Equifax now is working with Narrative, a leading data collaboration platform.
The firms announced a partnership last week to streamline access to and activation of unique wealth, economic and credit-based audience data from Equifax for automotive businesses.
Equifax and Narrative explained the partnership is designed to give marketing and analytics teams the ability to create custom segments from Equifax datasets and deliver them to activation endpoints with just a few clicks.
“Equifax understands that the automotive industry — with its continued effort to improve marketing ROI, consumer affordability challenges and a crowded syndicated data marketplace — requires quick and easy access to highly specific and impactful insights that can help improve the customer experience and ultimately conversion,” said Lena Bourgeois, senior vice president and general manager of automotive services at Equifax.
“Making our insights available on Narrative’s data collaboration platform enables automotive businesses to create unique, targeted segments that can help deliver personalized messages to their target audiences,” Bourgeois continued in a news release.
Narrative’s no-code software can enable marketers to filter proprietary financial-based datasets from Equifax according to precise criteria to create custom audience segments that meet their specific needs and use cases.
Users can then send their customized datasets directly to marketing activation endpoints including advertising platforms like The Trade Desk.
“Robust financial datasets from Equifax are a unique and valuable source of insights for companies around the world,” Narrative founder and CEO Nick Jordan said in the news release. “With their data available through Narrative’s data collaboration platform, it’s now easier than ever for businesses to access the specific insights they need at a price that works for them.”
Equifax solutions can assist marketers in achieving more targeted, meaningful interactions across the customer journey with datasets that help financial services and consumer marketing firms gain a more complete picture of households’ financial and economic positions.
The Equifax datasets now available through Narrative’s data collaboration platform include:
—Auto Segments
—Income360 Digital
—Discretionary Spending Dollars Digital
—Economic Spectrum Digital
—Economic Cohorts Digital
—Ability to Pay Index Digital
—Aggregated FICO Segments
—Credit Card Segments
—Mortgage Segments
For more information on the Equifax datasets available through Narrative’s data collaboration platform, visit www.narrative.io/data-partners/equifax.
NETSOL Technologies announced last week that it has become an API gateway delivery partner with Amazon Web Services (AWS).
With this extended APN partnership, the global business services and enterprise application solutions provider said it will have access to AWS API Gateway, a fully managed service that makes it easy for developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor and secure APIs (application programming interfaces) at any scale.
Company executives said this partnership is expected to position NETSOL to expand its capabilities and better serve its clients in a variety of industries.
“We are excited to extend our partnership level with the AWS Partner Network (APN) and become an API gateway delivery partner,” said Peter Minshall, executive vice president of NETSOL Technologies Americas. “This partnership will allow us to provide even more robust and reliable solutions for our clients by utilizing the power and scale of the AWS platform.”
NETSOL head of cloud services Furrukh Sohail added, “We are very proud to be working with AWS as an API Gateway Partner.
“AWS API Gateway is a game-changing service that enables us to build, secure, and scale APIs, and we look forward to leveraging this technology to further drive innovation at NETSOL,” Sohail went on to say.
AutoFi announced on Wednesday that it has extended its partnership with Santander Consumer USA, bringing to market digital products that are geared to “meaningfully improve” the ability for consumers and dealers to interact with the finance company and simplify the vehicle buying experience.
The Emerging 8 honoree and SCUSA first formed their partnership last year. Within six months of the collaboration, the company said a digital dealer experience was developed featuring tools that enable dealers to interact with Santander in real time and identify vehicles on the lot that fit the consumer’s budget as well as the specifications to complete the deal.
AutoFi explained this ability to self-service the contract decisioning process makes it easier and faster for dealers to solution for their customers and best meet their needs.
Over the course of the past year, AutoFi scaled the solution across more than 13,000 dealers, providing the technology, operational, and inventory management support of the product for the finance company.
