Auto Finance News | The News That Drives the Industry

AFS 2018

Auto Lenders Must Channel Their Inner Warby Parker

Chase Auto’s Melinda Welsh Joins Auto Finance Sales & Marketing Summit for Fireside Chat

Trump Receives Report on U.S. Security Threat of Car Imports

Auto Lenders Must Channel Their Inner Warby Parker

The growing popularity of direct-to-consumer business models like Warby Parker increasingly has implications for the auto finance industry. While the logistics of affording and purchasing a pair of eyeglasses is admittedly much easier than an automobile, the customer experience is highly relevant. This is especially true for subprime auto lenders where consumers are focused on […]

Chase Auto’s Melinda Welsh Joins Auto Finance Sales & Marketing Summit for Fireside Chat

Auto Finance News will host Chase Auto’s Chief Marketing Officer Melinda Welsh at this year’s inaugural Auto Finance Sales & Marketing Summit for a fireside chat on Monday, May 13, at 9:15 a.m. PT. The one-day event will take place at the Omni San Diego on May 13. Click here for the full agenda. The […]

Trump Receives Report on U.S. Security Threat of Car Imports

President Donald Trump has received the findings of a probe into whether imported vehicles pose a national security threat, which could lead the U.S. to impose tariffs. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has submitted his recommendations to Trump, the department said in a statement on Sunday in Washington, without offering any insights into the findings. Trump […]

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Innovation & Mobility

Daimler Joins BMW in $1.1 Billion Mobility Bet to Rival Uber

Daimler AG and BMW AG are pouring more than 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) into their joint car-sharing and ride-hailing businesses to take on the likes of Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. The German venture, which is estimated to become the world’s largest car-sharing operator, will weigh purchases of startups or established players, along […]

Bank of the West to Launch Dealer Portal by Yearend

Wells Fargo Turns to Machine Learning for Collection Insights

GM Financial Joins Startup Blockchain Network for Fraud Prevention

Volvo Financial Taps 7 Startups With iLabX Program

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From Auto Finance Excellence

Five Questions With… John Thacker of HCA

defi SOLUTIONS Signs On as Technology Partner for Auto Finance Excellence

Videos

Westlake Exec Outlines Auto Finance Strategy for the Current Economic Cycle [VIDEO]

From Profitability to Viability, Execs Weigh In on Subscription Services [VIDEO]

Hyundai Capital America CEO on the Challenges the Company Faces and His Push for Efficiency [VIDEO]

Westlake Exec Outlines Auto Finance Strategy for the Current Economic Cycle [VIDEO]

Technology tools will help lenders navigate and excel in the current financial cycle, said Paul Kerwin, Westlake Financial EVP and CFO, at the 18th Annual Auto Finance Summit. “For auto finance, we’re really in a new cycle and a new game,” Kerwin said. “The cycle started in 2009. Everything was pretty easy — there wasn’t […]

From Profitability to Viability, Execs Weigh In on Subscription Services [VIDEO]

OEMs are still trying to crack the code of profitability and consumer interest in subscription services. Leading providers in the space weighed in on this relatively new method of car utilization, in a session at the 18th Annual Auto Finance Summit. Mason McLead, vice president of engineering at car-as-a-service company Fair, defined a subscription as […]

Hyundai Capital America CEO on the Challenges the Company Faces and His Push for Efficiency [VIDEO]

Hyundai Capital America CEO and President Ross Williams spoke at the 18th annual Auto Finance Summit about the company’s strong growth and the challenges he’s dealing with today. “I remember celebrating reaching $10 billion in assets seven years ago. A couple of years later it was $20 billion. A couple of years later it was $30 billion,” said […]

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Five Questions With… John Thacker of HCA

Five Questions With is a monthly Q&A segment on AutoFinanceExcellence.org that offers a glimpse of what senior industry executives are thinking about outside the boardroom. Read on to find out. John Thacker started his auto finance career two decades ago as a bill collector for Ford Motor Credit, and after “sitting in all the chairs” […]

Nicole Casperson
February 22, 2019
Auto Finance Excellence, Strategy

Term Extensions Trump Rate Cuts for Tackling Affordability, TransUnion Says

Despite concern that rising interest rates will slow new-car sales, loan term extensions will move the needle quicker on monthly loan payments, Brian Landau, senior vice president and TransUnion’s auto line of business leader, told Auto Finance News. Auto lenders originated 7.1 million loans through the third quarter of 2018, up 0.5% year over year, TransUnion reported this […]

