Ally Financial is diversifying the industry backgrounds of its board members.
Ally announced that Brian Sharples and Trynka Shineman have been appointed to its board of directors, effective last Friday. The company highlighted the two executives have deep experience with global digital companies and will bring well-established expertise in technology and innovation to Ally’s board.
Sharples is co-founder and chairman of Twyla, a privately held company that provides a new way to discover and buy art. Before co-founding Twyla, he was co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of HomeAway, a global online marketplace for the vacation rental industry.
Shineman is chief executive officer of Vistaprint, a company that provides printing and digital marketing services for more than 17 million micro businesses globally. Vistaprint is a subsidiary of Cimpress N.V., where Shineman sits on the management board.
“As we look to further enhance Ally’s position as a leading digital financial services company, adding directors who have deep knowledge and expertise growing digital companies is extremely valuable,” said Jeffrey Brown, chief executive officer at Ally. “I am pleased to welcome Brian and Trynka to the Ally board of directors and look forward to their perspectives and contributions.”
Before co-founding Twyla and HomeAway, Sharples served as president and chief executive officer of IntelliQuest Information Group Inc., a supplier of marketing data and research to technology companies. He began his career as a consultant at Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm, and has engaged in a number of entrepreneurial and investment activities since that time.
Sharples currently serves on the board of directors for GoDaddy, Twyla, Fexy Media and RVshare.
Prior to being named CEO of Vistaprint, Shineman served in a number of roles at the company, including chief customer officer, executive vice president for global marketing and president. She serves on the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC), a leading regional technology association that drives growth and innovation by connecting tech leaders, investors, academics and policymakers.
“Ally is committed to building and sustaining an engaged Board of Directors with a diverse array of backgrounds and skills that will continue to support management in creating long-term value for our shareholders,” said Fritz Hobbs, chairman of the board of Ally. “We are delighted to welcome Brian and Trynka.”
Toyota Financial Services didn’t look far for a replacement when one of the captive’s top leaders revealed his plan for retirement.
This week, TFS announced that Mike Groff, the company’s president and chief executive officer, member of the company’s board of directors, and chief executive officer of the Americas Region of Toyota Financial Services International Corp. (TFSIC), the direct parent of the company, will retire from these positions effective Aug. 31.
Officials added that Groff will serve as executive adviser to Toyota Financial Services until Nov. 16.
Appointed to replace Groff is Mark Templin.
Templin first joined Toyota in 1990 and has served as chairman of the board of directors of Toyota Motor Credit Corp. (TMCC) since May 2016. He also currently serves and is expected to continue to serve as director, president and chief operating officer of TFSIC and director and group chief operating officer of Toyota Financial Services Corp., From April 2013 to December 2017, Templin also served as managing officer of Toyota Motor Corp.
“Mark brings a global depth of knowledge and experience in both the finance and automotive sides of the business,” Groff said. “He understands how to meet the needs of our dealer partners and our distributor affiliates. His Lexus background means he knows how to deliver best-in-class customer experiences. I know the company will be in good hands with Mark at the helm.”
Groff joined the fledgling Toyota Motor Credit Corp. in 1983 as the company’s seventh employee. His job as an operations administrator entailed a wide range of responsibilities as the company started operations and began to grow.
Groff then transferred to Toyota Motor Insurance Services (TMIS) in 1991, and held positions in product development and management. After three years with TMIS, Groff transferred back to TMCC and held a series of progressive leadership positions in the areas of sales, marketing, strategic planning, information technology and customer service. He was instrumental in the rebranding of TMCC and TMIS as Toyota Financial Services.
In 2013, Groff was named the company’s president and CEO. Under his leadership, Toyota Financial Services joined Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) in a successful relocation of its headquarters to a modern campus in Plano, Texas.
Groff has led continued growth at TFS, and the company now ranks as one of the nation’s largest auto finance providers. TFS has more than 4 million active customer accounts, more than 8 million insurance agreements in force, total assets of more than $120 billion, and employs approximately 3,300 team members across the country.
In addition, he was responsible for Toyota Financial Services operations in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela.
Under Groff’s leadership, TFS expanded its already strong commitment to corporate social responsibility. The company introduced a series of programs to support underserved youth, provide scholarships and promote financial education among young people. TFS is a major sponsor of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA where the company introduced the “Driving My Financial Future” campaign.
