Product Provider Compliance Checklist

Did you know that automotive dealerships must comply with roughly 60 retail automotive regulations in addition to the regulations for employers, small businesses, advertisers, general retailers, and finance organizations?

These rules touch a broad range of issues, including environmental, tax and finance rules, and a host of other consumer protections. It’s no wonder that compliance seems overwhelming.

The good news is that there are services available to help dealerships tackle compliance by taking a very methodical, common sense approach.

You’ve probably seen agents and product providers step-up their service model to include more services around compliance. This is actually an objective and cost-effective way in which to tackle improving compliance in your dealership.

Ask yourself:

• Beyond in-store engagement, what compliance services do they provide?
• Does my product provider see compliance as important enough to include a head of compliance on their corporate leadership team?
• What compliance certifications does my product provider have?

Holistic Compliance Management with Online Accessibility

While providing in-person compliance training, third-party audits, and one-on-one coaching can be invaluable to cultivating a compliant atmosphere within the dealership, your agent/product provider can’t be in your dealership all the time. So, what tools are they providing you to manage your dealership’s compliance initiatives? Do they provide you with an easily accessible compliance management system with video training, online modules, and quizzes to ensure comprehension? How about sample forms and templates to use in your business?

With the company’s foundation in compliance, EFG Companies provides an online compliance management system with tools to help prevent regulatory violations, address non-compliance before it becomes an issue, and align dealership compliance initiatives with profitability goals. Through this system, a broad spectrum of dealership employees will have access to video compliance training, online modules, and quizzes, in addition to:

• Health checks, risk assessments and analysis
• Process documentation for dealership departmental core processes
• Online compliance video training
• Ongoing reporting and scoring
• Compliance webinars

Compliance Leadership

You can tell a lot about a company based on their corporate leadership team. You typically see vice presidents leading the sales, technology, finance, and marketing/advertising arms of a company. It makes sense, right? You can’t make a profit without selling something. You can’t sell anything without making people aware of it. You can’t operate in today’s digital world without a sophisticated technology platform. You can’t ensure profitable operations without someone overseeing the books.

Companies that value ethical and compliant operations also see compliance as an essential function of a business. You can’t ensure you are following all the regulations within your industry without someone overseeing your procedures. And, you can’t effectively provide guidance and input to clients without a strong compliance platform.

Does your provider have a compliance executive on their leadership team?

Compliance Certifications

Certifications do a lot to demonstrate expertise and credibility. You wouldn’t work with an accountant that doesn’t have CPA on their business card, or a dentist without the D.D.S certification. With compliance it’s no different. In the auto finance industry, there are two certifications that speak volumes.

AFIP

Founded in 1989, the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals (AFIP) is the nonprofit, non-aligned sanctioning body for in-store sales and financial services personnel and select lender and aftermarket vendor personnel in the United States. AFIP certification curriculum focuses solely on the federal and state laws that govern in-dealership financial services.

Are your product provider’s account representatives AFIP certified?

NAF

The National Automotive Finance Association (NAF) specifically designed the Consumer Credit Compliance Certification Program to address the challenges faced by consumer finance companies in maintaining legal compliance in an environment characterized by ever-changing federal and state regulatory requirements. It provides compliance professionals with a deep working knowledge of the federal laws and regulations that govern consumer credit along with an overview and general examination of state consumer credit law. This is important for dealerships, because, as you well know, dealers are considered participatory creditors when they set up auto loan financing in the dealership. Therefore, all credit and lending regulations apply to dealerships as well as lenders.

Does your product provider hold NAF certification?

If you are not sure where to begin when it comes to getting ahead on compliance and feel like today’s complex regulatory environment is impacting your business, you are not alone. Contact us to learn more about EFG’s compliance services, including its digital compliance platform that helps clients maximize profitability while following simple steps to significantly increase compliance standards across the entire dealership.

In 2014, EFG became the first product provider of size to AFIP certify its entire services field team. EFG has also undergone the training required to receive the Consumer Credit Compliance Certification with the National Automotive Finance Association.  In addition, EFG has incorporated a Vice President of Compliance in the company’s leadership team to lead the company’s efforts in helping dealer, agent, and lender clients ensure compliant operations.

These certifications and leadership management make it possible for EFG to provide AFIP-certification compliance training, ongoing mentorship, one-on-one coaching, and dealer compliance audits.