Digital Recognition Network (DRN) recently embedded DRNsights, powered by vehicle location data plus analytics, into Westlake Financial’s servicing platform to manage risk and reduce losses. The companies shared that Westlake’s recent monthly performance report showed DRN’s data assisted Westlake with an increase in recoveries and a drop in charge-offs during a one month period by using the new DRN-provided location data.

Digital Recognition Network highlighted its vehicle location data can improve the repossession process by helping finance companies recover up to 35 percent more vehicles and avoid charge-off losses. DRNsights leverage DRN’s vehicle location data and analytics to help finance companies better understand their customer’s needs, provide new locations for making right party contact, and enable faster recovery and reduce charge-off losses.

The vehicle location data is gathered 24/7, 365 days a year nationwide through license plate recognition (LPR) technology. DRN’s nationwide coverage with more than 5 billion vehicle sightings includes the date, time and location of each sighting. This data can provide alerts of possible risk, protection from lien losses, new locations for making contact on 30 percent or more accounts, the ability to collect earlier to reduce charge-offs, and a 50 percent reduction in the days to recover vehicles out for repossession.

“The top auto lenders in the U.S. have been using our vehicle location data for repossessions with great success for some time,” DRN chief executive officer Chris Metaxas said. “Those same lenders are now starting to use the data to help make right party contact.

“Under the leadership of Ian Anderson, group president of Westlake Financial and Jorge Alvarado, operations manager, Westlake is taking DRN’s data to the next level by deploying DRNsights earlier in the servicing process. The results have been remarkable; they are able to reach out to customers, cure loans and prevent loans from going into recovery,” Metaxas continued.

DRN provided Westlake training on the system that guided Westlake’s collectors through the process of using vehicle location data to enhance skip-tracing efforts

“We were impressed by the training and the impact it had on our servicing team,” Alvarado said. “Our servicing team remarked on the difference the training and DRN’s data and analytics will have on their success.”

Anderson looked back on the recent developments and where Westlake now stands with its collection efforts.

“We knew the power of DRN could assist us in locating and recovering vehicles, so it was only logical to integrate DRN data into our servicing process,” Anderson said. “By using DRN’s vehicle location data, we are provided notifications through a series of flags based on what the data demonstrates.

“This is a game-changer for us. We can help customers earlier in the process and we are more efficient with our servicing and recovery,” Anderson went on to say.