Groff, a national trustee for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, coupled the company’s philanthropic donations with opportunities for team member involvement. Under his leadership, Toyota Financial Services received the prestigious Points of Light Foundation Civic 50 award four times. The Civic 50 recognizes the 50 most community-minded companies in the nation.
The company highlighted Templin will bring a depth of experience to his new role as president and CEO of TFS.
Since joining Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) in 1990, he has held a number of positions. Templin previously served as group vice president and general manager of the Lexus Division for TMS, overseeing all aspects of Lexus’ U.S. automotive operations, including sales and marketing, retail development, customer satisfaction and product planning. His responsibilities included coordinating sales activities, dealer relations, parts and service operations, and marketing operations of four regional offices around the country.
He concurrently served as general manager of the Lexus Planning Division, TMC, working closely with international Lexus affiliates to enhance and bring more awareness of the Lexus brand worldwide.
Templin also previously served as general manager for the Lexus Southern Area, assistant general manager for both the Southern and Western Area Lexus offices, sales administration manager, retail operations manager at Lexus’ national headquarters in Torrance, Calif., and vice president of parts, service, customer satisfaction and training for the Lexus division.
Templin also served as VP of Lexus Marketing and VP of Scion, where he was responsible for all Scion activities.
“I am honored to lead Toyota Financial Services operations in the U.S. and the Americas Region,” Templin said. “Mike has positioned the company for continued success, and I look forward to building on our strong heritage of delivering the best products and services to meet the needs of our customers and dealer partners.
I know that we can be a great partner to the automotive side of the business in achieving Akio Toyoda’s vision of mobility for all,” Templin went on to say.
More than 100,000 credit union members now could have a clear path to financing a vehicle purchase if they use online retailer Carvana.
Firstmark Credit Union — founded in 1932 by 10 teachers within the San Antonio Independent School District — recently partnered with Carvana. Members now have access to a Carvana + Firstmark co-branded website where they can apply their Firstmark loan pre-approval to more than 12,000 Carvana vehicles and can complete their purchase online in a matter of minutes.
Through the co-branded Carvana website members also can:
— Browse certified inventory with low mileage, no accident history and 150-point inspection.
— Shop from home and buy online with delivery or pickup available as soon as the next day.
— Get more for less and save an average of $1,461 versus Kelley Blue Book retail value.
— Buy with confidence and get a seven-day money back guarantee and a 100-day warranty.
— Finance with ease with Firstmark to secure a Carvana purchase.
Firstmark Credit Union chief operations officer Gregg Thorne explained that Firstmark is committed to providing the best products and services to members, and a partnership with Carvana is just another example of its commitment to members.
“We are excited to help our members with auto financing and provide them with the best possible rate,” Thorne said. “Teaming up with Carvana gives our members a smart and easy car buying solution.”
More details can be found at www.carvana.com/firstmarkcu.
Autotech Ventures — a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that manages a fund of more than $120 million focused on startups — recently added to its human capital again.
Autotech Ventures announced that early-stage venture capital investor and former entrepreneur, Daniel Hoffer, has joined the firm as a managing director. Autotech Ventures is a specialist firm focused on investing in revolutionary transportation technologies and business models targeting the $3 trillion ground transportation market.
According to a news release, Hoffer’s experience will expand the firm’s mobility marketplace, software and consumer services expertise.
Prior to joining Autotech Ventures, Hoffer’s investment-related experience included roles as a partner at seed firm Tandem Capital, as a member of the corporate venture capital team at Concur (acquired by SAP) and as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Benchmark Capital.
Hoffer joining the investment team follows the addition of former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and Automotive Intelligence Council member Maryann Keller to the advisory board earlier this year.
As an entrepreneur, Hoffer co-founded and served as chief executive officer of global travel pioneer CouchSurfing International, which raised more than $25 million from Benchmark Capital, General Catalyst, Menlo Ventures and Point Nine Capital, among others. He also held executive roles managing multiple product lines at Concur and Symantec, and he continues to serve as the founder and lead organizer of the annual Marketplace Conference in San Francisco.
“Autotech Ventures has established itself as the leader in their industry with a compelling, clear and differentiated value proposition,” Hoffer said. “Having worked closely with them on several deals over the last few years, I’ve been impressed by their approach to investing and by the value they deliver to their portfolio. I’m thrilled to join the team.”