Then late last year, AutoFi worked with Santander to pilot a direct-to-consumer marketplace in the Southwest region. This marketplace can allow consumers to shop for a vehicle however, wherever, and whenever they want, and streamlines the financing process.
Based on a soft credit pull, consumers can shop by payment with no impact to their credit score. The technology can enable “penny-perfect” pricing instantly across thousands of vehicles and can remove the “guess work in being approved by pairing consumers with cars they can afford.”
AutoFi said the marketplace will bring new “transaction-ready” vehicle shoppers to Santander dealers and is scheduled to roll out nationally in spring.
“The digital innovation created by partnering with AutoFi has not only enhanced business but allowed Santander Consumer to provide better service to our dealer customers and consumers,” said Bruce Jackson, president of Chrysler Capital and auto relationships for Santander.
“We are excited about future endeavors with AutoFi and being able to offer better, more efficient user experiences,” Jackson continued in a news release.
Kevin Singerman is CEO and co-founder of AutoFi.
“We are very proud of the retail innovation we have brought to market with Santander Consumer over the past year,” Singerman said. “From build to launch, the timeframe is unprecedented for this level of digital transformation for automotive lenders. The market dynamics of the past 12 months, including rising interest rates, further underscore the importance of these solutions in ensuring consumers are matched with cars and financing they can afford.”
Beyond the ambitious plans with Santander, the company highlighted 2023 is shaping up to be a “transformational” year for AutoFi, as other industry partners, including dealers, manufacturers, finance companies and marketplaces, lean in to AutoFi's digital capabilities.
The company explained AutoFi is in a unique position to build impactful solutions faster and more cost-effectively than companies can on their own. The company also pointed out enterprise customers value AutoFi’s understanding of how to drive product adoption at the retail level, while adhering to “Big Bank” standards, like SOC2 Type II compliance and robust operations and infrastructure.
Furthermore, the company noted AutoFi’s in-store dealer platform, Deal Center, can address one of the biggest challenges of the online customer journey, a disconnected in-store experience.
“Deal Center connects the dots between the online and offline experiences and enables Enterprise customers to offer AutoFi’s digital capabilities to their dealer network in the showroom, streamlining the sales process and consumer experience,” the company said.
Perhaps reflecting what Polly discovered about car insurance availability at dealerships, EchoPark made a move in that space on Tuesday.
The Sonic Automotive division focused on retailing used vehicles announced a long-term partnership with Matic, a leading digital insurtech platform, to provide property and casualty insurance products to EchoPark guests.
Under the partnership, Matic’s innovative insurance marketplace of more than 40 A-rated carriers will be integrated into EchoPark’s online vehicle buying experience, providing a frictionless way for buyers to shop for and purchase auto insurance.
The two companies said through a news release that they have a joint foundation of saving consumers money to provide category-leading value. EchoPark saves shoppers up to $3,000 on the purchase price of quality used vehicles, while Matic saves EchoPark guests up to $579 per year on auto insurance.
“The partnership with Matic is a perfect fit for EchoPark,” said David Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Sonic Automotive and EchoPark Automotive. “Their commitment to innovating new technologies that simplify a complex industry to the benefit of the consumer mirrors what we’ve accomplished with our new eCommerce platform.
“Matic’s capabilities allow us to find new ways to deliver on our brand promise of Every Car, Happy Owner and we will integrate the auto insurance purchase process into key car-buying moments to offer EchoPark guests even greater overall value,” Smith continued.
Matic CEO and co-founder Ben Madick added, “Matic was built as a digital-first solution that is integrated into the customer buying experience right when insurance is needed.
“We are thrilled to partner with EchoPark and their innovative eCommerce platform to further enhance the car buying experience,” Madick went on to say.
Two service providers now are working together to help consumers land a revamped installment contract and perhaps new vehicle insurance, too.
