Tag: EFG Companies

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Business Growth Economy

Turning the Page: Key Points on a New Year

We have officially turned the page into a new year and a new administration. Lessons learned from 2020 are still fresh, and there appears to be plenty of momentum on various financial fronts that lend to a positive outlook. Here are some key points to consider.

Key Points

The Federal Reserve has indicated it plans to keep interest rates at near zero for the next two to three years. Pending a third stimulus package, improved employment numbers, heightened consumer confidence, and the pace of the recovery, it’s possible that we will see auto lending growth as early as Q2.

According to a recent TransUnion 2021 consumer credit forecast, the financial institution found that consumer access to credit cards and personal loans is expected to rebound through the first half of 2021 while new auto loans will shift toward lower risk consumers. Despite potential obstacles to the consumer credit market, TransUnion foresees positive trends buoyed by expected improvements in macroeconomic factors such as unemployment and GDP.

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Compliance

Recognizing Bad Actors

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) calls it the Fraud Triangle – pressure, opportunity and rationalization. But dealers and auto lenders call it, “Yet one more thing to deal with during the pandemic.” As economic stressors continue and employees are increasingly burdened with coronavirus countermeasures, the risk of auto lending fraud slipping through the cracks grows.  

How can you keep your credit union – and your dealer partners safe? Keep an eye out for the traditional bad actors as well as the new tricks these bad actors are deploying.

During the early days of the pandemic, dealership doors were shuttered and consumers remained sheltered-in-place. The trend toward digital sales accelerated, with dealerships forced to conduct business online and via phone. For Group 1, one of the largest auto retailers in the nation, online-generated sales tripled in May compared to pre-COVID-19 usage.

An online-only platform means verifying financial details and detecting fraud before the deal is passed to the lender has become more challenging. According to a recent report from Javelin Strategy & Research, total identity fraud losses reached $16.9 billion in 2019.  Account takeovers rose 72 percent in 2019, with the criminal taking over a full account in more than half of the instances. When taking over an account, criminals assume an identity with multiple account updates such as:

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Business Growth Economy

In A Position of Strength

Looking for a ray of sunshine these days? Consider this…credit unions are in a much stronger financial position to weather the COVID-19 pandemic and the looming economic fall-out versus the Great Recession of 2007-2009. According to the quarterly Trendwatch report from Callahan & Associates, as of March 31, assets held in the United States stood at $1,663.3 billion and capital registered at $193.4 billion – double those respective positions on Dec. 31, 2007. Member relationships were also stronger than those recorded in 2007, proving that at least some lessons were learned from that recession event.

There were also some bright spots in Q1 2020 metrics. Credit unions notched the largest ever quarterly net liquidity increase in Q1 2020 to $50 billion, providing lots of flexibility for strategic moves. This liquidity enabled credit unions to extend an additional $5 billion in credit card lines in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

Buoyed by consumer confidence early in the first quarter, first time mortgages accounted for over a third of the quarter’s originations. Fixed rate mortgages more than doubled from Q1 2019 to Q1 2020, reflecting historically low interest rates. But a cloud did darken overall loan growth by 1.2 percent for the 12 months ending March 31, 2020 compared to the 12 months ending March 31, 2019.

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