Hoffer was a seed or pre-seed stage investor in several companies in the mobility sector including SpotHero, which subsequently became an Autotech portfolio company during their Series C, as well as Firefly and XStream Trucking.
“Even before he joined our team, we had the pleasure of working with Dan on more than one deal,” Autotech Ventures managing director Quin Garcia said. “His portfolio company CEOs consistently said glowing things about him as a value-add investor they trust and respect.
“Dan’s expertise in marketplaces and consumer-oriented startups complements our existing focus areas, and we’re excited to have someone of his caliber focusing on the transportation sector with us here at Autotech,” Garcia continued.
Autotech Ventures managing director Alexei Andreev added, “We’ve not only been impressed by Dan’s investment judgment, but also by the rich perspective he brings from his experience as a former founder, public company executive, and investor. We are delighted to welcome him to our team.”
New leadership came aboard this week at AutoGravity.
The digital vehicle-shopping and financing platform announced the appointment of Alex Mallmann as president and chief executive officer, and Jason Bonifay as chief technology officer.
The announcement comes as the company hit a new milestone — reaching more than 2 million users in less than two years since its initial product launch.
Auto Fin Journal reached out to AutoGravity for more details involving founder and previous CEO Andy Hinrichs, but the company did not reply. An online search uncovered that Hinrichs’ LinkedIn profile showed his tenure with AutoGravity ended in May.
A news release indicated that Mallmann not only is president and CEO, but he also has joined the AutoGravity board of directors as a member.
“Alex has the unique ability to translate vision and strategy into world-class execution, which enables a compelling customer experience,” said Benedikt Schell, chief experience officer and member of the board of management at Daimler Financial Services AG and chairman of the board of directors at AutoGravity.
“With millions of users embracing AutoGravity, the company has paved unprecedented digital roads in the industry. Under Alex’s leadership, adoption of AutoGravity’s award-winning technology is expected to accelerate exponentially,” Schell continued.
An automotive industry veteran and seasoned leader with more than 20 years of experience, Mallmann most recently served as president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance China. He has served in this role since 2014, navigating the company through a period of dramatic growth and digital transformation.
“AutoGravity is a transformational technology company,” said Stefan Imme, chief digital officer at Volkswagen Financial Services AG and member of the board of directors at AutoGravity. “We are excited to welcome Alex as CEO and Jason as CTO. I have no doubt that the greatest impact of AutoGravity on the digital car buying experience is yet to come.”
Mallmann began his career in 1998 with Mercedes-Benz in Brazil and has gained invaluable international experience in the car and truck businesses. Moreover, he has held several senior management and managing director positions in the Americas and Europe, serving as president and CEO for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services in Spain and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services in Portugal.
“I’m extremely excited to join the AutoGravity team and further revolutionize the digital car buying experience for customers,” Mallmann said. “This company is full of amazingly talented people, market-leading technology and unmatched momentum.
“With our focus on constantly exceeding the expectations of consumers, dealers and lenders, AutoGravity will become the digital standard for car buying and financing,” he went on to say.
Meanwhile, Bonifay joined the AutoGravity leadership team in May of this year, serving as vice president of engineering. During that time, the company highlighted that he developed a clear technology vision and expanded the capabilities of the engineering team.
Previously, Bonifay served as vice present of development for product and engineering at CDK Global. He was a key member of CDK’s executive management team, responsible for engineering, product management, architecture and operations.
Prior to CDK Global, Bonifay spent more than five years as VP of software engineering at Bankruptcy Management Solutions (BMS), where he was directly responsible for all platform, technology and development methodology decisions.
Additionally, Bonifay served as chief technology officer at Propero Software, where he led the overall direction for technology, product development, marketing and business strategy.
“AutoGravity has established a reputation as a leading innovator in the automotive industry. The opportunity to provide technical leadership and drive innovative solutions during this era of rapid growth is an exciting and welcome challenge for me,” said Bonifay.
“I look forward to contributing to AutoGravity’s mission to revolutionize the digital car-buying experience.”
Ghidah Assalimy, the lender network partner at AutoGravity, is among the executives set to appear at the first Automotive Intelligence Summit that begins on Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C. Complete agenda and registration details can be found at www.autointelsummit.com.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a leading provider of data, analytics and technology, recently made a multi-million dollar investment in the formation of a new global connected car team.
The company highlighted the team of more than 35 experts has been created to help automakers and insurers share data and analytics to deliver the next generation of mobility and connected car services and insights to improve customer experience for both industries.
