BlueFin Auto: Subprime Slowdown Is a ‘Good Opportunity’
The possibility of a downturn and “pullback” by other subprime lenders is “a good opportunity” for BlueFin Auto, according to Norman Hale, the startup’s president.
“If you are larger — like a Top 5 lender — it certainly presents challenges, because you have to maintain a certain performance and meet growth projections, and those are lofty expectations,” he said. BlueFin Auto can “cherry-pick,” he said, “so we are not concerned about it [the possible downturn], because our underwriting is pretty tight.”
The company plans to expand its portfolio without buying deeper, Hale said. “We will expand through marketing and sales efforts,” he added.
BlueFin Auto is “not interested” in growing its portfolio marketshare in the short term, but rather, on increasing its penetration in current markets, Hale added, which is why the company is shifting its focus to boosting technology investments over the next six to 12 months.
“Everything for us is kind of on the horizon,” he said. “We are looking at investments in loan originations systems, automated underwriting, alternative data — we are looking at all of that.”
At the top of BlueFin’s technology wishlist is automated underwriting in conjunction with a loan origination system. However, the subprime lender is already working with FactorTrust to utilize alternative data for its underwriting and loan originations, so alternative data may be next on the list, Hale added.
BlueFin Auto also expects its website to be “completely functional” within the next 12 months, including the “make a payment” option, but for now the company is putting mobility first. “We are focused on adding [mobile-friendly] payment options and trying to streamline the process for when customers do call, to minimize the amount of labor — processing of those transactions internally,” he said.
O’Fallon, Mo.-based BlueFin Auto, which reached its one-year anniversary in April, has seven employees. It operates in five states and makes loans for more than 750 auto dealers.
