LAS VEGAS — Subprime lender Veros Credit is looking to enter direct lending this year and is currently obtaining licenses to test its product in California, Florida and Texas, Chief Executive Cyrus Bozorgi told Auto Finance News at SFVegas this week.
For now, Bozorgi said he expects direct lending to be a small part of the business, but current preparations will help the company be more agile in the future.
“We like to be in many different types of lending so if there’s a shift in the future, we will at least have data to look at and model,” Bozorgi said, noting Veros will likely begin its direct lending roll out in the second quarter and slowly expand the program, depending on performance.
“It’s hard because we never really were in the direct lending space, so there’s a lack of data. It’s not something we can go into aggressively,” Bozorgi said.
Meanwhile, the Santa Ana, Calif.-based lender is looking to expand its indirect footprint in Texas and Florida and add more sales reps in those markets, he said.