Business

Neon Funding Review: Bad Idea For Credit Card Debt Consolidation?

Published

6 years ago

June 6, 2020

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Neon Funding debt has joined Cobalt Advisors and Saxton Associates in flooding the market with debt consolidation and personal loan offers in the mail. The problem is that the terms and conditions are at the very least confusing, and possibly even suspect. The interest rates are so low that you would have to have near-perfect credit to be approved for one of their offers. Best 2019 Reviews, the personal finance review site, has been following Neon Funding, Cobalt Advisors, Saxton Associates, Hornet Partners, Piper Funding, Carina Advisors, Corey Advisors, Pennon Partners, Jayhawk Advisors, Clay Advisors, Colony Associates, and Pine Advisors, etc.).

If you have debt on several credit cards, it can be quite a hassle to pay off your credit card balances. Apart from the stress regarding making the debt payments on time, you also have to worry about earning enough money to make your monthly payments.

Here’s an option that can eliminate your credit card debt.

What Is Credit Card Debt Consolidation?

Credit card debt consolidation combines multiple bills from different credit card companies, having separate balances and payment dates. These balances are simplified and merged into a single payment.

Such an approach is an effective way to get out of credit card debt. Hence, a credit card debt consolidation allows you to put your money in reducing the principal amount, rather than wasting your money on high-interest rates.

What Options Do You Have for Credit Card Debt Consolidation?

You can consolidate your credit card debt by adopting three strategies. You can adapt to two of them by refinancing to pay your previous credit card balances. The third method is to get assistance from a professional credit card counselor. Here’s how they work:

1. Credit Card Balance Transfer

If you have the resources to pay off your debt in a short period, opt for a credit card balance transfer. This strategy is ideal if you have a limited amount of debt and an impressive credit score.

This form of credit card debt consolidation moves your current balances to a new balance transfer credit card. In this way, you get 0% APR for an introductory period. This allows you to reduce your debt without paying any interest charges for a certain period.

However, if the introductory period ends and you have not paid your debt yet, then you can expect an unusually higher interest rate from this point. Some people get a more extended introductory period due to their higher score.

2. Debt Consolidation Loan

Secured loans are often sought-after to pay a low-interest rate. If you don’t want to put anything as collateral, then you can apply for an unsecured personal loan. If you have a high credit score, then this type of credit card debt consolidation offers a low-interest rate. You can use a personal loan to pay for your credit card balances.

3. Debt Management Program

Through this strategy, you meet with a certified credit counselor. They review your financial outlook, such as debt-to-interest ratio or credit rating. Next, they design a tailored repayment plan—one that you can easily afford. They will also negotiate with your creditors on your behalf. Their experience is key to reducing your interest charges to a manageable extent.

Do keep in mind that even though your counselor deals with your creditors, you still owe money to the original creditors, not the counselor.

What Are the Common Mistakes of Credit Card Debt Consolidation?

Mostly, people fall into certain traps while consolidating their credit card loan. Here’s how you can avoid them.

1. Assess the Risk That Comes in Converting an Unsecured Debt to a Secured One

Usually, credit cards are unsecured debt .i.e. if you default, there is no collateral as a protective measure for the creditor. With a secured debt, you can use an asset, such as a home as collateral. In this scenario, if you can’t pay your loan, your home’s ownership is transferred to your lender.

There is a lot of support for home equity loans when it comes to consolidating debt. By taking this loan, you convert your unsecured debt into a secured one. Unlike before, if you default again, the foreclosure risk looms over your head.

Solution: Leave unsecured debt as it is. There’s no need to convert it into a secured one. There are several other ways to consolidate your debt and gain favorable interest rates.

2. Be Wary Of the Costs

Often, consolidating your credit card debt has certain costs linked to it. Some charges are the standard part of the procedure.

On the other hand, high costs are also possible to emerge from these loans. All the money that you were saving with a reduced interest rate is now going into the payment of these exorbitant expenses.

Solution: Other than some normal fees, try your best to avoid paying too much for the fees of your credit card consolidation loan.

3. Don’t Mix Up Debt Consolidation with Debt Settlement

This is one of the biggest misconceptions related to credit card debt consolidation. Keep this in mind to differentiate them:

Credit card consolidation is used to wipe out all your borrowed amounts to minimize damage to your credit rating.
Debt settlement allows you to pay a lump sum, less than what you owe. Thus, the debt is ‘settled’. But it adds a negative remark to your credit history, which can remain there for seven years. It does not help you erase your debt entirely.

Solution: Choose debt settlement to pay off your debt only when other options like debt consolidation have failed. Also, avoid the debt settlement route if you want to keep a good credit profile.

