Asta Funding, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASFI), a leading consumer receivables asset management company, generates revenues primarily through the purchase and collection of performing and non-performing consumer receivables that have typically been either charged-off by the credit grantors or not considered to be prime receivables, such as MasterCard, Visa, other credit card accounts and consumer loans issued by credit grantors.

Based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Asta Funding specializes in the purchase, management and liquidation of consumer receivables, an industry that is growing rapidly as consumer debt continues to rise. Despite relatively stable economic conditions during the mid to late 1990s, credit card and other consumer receivable charge-offs have skyrocketed as overall consumer debt has increased. As of July 2006, the United States Federal Reserve reported that the revolving credit market in the United States was in excess of $841 billion, up from $700 billion in December 2001.

In order to maintain a low fixed-cost structure, Asta Funding utilizes a disciplined approach to portfolio acquisitions, deploying a combination of proprietary quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Asta Funding actively manages the liquidation of these portfolios by outsourcing collection activities to its large, national network of collection agencies and law firms, which enables additional cost flexibility depending on the liquidation strategy and maximizes portfolio collections.

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