The LexisNexis Risk Solutions Connected Car team plans to grow to 100 dedicated specialists over the next five years.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions works with 95 of the top 100 U.S. personal lines insurers, more than 90 percent of the U.K. motor insurance market, and insurers across Brazil, India, China and Spain.
Leveraging the company’s strong pedigree in delivering data insights across the consumer value chain for marketing, underwriting and risk assessment, compliance and collision decisions, the team consists of experts in data science, technology, and product and market strategies. Collectively it has more than 125 years’ experience in automotive, telematics and technology.
Led by Adam Hudson, senior director of product management for U.S. connected car, and Rutger van der Wall, vice president of global products, LexisNexis Risk Solutions indicated the team will help accelerate the company’s commitment to developing solutions that bridge the insurance and automotive manufacturing industries.
“We’ve established the connected car team to enable us to innovate and execute quickly, as well as respond to the increasing pace and interest between automakers and insurance providers to engage consumers with driving behavior information, collision detection and other programs that connectivity enables,” Hudson said.
“Automakers and car insurers alike want to know more about their customers to better serve them throughout the lifecycle of vehicle ownership and through life events that change a consumer’s needs,” Hudson continued.
“Today, 85 percent of U.S. auto insurers use a LexisNexis prefill solution, which is focused on ease of use for the consumer, improved accuracy and a better experience throughout the customer journey,” he went on to say.
The Connected Car team is working on delivering next-generation services utilizing on-board telematics data with the growing volume of vehicles now connected to the internet.
“Investment in this new connected car team signals a transformational approach and focus on this market, one that we feel best positions us to deliver value across two powerful industries. It also provides their shared customer base, the consumer, with innovative and game-changing data and analytics products, which will establish leadership in the marketplace,” LexisNexis Risk Solutions said.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions went on to mention it has already developed close working partnerships with automakers in the U.S., Europe and China to help deliver new telematics-based products and services including usage-based insurance delivered at the point of sale.
If auto finance companies want a sharper glimpse at just how good the collateral attached to the vehicle installment contract they are underwriting might be, new tools arriving in April from CCC Information Services and LexisNexis Risk Solutions might have some ancillary benefits.
CCC announced the availability of Artificial Intelligence-powered capabilities that use computer vision technology to automatically detect vehicle damage and visually depict that damage using CCC’s unique heat maps.
The company said the CCC heat map technology is an auto claims industry first, transforming vehicle photos into heat maps, which can provide an insightful and more visually literate, color-coded view of the damage for every major vehicle brand and body type in the U.S., including sedans, SUVs, coupes, convertibles, vans, light trucks, hatchbacks and wagons.
CCC is a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider to the automotive, insurance, and collision repair industries.
Research shows that nine out of 10 consumers prefer estimates when delivered with heat maps that clearly highlight the damage versus estimates delivered without heat maps.
“For photos to deliver real benefits they need to be supported by data and a deep understanding of how the claims process works,” said David Bliss, vice president of product management for CCC. “We’re injecting our claims solution suite with AI, which becomes infinitely more powerful when combined with data in CCC ONE and CCC’s 30 years of experience supporting the auto claims industry.
“Our damage detection technology and heat maps bring depth and insight into otherwise opaque damage photos,” Bliss continued. “And we know through our 50 million annual consumer touchpoints that transparency is linked to satisfaction. CCC’s real-world applications of AI are a gamechanger for the industry.”
CCC’s claims solutions are powered by the CCC ONE Platform, a cloud-based hyperscale platform built for the massive-scale demands of today’s business environment, which includes digital content and telematics data. CCC has processed nearly 200 million automotive claims, and its solutions are in use by more than 350 carriers, 24,000 repair shops, OEMs, and third-party data and service providers.
Meanwhile, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a leading provider of data, analytics and technology for insurance, announced the launch of LexisNexis Vehicle History. The company said. its solution offers a more holistic view of a vehicle's lifecycle by gathering data on previous damage events, ownership changes, odometer readings and other data points to help insurers — and perhaps finance companies — make a more accurate risk assessment.