Polly, a leading embedded insurance marketplace for automotive retail, and Gravity Lending, a rapidly growing fintech providing low-cost interest refinancing options, announced a strategic partnership on Wednesday that can give car owners the opportunity to lower their total monthly vehicle expenses.
According to a news release, Gravity Lending’s customers will now have access to personalized and competitive insurance quotes from Polly through direct customer outreach.
The companies said this partnership can gives consumers the potential to save more money on their monthly insurance premium in addition to any savings gained during their refinance.
“We’re thrilled to be able to provide additional savings opportunities alongside refinancing,” Polly president and COO Wayne Pastore said. “By combining the power of Polly with Gravity Lending, we are elevating the overall experience of refinancing a car by providing competitive rates from Polly’s industry-leading carrier network.”
The companies reiterated that offering insurance choice alongside the refinancing process provides customers with an additional opportunity to save money on car ownership.
A forthcoming Polly car and insurance shopper study shows that total cost of car ownership — including insurance — is top of mind for car shoppers and owners, with more than 86% stating it was important to them.
With access to a vast carrier network and “white glove treatment” with real insurance agents throughout the process, Polly said it is uniquely positioned to help Gravity Lending’s customers compare and potentially save on their car insurance, ultimately lowering their overall cost of ownership by ensuring consumers have the right coverage that fits their budget.
“Gravity Lending prides ourselves on providing our customers with a vast array of options to lower their car payments,” Gravity Lending founder and CEO Brian Jones said. “Our partnership with Polly extends that value proposition, while also providing car owners a better customer experience by offering insurance options alongside the refinancing process.”
For more information about Polly, visit polly.co.
LoanPro, a modern servicing core platform, recently announced a partnership with MX, an open finance leader, to deliver enriched financial data using MX’s Data Engine into LoanPro’s management platform.
By leveraging MX to cleanse, categorize and classify financial data, LoanPro said it can enable financial institutions, fintechs and B2B/B2C lenders to unlock new data-driven insights.
Executives said these insights can help deliver differentiated credit products, personalized line-of-credit programs, next-generation loan repayment, collections, servicing workflows and introduce rewards that are decoupled from interchange in a single platform.
“LoanPro is excited to partner with MX for data enrichment, powering our innovative line-of-credit and card programs supporting both B2B and B2C lending,” LoanPro CEO Rhett Roberts said in a news release. “Our partnership with MX will bring forward the first API powered revolving credit program providing the mechanism to differentiate credit products in a highly personalized way.
“With the marketplace’s ongoing chatter about interchange compression depleting the funding mechanism for reward programs, this new product offers what many are describing as the solution. By innovating at the lending core, we are enabling entirely new personalized lending programs that can grow and scale to the constantly changing needs of B2B and B2C borrowers,” Roberts continued.
Corinne Bartow is vice president of fintech partnerships at MX.
“We see financial data as the key to unlocking so many new opportunities for financial providers and consumers,” Bartow said. “By partnering with LoanPro to deliver accurately cleansed, categorized, and classified financial data through our MX Data Engine, we’re able to help power more personalized solutions across the loan lifecycle.”
Open Invention Network (OIN), the organization formed to safeguard open source software (OSS), announced last week that U.S. Bank has joined as a community member.
U.S. Bank is one of the largest regional banks in the United States by assets. OIN said through a news release that this development signals the bank’s continued support of cooperative technology development, as it uses open source software to advance the digital experiences available to customers that help them in their financial lives.
“We have an unrelenting focus to put customers at the center of what we do,” U.S. Bank chief innovation officer Don Relyea said in the news release. “Incorporating open source software is one of the ways we implement the best technologies in our systems to deliver services and experiences that our customers value and trust.
“At U.S. Bank, we are committed to technology innovation, and we are proud to join the Open Invention Network and support its role in protecting open source software,” Relyea continued.
As a community, OIN members practice patent non-aggression in core Linux and adjacent open source technologies by cross-licensing Linux System patents to one another on a royalty-free basis. Patents owned by Open Invention Network are similarly licensed royalty-free to any organization that agrees not to assert its patents against the Linux System.
