MSB Fast Growth Continues

Municipal Services Bureau (MSB) increased the number of states it does business in to 28 as a result of its $890.6 million contract with Utah to collect delinquent debt accounts that was reported in Thursday’s edition of insideARM.com.

The Utah contract is one of the top 50 among more than 400 agreements with government sector clients, including states, colleges, school districts, counties and cities, according to Bruce Cummings, the company’s chief marketing officer. The Austin, Texas-based company’s portfolio includes more than 1 million accounts.

The state of Utah contract will also help to continue the company’s fast growth of more than 150 percent since the end of 2002, according to Cummings. “It’s a more favorable environment for outsourcing. When [government entities] outsource collections, they don’t have the expenditure of a collections staff. [Payouts] are all success-based contingency fees, so it’s less expensive to have a third party do it than trying to do it in house.”

Privately held MSB’s success in this market is also due to its focus on the government sector, Cummings said. “We only do government contracts; we don’t do credit cards, cell phones or anything else. We understand the market and the court system.”

In addition to collections, MSB handles payment processing and call center services for various government entities.