From the debt collection company Justitias Upp­lys­nings­byrå AB, fonded in Jönköping in 1923, to today's Intrum, a European credit management company that helps companies develop by taking care of their customers, 100 years have passed. This history is told in a new anniversary magazine we made for Intrum.

There have been people in debt ever since mankind invented money. But the way to collect debts has developed, not least in the last century. It's now long since creditors put debtors in jail. Today's credit management companies work to help people clean up their finances and repay their debts -- to the benefit of everyone involved.

As an industry-leading player, the Swedish company Intrum shares this heritage in the anniversary magazine we helped the company produce on the occasion of its 100th anniversary this year.

The magazine is based on research in the company archive that Intrum has with us at the Center for Business History, on research in other financial and historical archives, and on in-depth interviews with today's Intrum employees.

The magazine, which was printed in a limited edition intended mainly for Intrum's employees, will soon be available to read directly on Intrum's website.

More research welcomed!

It seems as if this is the first time that the history of the debt collection and credit management industry has been described. The magazine is a popular history presentation -- but there is a lot of unplowed academic ground here, for an interested university researcher. Intrum and the Center for Business History are keeping their fingers crossed that this anniversary magazine can also arouse such interest.