Category: Business Growth

Don’t Let Interest Rates Dictate Your Loan Volume

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date January 6, 2016

Brien Joyce
Vice President
EFG Companies

In a widely anticipated decision, the Federal Reserve voted to raise interest rates this past December by 25 basis points.

And, of course, one of the first industries that will be affected by this rate hike is auto finance. As you re-assess your lending portfolio to take into account the new rates, it’s also the perfect time to evaluate how to differentiate your institution beyond rate alone.

With the interest rate hike, we can expect retail auto sales to begin to plateau in 2016. It wouldn’t be surprising to see little to no growth in overall unit sales next year. This trend will shape dealer business, as they will begin focusing more on customer retention and brand enhancement. This refocusing offers lenders the chance to differentiate their institution and grow loan volume through their engagement with dealers. The more business a given dealer has, the more opportunity you have to increase loan volume. Therefore, every lender should ask themselves, “How am I helping my dealer partners achieve their business goals?”

Tags EFG Companies, Federal Reserve, Interest Rates, Rate Hike, Steve Klees, vehicle return, vehicle service contract, vsc

Business Growth

Consumer Communication

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date July 9, 2015

Contributing Author: Brien Joyce, Vice President, Specialty Channels, EFG Companies

Ask yourself the following questions:

How often are your indirect auto loans refinanced within the first 30/60/90 days?
Do you consider your offering equal to, or more competitive than, the competition?
What differentiation does your offering provide to cut through the clutter and drive auto loan growth and retention?

With a dense auto lending environment from captives to credit unions, dealerships have had their pick when it comes to choosing which loans to push. In fact, dealerships have reduced the number of lenders they work with. According to a recent study from Dealertrack Technologies, the average number of lender relationships has dropped to between 6.9 and 10 lenders. With that in mind, lenders have vied to provide consumers with low rates and dealers with high margins.

Tags Brien Joyce, consumer protection products, Dealertrack Technologies, EFG, EFG Companies, vehicle return protection, vehicle service contract

Business Growth

How are You Profiting from Addressing Subprime Consumer Needs?

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date May 19, 2015

Contributing Author: Steve Klees, Senior Vice President, Specialty Channels, EFG Companies

As the nation continues to recover economically, we’ve seen the subprime market steadily expand. The debate rages on whether to slow or halt this expansion before a subprime bubble forms. Be that as it may, more people who experienced hardship over the last few years are returning to dealerships looking to replace their vehicle, or get into a vehicle for the first time.

As you evaluate your institutions’ future, it’s time to step back and take a deeper look at what consumers are dealing with. Yes, the unemployment rate has dropped, but that does not mean everyone who lost their job in the recession has returned to a comparable position. The most recent report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics states that 6.6 million Americans are classified as “involuntary part-time workers” – those working part-time jobs due to economic reasons.

Now, many Americans who once had, or believed in the future of stable, full-time positions can now only find part-time work, or work for much less pay than they previously received or expected. College graduates are still the most underemployed of all age groups.

Tags EFG, EFG Companies, Hyundai Assurance, Steve Klees, subprime, subprime auto finance, subprime lending