“Just as financial responsibility is predictive of future behavior, a vehicle’s history can be predictive of future loss,” said Tanner Sheehan, senior director of auto insurance at LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
“Relying on consumers to fill in the critical, but sometimes non-obvious or unknown, details for their insurer to then assess risk and provide an appropriate premium back to the consumer can be a cumbersome and unreliable proposition,” Sheehan continued. LexisNexis Vehicle History can provide a robust and simplified data gathering and delivery process that insurers can incorporate in their existing workflows. The solution draws from a variety of data sources to integrate important vehicle-related attributes into the pricing equation, while maintaining a simple quoting process for the consumer by prefilling information about the vehicle’s history.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions customers have access to data and analytics with sub-second turnaround utilizing a single point of entry that can eliminate the need for technology resources to implement the product.
“With the advent of the vehicle technologies like Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), there is an even greater need to incorporate vehicle-centric attributes into the insurance policy rating equation,” Sheehan said. “LexisNexis Vehicle History is an easy step any insurer can take towards understanding the vehicle’s history.”
Perhaps what’s being leveraged in the rental car space could be making its way into other forms of auto financing, as traditional vehicle leasing remains strong and car subscription products gain steam.
As new generations enter the work force and begin traveling for business and leisure, they are looking to engage with brand loyalty programs that offer incentives that are more relevant and meaningful than those that incentivized their parents and grandparents. With an eye toward the future, Persuade Loyalty, a global loyalty and customer relationship management (CRM) agency, recently announced CryptoRewards Exchange (CRE), a new rewards redemption option that can allow the agency's clients to offer customers cryptocurrency, a cutting-edge redemption option for brands to incentivize and reward loyalty program members.
Persuade’s launch partner, EZ Rent-A-Car, is the first Persuade partner to join the new CRE, making EZ the first company in travel to offer cryptocurrencies as a redemption option for its loyalty program, EZ Money. Persuade expects to announce additional CRE partners in the coming weeks.
“We created the CryptoRewards Exchange to provide more relevant redemption options for the evolving EZ customer base,” said Joe Doran, vice president of client services for Persuade Loyalty.
“Since EZ’s target market is largely Millennials and Gen Y, CryptoRewards Exchange is a natural fit for EZ customers. The EZ Money loyalty program is a brand built for the young, savvy leisure traveler and the CRE concept resonated with EZ right away,” Doran continued.
Persuade Loyalty insisted that studies show that cryptocurrency redemption options are more meaningful to millennials than more traditional redemption rewards, such as gift cards or branded merchandise. Cryptocurrency can provide an immediate benefit or serve as a foundation for financial growth.
“EZ Rent-A-Car has consistently been an innovator in providing high-quality car rentals at an affordable price to youthful customers who seek their next adventure. We think rewarding those customers with products that help them explore fits perfectly with our brand,” said Scott Davido, chief executive officer and president of Advantage and EZ Rent-A-Car.
Doran noted consumers in their 20s and 30s account for the significant growth and use of blockchain currencies for investment and digital payments using cryptocurrencies. Despite their growing popularity, he added that cryptocurrencies can be daunting to new users due to the large number of currencies in the market today and the complexity of the underlying technology, the blockchain, which often have a high barrier to entry.
“We designed the exchange to help educate and ease entry,” Doran said. “Using CRE, customers can create an account and own cryptocurrency within minutes versus using a traditional exchange, which requires setting up a digital wallet, which can be expensive and time consuming.”
Doran further explained that unlike other loyalty programs that have a connection to cryptocurrency, CRE members are not limited to using a currency that is created for the sake of a loyalty program. Instead, members can choose which currency they want to exchange for their points.
The CRE loyalty redemption option is geared toward people of all ages who are interested in exploring and experiencing the crypto market with reduced risk and without committing personal funds. It lets them try before they buy. There are more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies on the market with new ones being regularly introduced.
According to Doran, the CRE is offering some of the larger named cryptocurrencies that have experienced a loyal following, including Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin — the first and biggest decentralized digital currency in the world. As the CRE service expands, the options for redemption will greatly increase.
Persuade Loyalty went on to note that cryptocurrencies have gained popularity with investors because they often offer lower transaction fees than traditional online banking programs.
OnApproach wants another characteristic of credit unions to be as synonymous to those financing providers as their reputation and servicing to members: collaborative analytics.
And to help credit unions leverage the possibility of collaborate analytics, OnApproach recently established a pathway for institutions to access new tools that’s familiar to anyone with a smartphone: an app store.
