Categories
Business Growth

What’s Your Value Proposition for 2018?

Brien Joyce Vice President EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Brien Joyce
Vice President
EFG Companies

When you walk into a dealership, what value do you bring to the F&I office besides another loan for which their customers may qualify? In 2018, F&I managers across the country are concerned with three hot buttons:

  • Maintaining compliance
  • Maximizing profitability
  • Shortening transaction time

With a myriad of compliance procedures and paperwork on hand, F&I managers have a difficult job when it comes to balancing compliance, profitability and time management. The best way to separate your loan from the competition is to help them with this balance. How do you do this?

Provide clear standards for loan approvals. This not only helps with compliance, but helps F&I managers ensure that they submit well-qualified customers for your loans. You know your qualifications, but how well do F&I managers know them? Look at how often you deny auto loans. If that number is high, it could be because your standards are unclear to the F&I officer.

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Categories
Compliance

CFPB in 2017

Steve Roennau Vice President Compliance EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Steve Roennau
Vice President
Compliance
EFG Companies

In January of this year, President Trump issued an Executive Order which required agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to re-address how they issue new regulations. The order required agencies to eliminate two regulations each time they issue a new one. Because of this, we saw very little activity coming out of the bureau on issuing new regulations.

In addition, criticism of the CFPB reached a tipping point, forcing politicians to take a hard look at the powers granted the bureau. A good example of this is the Arbitration Rule that the CFPB tried to force through Congress in the third quarter. While the rule initially passed Congress, it was nullified by President Trump in November.

The latest news surrounding the bureau focuses on the change of leadership, as Richard Cordray stepped down from the position of Director. With the CFPB embroiled in internal politics, we can expect another year of limited activity. However, it is no longer a fiscally sound or viable idea to return to the auto lending practices of yesterday.

Regardless of any legislative changes, compliance will continue to be in the spotlight in the coming years. Whether or not the CFPB functions under more strict parameters, we can expect a heightened level of oversight from the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and consumer advocacy groups.

For this reason, it’s important that you foster a collaborative compliance platform for your dealer partners. Ask yourself:

When discussing compliance with a dealer, do I ask about their compliance goals and best practices? Or, is the discussion more of a lecture on how I expect dealers to comply with my compliance goals?

The path forward in compliance is by cultivating a dialogue with dealers on how to work together towards shared compliance goals.

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Categories
Economy

Protecting Your Loan Portfolio from Auto Defaults

Mark Rappaport President Simplicity Division EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Mark Rappaport
President
Simplicity Division
EFG Companies

According to recent data from the S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian, auto defaults rose by 9 basis points in August, and by 10 basis points in September, 2017. These represent the largest month-over-month increases since December 2011. In addition, September’s auto defaults represent the highest level analysts have seen since February 2015.

With these numbers in hand, it’s no surprise that more banks are pulling out of the subprime auto finance space to retool their credit algorithms. As credit unions and captives scramble to capture that market share, lenders everywhere are evaluating how to securely expand their auto loan portfolios without significantly increasing risk.

We’re seeing more lenders looking into alternative data to expand their algorithms and better qualify consumers. Among other criteria, lenders are increasing the importance of income verification, employment tenure, pay frequency and the possibility of employment disruption in their qualification process.

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