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                                                                    Exhibit 31.1
                                  CERTIFICATION

I, Michael J. Barrist, President and Chief Executive Officer of NCO Group, Inc.,
certify that:

         1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of NCO Group,
Inc.;

         2. Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
quarterly report;

         3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;

         4. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible
for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

                  a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities,
particularly during the period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

                  b) [Intentionally omitted]

                  c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
controls and procedures and presented in this quarterly report our conclusions
about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
of the period covered by this quarterly report based on such evaluation; and

                  d) Disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the
registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter
in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably
likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
reporting; and

         5. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):
                  a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,
process, summarize and report financial information; and

                  b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
internal control over financial reporting.

Date: August 14, 2003                 /s/ Michael J. Barrist
      ---------------                 -------------------------------------
                                      Michael J. Barrist
                                      President and Chief Executive Officer
                                      (Principal Executive Officer)