millions of them in the U.S. currently. Is it a good business decision for even these types of businesses to plan on accepting credit cards?  Possibly not, depending on the type of home based business they are doing.

Great lead type and I need leads!  We are currently generating Credit Card Processing in our lead exchange, but NOT ENOUGH to fill in our demand! If you have them………… bring them over! 

Need AUTO FINANCE leads?
How about PAYDAY LOAN leads?
DEBT leads by chance?
What about CREDIT REPAIR leads?
No wait, how about BUSINESS CASH ADVANCE leads?

No matter what type of lead you are looking for, Leadpile is probably generating it…or can potentially generate it for you. Leadpile Lead Exchange is made up of buyers and sellers of real time web based leads. We are always looking for new buyers of leads to join our marketplace. Where else can you:

1. Get various leads types in one place?
2. Set your pricing you are comfortable with?
3. Define exactly what filters you want?
4. Get top notch customer service to answer your questions and provide support?
5. Work with a company that “does the right thing”, and is always wanting to have our buyers and sellers that are “doing the right thing”.
6. Have the ability to have leads posted to your website, redirected to your site, delivered on email or able to downloaded reports at any time!

What are you waiting for? Try out the Leadpile experience!
For those of you that are already buying or selling leads.. THANK YOU!!

Curious, what’s the next category LeadPile is looking at generating?  Well, folks here you have it!  Tax Debt Leads.  Very popular, and the demand is off the charts.  

The definition of this lead type is clearly back taxes. Consumers that did not file or owe a lot of many preferably in Federal taxes.  Why, the sudden demand?  For years, we have encounter consumers finding themselves in financial trouble, but the economy now is focused on people not paying taxes.  Believe me thousands of consumers owe money to the Federal system.

The downfall for thousands of people is that when you owe money to the Feds, the Federal government has the ability to start garnishment from your revenue or put liens on your property.  Not an experience you would like to encouter.  You will also be penalized and depending on the time frame owed or amount owed it can become a serious headache to deal with them, as you will be fined and some people even experience time in jail. OUCH!

LeadPile Lead Exchange will be introducing Tax Debt Lead.  We will connect the consumer that are in serious tax debt and need assistance talking to a specialist that can assist them.  Stay tune for a more firm ETA!

In recent months the debt vertical has become a very popular, yet challenging vertical to work with. Understanding reasons consumers have gotten into debt and the specifics that the lead buyers are looking for, has been something we have worked on to fully understand.
According to Bankrate.com there are 10 main reasons why consumers get buried in debt. Understanding more about debt allows consumers to be more educated and ultimately try and avoid these types of situations.

1. Reduced income, but same monthly expenses
2. Divorce
3. Poor money management
4. Underemployment
5. Gambling
6. Medical expenses
7. Not saving money or not saving enough money
8. No money communication skills
9. Spending money you don’t have yet
10. No understanding of money

These are all scenarios any consumer can be faced with, including myself. With the economy being very tough right now, many lead generation companies are focusing on the debt vertical. Fortunately, there are various types of debt help that the consumers can get, but most consumers do not know the difference between one another.
The main details that debt consolidation and debt settlement companies are looking for is the amount of unsecured debt. What is unsecured debt?
Unsecured debt is debt that is not secured by any collateral. For instance, credit card debt, medical bills, cell phone bills and other collection accounts. Most debt companies do not work with secured debt such as mortgages, tax debt, student loans and auto loans.
Leadpile Lead Exchange generates a lot of debt leads. Lead types such as debt consolidation, debt settlement, and credit repair are all types of leads we are generating that are there to assist the consumers with the debt/credit. We are connecting the consumers that need help, with those companies that can help them get out of debt.

In recent years, more and more people are going to college and taking out student loans. These loans were once looked at as “good debt”, however there are students that are graduating with $100,000+ in debt. This is equating to $500-$1,000/month in payments for students. Good debt? ALOT of debt!
The excitement of graduating from college is overshadowed by the idea that within 6 months of graduating, you will begin paying back these debts. How can you really get excited about the fact that you have spent the last 4-6 years going to school, and to be finally done?
According to Yahoo, there are students graduating and becoming affected by the high level of stress, because they know that they are going to have to pay this money back. The first stress should be finding that job that they have been going to school for, however with the outstanding debt, it is hard to really focus on getting that “right” job.
This is a very common type of situation that is happening around the country. This makes me wonder if maybe student loan debt should be somehow waived by the government, or some other options being available? Taking on student loan debt is not the same as going out to the department store and charging up credit card debt. Something to think about… any other way to potentially handle student loan debt? We want young adults to WANT to go to college.
On a final note, student loans/student loan consolidation lead type is minimal in our Leadpile Lead exchange. However, I do know there are a lot of students that are out there wanting to consolidate their student loan debt, because of the exact reason of the payments being out of control.

You need god quality leads… Leadpile has them! I think most people do not realize the different types of leads that we do generate, and the benefits of a lead exchange.
We are currently generating more than 20 lead types.
Some lead types we are generating:
Payday loan
Auto finance
Debt settlement
Debt consolidation
Credit repair
Refinance
Home purchase
Foreclosure
Security Systems
Bankruptcy
Business Cash Advance
Equipment Leasing
Business Loan
Web Design
Credit Card Processing/merchant account
Health, auto, life and home insurance
Car warranty
Student loan loan/student loan consolidation
Credit Card
Home Based Business

If we don’t have the lead type you were looking for, we are always open to new ideas. JUST ASK!
I read a great statement on the Pontiflex blog, stating something about the fact that online advertising (also lead generation) is like drilling oil… either you hit the oil right away or you move on. The key is to diversify what lead types you are working with, and “hitting oil” is more likely to happen. Take risks as a company, get into new lead types, and create new ideas to change up how you work.
There are many lead companies out there that might just focus on a couple lead types, however Leadpile excels because we have so many lead types to meet so many different demands. One of the things we have learned is that making an effective lead exchange, you need to work with various lead types. Really there is just about any type of advertiser we can work with. We are also able to work with the various types of affiliates that are currently out there.
Think-outside-the-box if you are planning on working with us!
You won’t regret it.