4. Go Through Your Credit Report

Work on a plan that describes your debt repayment strategy. When it is completed, review your credit report closely. As a rule of thumb, a creditor should get in touch with the credit bureaus and communicate to them that your account is current or paid. However, mistakes occur frequently, especially when you have just seen the back of financial hardship. It is now your responsibility to read your credit report and evaluate if it is up to date, identifying and correcting the old errors.

Solution: Download your credit reports from the Internet for free. Have a lookout for the following:

Check that your account details are updated and show zero balances.
Those who are using a debt management program should maintain their credit history for all accounts and prove that you made timely payments.
Your account statuses should be set to current.

Business

Ipsos Helps Brands Understand How They Get Customer Experience Wrong & Why It’s Costing Them Millions

Published

4 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Matthew Wiles

For brands looking to succeed in the modern business ecosystem, the customer experience (CX) is not something companies can afford to ignore. CX is a direct driver of revenue, loyalty, and growth for organizations.

Ipsos, one of the world’s leading market research firms, helps brands understand that failing to focus on the customer experience can lead to lost sales, which in turn can translate to not only millions in lost revenue but also lost trust and credibility in the market.

How brands still get CX wrong

“The customer decision and desire to do business with brands directly affect the bottom line,” says Brad Christian, Chief Commercial Officer at Ipsos – Experience Practice.

Customer experience may sound like a simple concept, but many brands still get it wrong. CX goes beyond surveys and feedback. Leaders who fail to connect feedback in a meaningful way to goals such as retention, repeat visits or purchases, advocacy, and operational performance fail to deliver on their service promises. The emotional and functional disconnect can spell trouble for brands. The most polished advertising campaigns cannot make up for a frustrating customer interaction or a promise that a business cannot fulfill.

According to Ipsos’s internal research, many customers today see service as too automated and impersonal. More than half report that their experience is worse than promised.

These findings don’t just result in disappointed buyers. They result in lost customers, negative feedback, and a long-term impact on the business as a whole.

“Brands have to manage the entire customer experience across each and every touchpoint,” explains Christian.

Poor CX can be expensive

Executives can often underestimate how expensive a history of poor CX can be. Global losses can reach into the billions while leaders wonder what went wrong. In an age of rapid social media communication, a single negative interaction can spell disaster for a company, leading to reduced customer spending or the entire loss of its most loyal customers.

Those losses are not just reflected in lost revenue, however. Customer acquisition and marketing dollars can also be lost as companies continue to spend money trying to retain their customer base, often skipping right over the experience part of retention.

Poor customer experience can be a deep operating problem that creates a domino effect, decimating businesses from the inside out. These poor experiences can impact not only present and future customer acquisition but also business leaders and employees.

CX matters more in today’s business landscape

The customer experience has always mattered, but it may matter more to brands trying to make it in a modern, ultra-competitive, digitally-driven business landscape. Good experiences encourage repeat purchases, boost loyalty, and increase the likelihood that customers will go online and recommend a brand to others.

“Customer experience isn’t an isolated function,” says Christian. “It’s ‌part of a larger system that ensures that brands measure and manage customer experience data and then act on that data to drive action where customer experience gaps exist.”

Brands also have to seek to understand today’s customers, who expect experiences that are seamless, authentic, and relevant. As more and more companies hop on the automation train, they will want to reassure their customers that the human element that many people consider important still exists.

At Ipsos, six drivers of strong customer relationships form the bedrock of the company’s CX platform, something that they refer to as the “Forces of CX”: certainty, fair treatment, control, status, belonging, and enjoyment.

Customers want to feel that if they have an issue with a brand, it will be handled and that their concerns will be understood. They don’t want the customer experience to feel like a battleground; they want it to feel fair and human.

“Customer experience isn’t just a nicer experience,” says Christian. “It ties directly to specific financial outcomes, whether that be increased sales, greater market share, or stronger brand loyalty.”

How Ipsos helps businesses deliver customer experiences that matter

Ipsos turns customer feedback into reliable, actionable, decision-ready information. The company goes beyond simple satisfaction metrics and implements voice-of-the-customer programs, journey analytics, relationship feedback, and quality research.

“Brands don’t just need data,” Christian says. “They need measurements as to how they are delivering on their brand promise and predictive modeling to tie financial performance measures to those measures to help them determine where to invest to maximize the customer experience and understand what financial impact those investments might deliver for the business.”

Ipsos measures the interactions that matter ‌most and shows brands how each interaction can affect retention, share of spend, and efficiency. For brands that are trying to reduce the guesswork behind CX, Ipsos helps them move beyond cosmetic fixes to achieve real, meaningful change.

Customer expectations can shift on a dime, influenced by society, social media, and even changing trends. Ipsos helps brands meet those rapidly changing customer expectations with hard evidence and comprehensive metrics.

Today’s brands need to understand how to get the customer experience right. Ipsos has the insights needed to drive home the deep importance of CX in today’s marketplace.