At some point in your life, you will probably apply for credit to buy a home, furniture or appliances, an automobile, or to get a credit card. A credit clerk or authorizer will review your credit history and obtain the information needed to determine your creditworthiness. Credit clerks contact applicants, credit bureaus, and other sources for information, and verify loan documents to ensure completeness. Credit authorizers refer to credit records and reports to decide whether to approve a customer's credit card purchase.
Clerks in credit bureaus secure, update, and verify information for credit reports. These workers are often called credit investigators or reporters. Clerks in banks and other financial institutions process loan and credit applications. Some clerks verify employment and financial information of credit card applicants. Loan processing clerks prepare loan applications for underwriters. They review loan applications, write credit bureaus and reporting agencies for applicant records, and contact employers, banks, and references to verify personal and financial information. Clerks order appraisals from appraisal companies and secure tax forms, bank statements, and any required government forms from applicants. They calculate debt-to-income ratios to see that applicants meet the minimum guidelines for a loan. If any information in the loan package is inaccurate or incomplete, clerks contact the proper source for further information. Closing clerks obtain and prepare documents needed for real estate settlements. The closing clerks check to see that documents are complete, that all legal documents, such as deeds of trust, hazard insurance papers, and title commitments, are accurate and correctly signed, and that all loan conditions required for settlement have been met.
Credit authorizers approve charges against customers' existing accounts. Most charges are approved automatically by computer. However, when accounts are past due, overextended, invalid, or show a change of address, sales persons refer transactions to credit authorizers located in a central office. Authorizers evaluate the customers' computerized credit records and payment histories and quickly decide whether or not to approve new charges. Authorizers may enter address changes and credit extensions into computer credit files.
A credit authorizer reviews a customer's credit records before approving a new car loan.
Credit clerks and authorizers usually work a 35- to 40-hour week. However, during particularly busy periods, they may work overtime. For credit clerks handling residential real estate, the busy periods are spring and summer and at the end of the month. For credit authorizers, busy periods are during the Christmas shopping season and on store sale days. In fact, temporary workers are often hired as credit authorizers during peak workloads. In retail establishments, authorizers may work nights and weekends during store hours.
Credit authorizers and some credit clerks sit for long periods in front of video display terminals, which may cause eyestrain and headaches.
Credit clerks and authorizers held about 218,000 jobs in 1992. About 8 in 10 were in banks and other financial institutions, and about 1 in 10 was in wholesale and retail trade. The rest were distributed among business services, such as credit reporting and collection agencies and computer and data processing services.
No specific training is needed for entry level positions in credit clerking and authorizing, with the exception of loan closing and loan interviewing. Closers and interviewers are often required to have previous work experience, preferably in financial institutions, and some knowledge of underwriting.
New employees are generally trained on the job working under the close supervision of more experienced workers although some firms offer formal training. Some credit workers also take courses in credit offered by banking and credit associations, public and private vocational schools, and colleges and universities. As workers demonstrate competence, they can advance to team leader of a small group of clerks, loan or credit department supervisor, underwriter, loan officer, or management. For management positions, employers prefer applicants with a bachelor's degree in business or a related field, or at least some college-level business or management courses.
Because positions in these fields involve much telephone contact, good communication skills are a necessity. Good organizational skills and the ability to pay attention to detail are also important. Many credit checkers use computers to enter and retrieve data, so some computer skills and good typing speed are required.
Employment of credit clerks and authorizers is expected to increase as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2005 as the volume of credit in the economy continues to grow. Growth will occur as the number of real estate, retail sales, and other transactions requiring credit increases. The interpersonal nature of loan clerking and the judgment required of authorizers ensure that computers will not significantly affect employment. In addition to jobs created by growth, many jobs will become available as workers retire or leave the labor force for other reasons.
According to a survey of mortgage banking companies conducted by Carl D. Jacobs & Associates, the average entry level salary for loan processors was about $18,000 in branch offices and $19,000 in central offices in 1992.
According to a 1993 salary survey by the A.M.S. Foundation (Administrative Management Society), the average salary for credit and collection clerks was about $20,800.
Full-time workers generally receive health insurance, vacation and sick leave, and other standard benefits; part-timers may not. In addition, workers in retail establishments usually receive a discount on store purchases.
Occupations with duties similar to those of credit clerks and authorizers include claim examiners and adjusters, customer-complaint clerks, procurement clerks, probate clerks, and collection clerks.
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Reprinted with Permission of U. S. Department of Labor