A tribute to Eric Milne

Eric joined the AICM in January 1981 at that time working for the Bank of NSW (now Westpac) in their Bankcard department, established in 1972 as Australia’s first universal credit card scheme.

He was recruited as one of several specialist consumer credit manager/controllers to set up and run this new department. He worked closely with long standing and very conservative senior bank managers to review and adjust conservative lending and collection policies to suit this new product. A key step to this was advocating for the bank to sign up with Credit Reference Australia (now Equifax), now fundamental to credit management but a significant step at the time.

Eric served 10 years on the NSW Divisional Council which he reflected on as a very rewarding experience where he witnessed the progression of the AICM from State/Divisional based organisation to a more unified and truly national body.

In 1998 Eric sat and passed the inaugural Certified Credit Executive exam in Hobart in 1998 maintained this certification ever since, including in recent years volunteering to review and update the classroom exam.

Eric is remembered by members from around Australia for his friendship and willingness to share and debate all aspects of credit management. He shared his knowledge generously through numerous forums including as a lecturer in Advanced Credit Theory and Practice at the NSW TAFE course, AICM conferences, authoring numerous articles and was invited to chair and present at several international credit management conferences including Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Hong Kong.

His experience spanned a number of industries, and he found a niche in the consumer electronic industry having worked for over 20 years for such global companies as Casio, Aiwa, Toshiba, Panasonic and Fujitsu General. At the 2022 National Conference Eric was sharing his most recent experiences and contributions in his role with Master Builders (NSW) where he had significantly increased cash collections and maintained member engagement.

In 2009 Erics contributions to the AICM and credit profession were recognised with Life Membership but this didn’t signal the culmination of his contributions as he continued to contribute to the AICM and his vast network of peers and close friends in all aspects of the credit industry.

Eric is missed by many but his experiences, knowledge, passion for credit management and zest for life lives on in all that had the pleasure of spending time with him as is seen from the testimony of his peers that follow.

We invite members to contribute their tributes and view other on the AICM Credit Network here

From David Hunt MICM CCE President – Australian Credit Forum and National Credit Manager FUJIFILM Australia

Eric was a great man and a huge contributor to the credit industry.

In addition to his extensive contributions to the AICM, Eric was a very long-standing Member of the Australian Credit Forum (ACF) a closed group of senior credit professionals who meet regularly to exchange experiences and strengthen their own credit standards and knowledge.

Eric served on the ACF Executive Committee for many years President before handing over the reigns to me in 2017 It always amazed me the time and energy he put to the ACF knowing he put equal passion into his professional career, credit bureaus the AICM and of course his personal life. But that is what made Eric such a great credit professional and person to know, he understood that leveraging a strong network of peers professionally and personally is what empowers a credit professional to achieve outstanding results.

On a personal note, after moving to Sydney 15 years ago he was the first person to take me under their wing when I first started attending credit industry events. Singling me out wanting to get to know me and introducing me to others.

We went on to have many adventures, one that stands out is after I acquired another Harley, the two of us set off from Sydney to the Gold Coast for the 2014 AICM National Conference. It’s a long ride so he had booked a night’s accommodation at a resort in his beloved Port Macquarie. Our stay included ample time at the bar, enjoying steak and a bottle of red and watching the All Blacks beat the Wallabies yet again in a Bledisloe Cup match, complete with Eric’s version of the Haka!

My mentor, my friend will be greatly missed by me and many others in particular his wife Sharon.