CBE Group is a debt-collection and call-center company that has been in business since 1933, collecting unpaid accounts and handling customer-service work for other organizations.
Why this company appears here
With a long history and a national footprint, CBE turns up on a wide mix of accounts, including government programs and major creditors' debts.
Common account types
- Government receivables
- Financial-services accounts
- Healthcare accounts
- General consumer receivables
Check the company before you click or pay.
Match these details to the validation notice, credit report entry, and payment page before sharing account or bank information.
- Legal name
- The CBE Group, Inc.
- Parent company
- CBE Companies
- Known aliases
- The CBE Group, Inc. / CBE Companies / The CBE Group Inc - Formerly VAC / VAC
- Official website
- https://cbegroup.com/
- Consumer portal
- https://cbegroup.com/make-a-payment/
- Phone - Account type help
- 800-925-6686
- Phone - Federal student loans
- 866-912-1312
- Phone - Government taxes
- 1-800-910-5837
- Phone - Government non-education or tax
- 1-866-985-4766
- Mailing address
- The CBE Group, Inc., Attn: Compliance, 1309 Technology Parkway, Cedar Falls, IA 50613
- Last reviewed
- June 11, 2026
A matching caller ID does not authenticate a caller: numbers can be spoofed. Find contact details independently through the official company website or your original creditor before responding. Separately verify the debt and any payment instructions in writing.
- CBE Group privacy policy — CBE Group
- CBE Group make a payment — CBE Group
- CBE payment portal about — CBE Group
Find out who actually owns the account.
A collector, servicer, and debt owner are not always the same company. That affects what proof you should ask for.
Possible role: Third-party and first-party ARM servicer, outsourced contact-center vendor, and IRS private collection agency
CBE collects unpaid accounts — both under its clients' names and its own — across utilities, healthcare, banking, government, and tax. The IRS also lists CBE Group as one of the private agencies it uses to contact taxpayers about certain inactive tax debts on the government's behalf.
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Do not assume CBE owns the debt; ask for validation identifying the current creditor, original creditor if different, itemization, and current amount.
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For IRS-related debts, verify the IRS assignment notice and taxpayer authentication number through IRS channels before paying.
- CBE Group services — CBE Group
- CBE Group government services — CBE Group
- IRS private debt collection — Internal Revenue Service
- CFPB validation notice rules — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
What official records say.
Each note below comes from a dated government, regulator, court, or SEC record. Use it as background, not as proof about your specific account.
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As of May 21, 2026, the IRS lists CBE as a private collection agency that may contact taxpayers for assigned overdue tax accounts; the IRS says private collection agencies must send an initial letter, may not request payment directly to the agency, and may not take enforcement actions such as levies or federal tax liens.
Source- IRS private debt collection FAQs — Internal Revenue Service
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Treasury Fiscal Service lists The CBE Group as a Cross-Servicing private collection agency for delinquent nontax federal debts and says those contractors must follow federal debt-collection, privacy, and claims-collection rules.
Source- Fiscal Service private collection agencies — U.S. Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service
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A Northern District of Ohio order dismissed a debt collection law case against CBE involving an IRS income-tax collection notice, holding that the alleged income-tax liability was not consumer debt under that law.
Source- El v. The CBE Group — U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio via GovInfo
Start with the facts you can check.
- Depending on the program, CBE might be the collection agency or just handling customer service for a client, so confirm which role it's playing on your account.
- Government placements can have different appeal, offset, or administrative-review procedures from private consumer debt.
Confirm the account first.
Even a real collector can have the wrong person, wrong amount, old debt, duplicate placement, or incomplete records.
- The collector name, mailing address, phone number, and website on the letter you received.
- Who the original creditor was, who owns or placed the account now, the account number, balance, and date of last payment.
- Whether the debt may be too old for a lawsuit in your state before you pay or promise to pay.
- Whether the account appears on your official credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com.
- Whether this looks like the kind of account CBE Group commonly handles: Government receivables, Financial-services accounts, Healthcare accounts, General consumer receivables.
- CBE Companies about — CBE Companies
- CFPB validation notice rules — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- FTC debt collection FAQs — Federal Trade Commission
Questions people ask about CBE Group.
Use these answers to sort out roles, names, portals, and account details before responding.
Is CBE Group the same as CBE Companies?
CBE Group is the debt collection and accounts-receivable arm associated with CBE Companies. CBE's payment-site materials describe CBE Group as a CBE Companies subsidiary that provides debt collection services for clients in multiple industries.
- CBE payment portal about — CBE Group
- CBE Companies about — CBE Companies
Is CBE Group really an IRS private collection agency?
Yes. The IRS lists CBE Group Inc. as one of the private collection agencies that may contact taxpayers on the government's behalf for certain inactive tax debts. IRS materials say taxpayers should first receive IRS Notice CP40 and then a letter from the assigned agency, with a taxpayer authentication number on both letters.
- IRS private debt collection — Internal Revenue Service
- CBE IRS information — CBE Group
What kinds of accounts does CBE Group collect?
CBE describes collections and accounts-receivable services across healthcare, telecommunications, utilities, financial services, retail, tax, government, and related accounts. Its payment materials mention account types such as medical, cable, phone service, utilities, credit card, student loans, government, and tax accounts.
- CBE Group FAQ — CBE Group
- CBE Group make a payment — CBE Group
Does CBE Group own my debt?
Do not assume CBE owns the debt just because it contacted you. CBE describes providing debt collection services to clients, and for IRS accounts CBE says payments are made directly to the IRS rather than to CBE. Your notice or validation information should identify the creditor or current owner.
- CBE payment portal about — CBE Group
- CFPB validation notice rules — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
How can I verify CBE's contact or payment instructions?
For IRS accounts, verify the assignment through IRS private debt collection materials and remember that IRS tax payments go directly to the IRS or U.S. Treasury, not to CBE. For non-IRS accounts, use CBE's official payment page or the contact information in your written notice.
- IRS private debt collection — Internal Revenue Service
- CBE Group make a payment — CBE Group
Can I ask CBE Group to validate or explain the debt?
Yes. Debt collectors generally must provide validation information that helps you recognize the debt, including the creditor name, amount owed, and how to dispute it. Send or otherwise submit a written dispute on or before the validation-period end date printed on the notice. When it receives that timely dispute, the collector generally must cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion of the debt, until it sends verification or a copy of a judgment. If it reasonably determines that a repeat dispute is duplicative—substantially the same as one it already answered, with no new and material information—it may instead send a notice explaining why and referring to its response to the earlier dispute.
- CFPB validation notice rules — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- CFPB debt dispute rights — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- CBE payment portal about — CBE Group
- Regulation F § 1006.38 dispute and original-creditor request rules — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Regulation F Small Entity Compliance Guide § 12.3 (submission and receipt timing) — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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