Merchant agencies, often called "commercial agencies", are most commonly used by businesses. Commercial agencies act similarly to credit rating agencies, however they only focus on the business side of assessing a business or individual's creditworthiness and do not maintain consumer credit files. Merchant agencies are commonly employed to act on behalf of businesses regarding outstanding debts, breaches of leases, recovery orders and many other tasks. Sometimes they may redeem the debt from those companies and then pursue the debtor for a lower amount than the original debt, in order to pay it off sooner. Mercantile agencies are also used by the general public to carry out menial tasks which they are not legally allowed to carry out themselves, e.g. Serving court documents. There are four main participants in the mercantile management industry. Collectors, Field Agents/Process Servers, Investigators, and Recovery Agents. To work as one of the above-mentioned individuals, you do not need a particular professional background that will guarantee you success in these chosen fields. The primary role of collectors is to submit requests for payment for overdue debts. This can be done in the form of a verbal or written communication and in some cases the debt collector will have to physically go to the debtor's address to discuss the debt. A debt collector will try to pay off the entire debt immediately, but in some cases where this is not possible, he or she may be given the power to enter into a payment agreement with the debtor. From time to time debt collectors may also be required to assist lawyers in court proceedings and will be required to present information they have acquired while attempting to settle a debt. A collector can use the... half of the card... in 1961, represents mercantile agents throughout Australia. The IMA has its own code of conduct, referenced in report.www.comlaw.gov.au – relevant information as follows: · Corporations Act 2001 – C2013C00605, refers strongly to conducting business in a lawful manner. Includes sections on ASIC filings/working papers. Volume 1, Part 1.2 Interpretation, Division 6A Security Interests. the debt owed to the creditor is secured by a security interest. · Corporations Regulators 2001 (made under the Corporations Act 2001) – F2014C00242 Trust companies authorized under Chapter 5D, 5D.1.01A Companies wishing to represent and enforce these regulations must prescribe to the relevant minister for their state or territory.