The lingering slowdown that is afflicting the U.S. economy is forcing credit unions to pay more attention to collections, a part of their business that is often forgotten or ignored, according to a new report prepared by the CUNA Lending Council.

"Collections has always been on the back burner," noted Jessica Anderson, collections manager at the $400 million 121 Financial Credit Union, Jacksonville, Fla. "We know they're making a difference, but we've never seen the true impact of collections' successes or losses until we've reached these economic times."

The continuing slow economy has meant that the profile of credit union members drawn into the collections process has changed as well, according to the paper. As the economy has continued to limp along, increasing numbers of members in collections have been coming from formerly affluent households and likely still have relatively high credit scores. These households have drawn on their assets to meet financial demands so far, but they have often remained unemployed or underemployed, and the households have entered the collections process, the paper explained.