Nicole Casperson
February 22, 2019
Operations, Strategy

Daimler Joins BMW in $1.1 Billion Mobility Bet to Rival Uber

Bloomberg News
February 22, 2019
Innovation & Mobility, Operations

Bank of the West to Launch Dealer Portal by Yearend

San Francisco-based Bank of the West is making investments to strengthen dealer relationships. At the top of the priority list is a dealer portal, slated for release by yearend. “We continue to invest in the dealer interface,” Executive Vice President of Personal Finance Michael Pereira told AFN. “We need to be engaging with our dealers […]

Bianca Chan
February 21, 2019
Innovation & Mobility, Operations, Technology

defi SOLUTIONS Signs On as Technology Partner for Auto Finance Excellence

Auto Finance Excellence, a sister service of Auto Finance News, is proud to announce defi SOLUTIONS as the official Technology partner. defi SOLUTIONS provides loan origination technology for auto lenders. Options include direct, online application interface, loan management, and servicing systems. Additionally, defi SOLUTIONS provides aggregated analytics and reporting, and an online auto loan portfolio […]

Nicole Casperson
February 21, 2019
Auto Finance Excellence, Technology

Wells Fargo Turns to Machine Learning for Collection Insights

Wells Fargo Auto is looking beyond credit decisioning models for machine learning applications. Specifically, the company employed “sentiment analysis” — an automated process of understanding opinions from written or spoken language — for collections. “One thing I was surprised to see is that through natural language recognition and sentiment analysis, it was very easy to […]

Marcie Belles
February 21, 2019
Innovation & Mobility, Technology, Update

GM Financial Joins Startup Blockchain Network for Fraud Prevention

General Motors Financial Co. is turning to blockchain technology from Spring Labs to strengthen fraud prevention and detection capabilities. Spring Labs, which counts GM Financial as its “cornerstone partner” in the auto finance space, is building a blockchain-based network of finance and technology companies, company Founder and Chief Executive Adam Jiwan told Auto Finance News. […]

Nicole Casperson
February 20, 2019
Innovation & Mobility, Risk, Technology, Update

Auto Lenders Must Channel Their Inner Warby Parker

Daniel Chu
February 20, 2019
Auto Finance Excellence, Sales & Marketing

How to Leverage Current Machine Learning and AI Tools in Auto Lending

Auto dealers have heard the hype about how machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are going to transform their businesses. Typically, there are usually two binary outcomes that are discussed. On one hand, the promise of the future seems so bright. Instead of relying on intuition and gut feeling, many divisions of their businesses […]

The Value of User Experience When Managing Risk

Much has been written about the rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence and how it will impact the auto lending industry. While there has been a significant amount of hype, the promise of artificial intelligence is simply game changing. The most obvious application is that thinking machines will be able to assess risk and […]

The Benefits of Artificial Intelligence in Auto Lending

We are inundated with discussion about how new technologies promise to change the way that we do business and live our lives. Yes, many of these proclamations offer rhetorical flourish and grand visions. That said, there are new technologies available and startups that are maximizing these technologies to transform the auto industry — even today. […]

How Lenders’ Response Time Influences Dealer Relationships

Automotive OEMs rate vehicle performance by the time it takes to go from zero to 60 in seconds. This is a measure of energy conversion – fuel, spark, movement. While this is a mechanical situation, a comparison can be made to business response times. While fuel is a potential auto loan customer, the spark is […]

How Lenders Can React to Negative Equity Situations

Here’s a commonly heard dialogue: Consumer #1 – “I’d like to buy a new car but I’m still upside down on this one!” Consumer #2 – “Oh don’t worry about that! You can just roll the balance into your new loan!” Consumer #1 – “Great! Let’s get started!” According to Edmunds.com, nearly 33% of car […]

2019 Crystal Ball: Competition, Direct Lending, and Customer Experience

According to the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), “69% of credit union auto loans originate through the indirect channel, and only 5% of those indirect members use additional credit union products.” Once the indirect loan has been paid off, it is challenging for the lender to extend the customer relationship. Any future engagement is with […]

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