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EFG Companies

Market Today for Payday Tomorrow

Eric Fifield Chief Sales Officer EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Eric Fifield
Chief Sales Officer
EFG Companies

Clearly, we are in the midst of challenging times. Due to shelter-in-place orders, many in the U.S. are working from home or furloughed, and millions have lost their jobs, with cars parked in the driveway. Others have picked up a delivery job and are putting many unexpected miles on their vehicles. And for those who perform essential functions that we rely on, it is business as usual with a whopping dose of added stress. Whatever the situation, everyone is burdened in some way.

In the retail automotive industry, we’ve been through hard times before. Most recently, the Great Recession taught the industry a lot about running a financially sound business through both economic ups and downs. Since then, the industry has drastically changed with the progression of online retailing. As dealers ramp up online retailing efforts to stay engaged with consumers stuck at home, EFG has once again brought to market its traffic-driving, market differentiator – WALKAWAY Vehicle Return Protection.

Provided complimentary on automotive financing, WALKAWAY allows consumers the option to return their vehicle in the event any of these unforeseen life events occur:

  • Involuntary unemployment
  • Physical disability
  • Loss of driver’s license due to medical impairment
  • Self-employment personal bankruptcy
  • Accidental death
  • International employment transfer
Categories
Compliance

DOD Reverses Course on MLA Interpretation

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

In February, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a statement regarding its interpretation of
the Military Lending Act (MLA). According to a filing in the Federal Register,

“The Department of Defense (Department) is amending its interpretive rule for the
Military Lending Act (the MLA). The MLA, as implemented by the Department, limits the military annual percentage rate (MAPR) that a creditor may charge to a maximum of 36 percent, requires certain disclosures, and provides other substantive consumer protections on “consumer credit” extended to Service members and their families. The Department is now withdrawing the amended question and answer number 2 (Q&A #2), published in the December 14, 2017 Interpretive Rule, which discussed when credit is extended for the purpose of purchasing a motor vehicle or personal property and the creditor simultaneously extends credit in an amount greater than the purchase price of the motor vehicle or personal property.” – federalregister.gov/d/2020-04041

This statement follows a joint petition, filed in January 2018 by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and the American Financial Services Association (AFSA), requesting the DOD to review the interpretation. When the DOD issued its 2017 interpretation, there was no public notice or opportunity for the NADA and other retail automotive trade associations to comment on the implications.

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Uncategorized

Data Lockdown

Contributing Author:
Maurice Hamilton
Vice President
EFG Companies

According to their the 2019 MidYear QuickView Data Breach Report published by Cyber Risk Analytics, 3,800 publicly disclosed data breaches occurred in the first six months of 2019, exposing up to 4.1 billion records. This represented a 50% increase over the last four years.

Last week, Experian issued their Data Breach Industry Forecast for 2020, reflecting on the state of cyber security. Their primary takeaway – while a data breach is probably inevitable, companies must prioritize prevention as well as response.

Regardless of the industry, as companies increase their reliance on technology to house personal, confidential information, data breach attempts are expected to increase as well.

For the last 10 to 15 years, dealers have steadily increased the role technology plays in the dealership. Now, they not only use technology to preserve digital records of every piece of paperwork generated in the dealership, but dealers also rely on sophisticated platforms to submit and receive loan applications, rate products, process claims, and more.