The Auto Finance Roadmap

This week, the Auto Finance News team took a hard look at what the car buying and financing experience was like for consumers and dealers at the height of the pandemic, explored recovering used-vehicle values, and as well as the rise of fraud amid a decline in loan applications.

his week, all eyes were on first-quarter delinquency rates, incentives, and Vroom's IPO.

This week, OEMs’ monthly sales figured pointed toward promising signs of recovery in the new-vehicle market, with American Honda, Mazda and Hyundai all reporting improvements on a month-over-month basis, although sales are still tracking well behind 2019’s count.

This week, the potential bankruptcy news of rental car conglomerate Hertz shook the industry as the liquidation of its fleet, combined with an influx of off-lease vehicles, could flood the used-vehicle market.

This week, news of a 4.8% contraction in the nation’s gross domestic product in the first quarter signaled a recession brought on by the economic fallout of COVID-19, and auto lenders are stocking up on cash. In this editors’ roundtable, Nicole Casperson, Joey Pizzolato and JJ Hornblass discuss news developments during the week ending May 1.

In the second week of first-quarter earnings season, Ally Financial reported the addition of $2.8 billion to its retail auto reserves, joining last week’s reporters, including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo in setting aside additional credit losses.

First-quarter earnings season kicked off with JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Consumer Portfolio Services reporting increased loss reserves as the COVID-19 economic crisis continues to rattle the industry.

The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in an economic recession spurred by shelter-in-place orders that have shuttered doors for nonessential businesses, including most car dealerships. During a compliance roundtable with Auto Finance News, industry experts Mark Edelman and Kelly Lipinski from McGlinchey address the key issues auto lenders are facing today. Virtually every major auto financier has...

During the past ten years, lenders have focused on improving data-driven technology on the origination side, yet that same technology hasn’t been as actively applied to the servicing and collections side of the auto finance business. In this episode of “The Roadmap,” Simon Scalzo, founder of Remitter, sat down with Auto Finance News to discuss how consumer data is collected, strategies for communi...

As auto lenders look to technology to scale and grow their businesses, the susceptibility to fraud grows. Technology can help lenders catch fraud, and detection can be achieved at a greater scale with the help of digital tools. In this episode of “The Roadmap,” Auto Finance News chats with General Forensics' Josh Wortman about fraud trends he’s seeing in auto finance, best practices to mitigate cr...

When it comes to customer service, auto lenders are constantly being compared with companies like Amazon that deliver an easy-to-use — digital — customer service experience. Today, consumers expect that experience from all their service providers, and lenders must adapt to the new paradigm or risk losing business. In this episode of The Roadmap, PenFed’s Senior Manager of Automotive Product Experi...

Gone are the days of reaching out to customers solely via mail or phone. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and live chat are quickly gaining popularity as channels of choice among customers seeking support from their lenders. In this episode of The Roadmap, Veros Credit’s AVP of Loss Recovery Mark Medrano shares tools and strategies for tailoring the customer experience with proactive, digital-first i...

The term artificial intelligence has been around for decades, and recently the technology has become a part of the auto finance industry — infiltrating lenders’ underwriting processes, loan payments, and customer experience strategies. In this episode of The Roadmap, Tricolor Auto Acceptance’s President & Chief Operating Officer Don Goin chats about how most innovations in auto finance come by...

While the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau mulls industry feedback on its proposed amendments to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, lenders should be proactive in their compliance strategies to prepare for the bureau’s final ruling. In this episode of The Roadmap , Veros Credit’s Chief Legal Officer Robert Tennant chats with Auto Finance Excellence to discuss what the impact on lenders wi...

Emerging financier Lendbuzz is using learning algorithms to tap into a population of 45 million potential auto loan customers. Rather than rely on traditional credit scores, Lendbuzz analyzes educational and employment histories of foreign-born U.S. residents in their origin countries, along with their earning potential and cash flow. Three years into the business, Lendbuzz has secured $150 millio...

Engaging with prospective and existing customers through social media is becoming a topic of increasing interest in the auto finance industry, but many questions remain when it comes to how — and in which channels — lenders should spend their time. In this episode of The Roadmap, AFE chats with Saloni Janveja, executive director of social media and marketing innovation at Ally Financial, on compli...

Technology is playing a more prominent role in auto financing as car buyers increasingly look for lenders to provide digital options for communication and payment. Today, customers expect content to relate to what they're doing anytime, anywhere and on any device. To that end, captive financier Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. is meeting customer expectations with its online portal, text communicatio...

Auto lenders are increasingly relying on nontraditional data as they hone underwriting to gain a competitive edge. Alternative data can open the door to unbanked and under-banked consumers, enabling lenders to extend beyond their typical customer base without assuming too much risk. In this episode of The Roadmap, Auto Finance Excellence chats with Chuck Berend, senior vice president and chief ris...

Stiffer regulatory oversight of information protection practices has spurred lenders to reevaluate the way they collect and use personally identifiable consumer data. In this episode of The Roadmap, Auto Finance Excellence talks with two distinguished executives to identify what it takes to keep up with changing data security compliance requirements. Hyundai Capital America’s VP of Information Pro...

Successful marketing hinges on knowing what consumers want — and part of that is knowing who your customers are. In this episode of The Roadmap, Auto Finance Excellence talks with Chase Auto's Chief Marketing Officer Melinda Welsh to explore the often-missed opportunity of marketing to underrepresented demographics and promoting diversity within the traditionally male-driven industry. Welsh, who w...

The carshare and rideshare markets are gaining traction, and financiers must adapt their strategies or risk getting left behind. In this episode of The Roadmap, Auto Finance Excellence talks with Brian Allan, senior director of strategic partnerships at HyreCar, to discover how lenders can modify financing practices with an eye toward the mobility-as-a-service paradigm shift. Allan also outlines t...

Though credit unions have thrived in the current auto finance market, CU Direct is warning the 1,100 lenders on its platform to remain cautious as near-term macroeconomic factors -- like rising interest rates and a potential downturn -- are likely to spark additional risk factors. In this episode of The Roadmap, Auto Finance Excellence talks with Phil DuPree, CU Direct’s chief revenue officer, to...

Though regulators have relaxed discriminatory lending rules, auto lenders are stepping up diversity education. Ally Financial, for one, is bolstering training efforts to reduce unintentional snap judgments based on race, gender, or appearance – a concept referred to as “unconscious bias.” In this episode of The Roadmap, Auto Finance Excellence talks with Reggie Willis, Ally’s director of diversity...

If there is one lesson Westlake Financial Services has learned since it started purchasing portfolios back in 2011, it’s to be prepared for hiccups along the way. Proactive communication and procedural refinement are two of the elements that enable companies to scale their business. In this episode of The Roadmap, Auto Finance Excellence talks with Paul Kerwin, Westlake’s chief financial officer,...

Whether you’re lending in Los Angeles or Shanghai, some auto finance fundamentals stay the same. Chas Roscow is an industry veteran with more than 35 years of experience in the space and he joins Auto Finance News for a special discussion on the automotive lending space in China and gives lenders some best practices for how to succeed in the growing market. Roscow will be speaking on this topic an...