Citizens One Auto Finance has boosted its approval rate 10% for loans with credit scores in the 640-to-680 range, thanks to a recent refresh of its lending scorecard, President Craig Lamp told Auto Finance News.
Providence, R.I.-based Citizens has always been a “full prime provider,” Lamp said. Though it will underwrite loans with credit scores as low as 620, it has traditionally concentrated on those with scores of 700 or higher.
“We just happened to be in the right place in the credit cycle where we got [the scorecard] refreshed, and we found some new opportunities,” Lamp added. “It has allowed us to incrementally, without taking on more risk, simply approve more loans.”
The bank rolled out the revamped scorecard early this year and made “a few tweaks” in the second quarter, Lamp said. “As you’re looking to make the best risk-reward tradeoffs that you can, it’s always a good idea to get those things refreshed,” he said, noting that Citizens One added more relevant data and additional characteristics to the scorecard.
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