OnApproach, which says it’s the credit union servicing organization (CUSO ) dedicated to credit union success through a collaborative analytics ecosystem, launched the Credit Union App Store (CU App Store). The CU App Store is the online marketplace for credit unions to discover and immediately access applications designed to solve a variety of business problems and improve data and analytical capabilities for all credit unions.
OnApproach explained the CU App Store was developed because it is too often that credit unions must “re-invent the wheel” by building reports and dashboards that are similar across their peer groups. OnApproach insisted this process creates incredible inefficiencies throughout the industry.
As a CUSO, OnApproach wants to help transform the industry and ensure a healthy future for all credit unions.
For managers and other executives still unsure about exactly what collaborative analytics, OnApproach explained the concept in this video that’s also available at the top of this page.
The CU App Store brings together credit unions, CUSOs and industry vendors to share the time and resource burden required to execute high value reporting and analytics, regardless of technology or core. By utilizing the CU App Store, credit unions have the opportunity to shift their time from report creation to consumption and analysis of useful information.
“The launch of the CU App Store marks a major milestone in OnApproach’s vision for the credit union movement. Data analytics is imperative for the industry, but it has unfortunately proven to be a serious challenge for the majority of the credit unions to gain competency in even the first and most basic steps on the analytics journey,” OnApproach chief executive officer Paul Ablack said.
“The CU App Store finally makes it fast and easy for credit unions to search and find pre-built solutions for analytical needs,” Ablack continued. “The agnostic marketplace for sharing analytics applications is a big win for the industry, the individual credit unions and ultimately the communities they serve.”
Within the CU App Store, credit unions can access the site and shop for pre-built applications that refers to reports, dashboards or models that cover a range of credit union needs, including categories such as:
— Audit
— Channels
— Compliance
— Deposits
— Financials
— Investments
— Lending
— Management
— Marketing
— Memberships
— Payments
The applications currently available are free to credit unions and compatible with the OnApproach CU Analytics Ecosystem.
In addition, credit unions can share with or sell to their peers the applications they have built. The site also features applications developed by fintech companies and solutions providers.
To learn more, visit the CU App Store at http://cuappstore.com.
Criminals are becoming more creative in their approach to commit synthetic ID fraud, and new technology recently detected a ploy by an individual who tried a scheme at two different Michigan dealerships.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, 1.7 percent of identity fraud complaints indicated that an auto-finance contract had been generated fraudulently, up from 0.8 percent in 2015.
To curtail this trend, Equifax is working with Oplogic, a company that manages and processes customer information with a simple ID scan, to help reduce unwanted threats stemming from synthetic ID fraud.
The Synthetic ID fraud occurs when a criminal combines real (usually stolen) and fake information to create a new identity. The two companies’ solutions recently helped stop an auto crime at a Michigan dealership.
Driver’s Synthetic Identity Verification from Oplogic, powered with Equifax identity validation tools, is helping dealers reduce unwanted threats. In the attempted fraud scam, a woman visited a dealership with the intent to purchase a vehicle. When she presented her Texas driver’s license, the dealership concluded that the license was synthetic after running a license scan in the patented Oplogic Deal Operator CRM system.
When the same person made a similar attempt shortly thereafter at a different dealership that uses Oplogic Deal Operator CRM, authorities made an arrest.
“The Oplogic Deal Operator CRM combined with Equifax fraud detection and identity validation tools is helping dealerships stop criminals in their showrooms before the crime occurs,” Oplogic president John Parent said. “This adds a much-needed level of protection for dealers and lenders.”
Using this system, dealers can identify fraudulent credentials early in the sales process and before the test drive occurs. The process involves the dealership scanning the potential buyer’s driver’s license using Oplogic CRM software. During the scan, the license is verified against Equifax data and fraud tools to confirm identity.
“Fraudulent activity has become more complex over the years, and it continues to cost billions in lost revenue for dealers and lenders,” said Ken Allen, senior vice president of identity and fraud at Equifax.
“Our data analytics platforms have also become much more sophisticated, and in partnering with leading solution providers such as Oplogic we are making great strides in reducing the number of fraudsters who attempt to create synthetic identities inside the showroom,” Allen went on to say.
Equifax has expanded its set of offerings that help mitigate synthetic ID fraud with the addition of FraudIQ Synthetic ID Alerts — which are based on patent-pending algorithms that analyze attributes such as authorized user velocity and identity discrepancies to help determine if the identity presented could be synthetic.