“In financial services, digital innovators increasingly rely on open source technologies for building and integrating feature-rich platforms,” Open Invention Network CEO Keith Bergelt said in the news release.
“As one of the largest U.S. banks, and a leading developer and investor in Fintech, we are pleased that U.S. Bank is committed to patent non-aggression in core Linux and adjacent open source technologies,” Bergelt went on to say.
To join community, the membership form and the OIN license agreement can be signed online at http://www.j-oin.net/.
TruDecision CEO Daniel Parry elaborated about the current state of the auto finance market in conjunction with an exciting development for his company that was one of the first Emerging 8 honorees in 2019.
On Tuesday, TruDecision announced that it’s expanding its partnership with CIG Financial, an AutoNation company that will be rebranded as AutoNation Finance.
TruDecision now will be building captive financing business for AutoNation Finance by delivering sophisticated modeling and analytics. It’s what Parry sees as a key component in the AutoNation Finance’s competitive program offering.
TruDecision provides a “revolutionary” analytic platform as a service, where highly sophisticated models are rapidly deployed to transform financing strategy. The company, founded by seasoned auto finance and analytic technology executives, focuses on driving bottom line results by linking the lender’s unique operational approach to quantitative tools that achieve significant performance improvement.
“Models should never be created in a vacuum”, Parry said in a news release. “In order to achieve meaningful results, these tools must be developed with a deep understanding of the business environment within which they are deployed. We are proud to partner with a top organization like CIG that embraces a quantitative approach to propel performance and the dealer experience to the next level.”
On July 21, AutoNation announced an agreement to acquire CIG in order to extend its relationship with its customers to include the entire vehicle ownership cycle.
“We have always been recognized by our commitment to bringing value to our dealer partners in order to help them achieve greater sales,” CIG Financial president Jeff Butler said in the news release. “As we expand to serve AutoNation dealerships, this becomes more important than ever. The ability to offer highly competitive terms on more approvals is a critical part of delivering on that commitment.
“The team at TruDecision not only offers best-in-class solutions to help us achieve this, but their substantial experience as auto lenders enables us to seamlessly integrate their models into our existing operations,” Butler said.
What kind of market is this company entering now as AutoNation Finance? Parry responded to four questions from Auto Fin Journal, dissecting the current landscape as well what might be ahead.
Auto Fin Journal: Stemming from your contacts and conversations, how much are finance companies tightening their underwriting? What’s triggered them to make changes?
Daniel Parry: There has not been a widespread tightening, as many are still trying to grow. Having said that, there are cases where some of the smarter lenders are recognizing changes in their portfolios and are taking steps to shore up underwriting on the weakest applicants that fit their funding profile. We advise lenders to get on this now, and to do this surgically. You don’t have to reprice or rewrite your entire strategy, but target applicants who have the most debt exposure in the lowest tiers. If lenders pay attention to where they are unnecessarily losing good deals, they can actually improve credit performance and grow at the same time. For those that have made changes, the trigger has been an increase in delinquency and the incidence of loss above what one would expect seasonally this time of year. I say the word “incidence” regarding loss, because actual net dollar losses are low due to unusually high vehicle recovery values — which will not last forever.
AFJ: And how do they feel about their current portfolios? How solid is the paper that’s arrived in the past 24 months?
DP: Most of the lenders I speak to feel very good about what they have booked in the past 24 months. There immediate concern is buffering for shifts in performance that are inevitable. Recessions, and other setbacks, expose weakness in underwriting when we think times are good, as in 2006 and 2019. When the market is frothy, lenders may stretch for volume. This usually shows up in too much car and too much payment for consumers who can barely afford it. When the economy shifts or inflation shows up, performance deteriorates. However, during a crisis lending tends to be contracted. Lenders raise standards and price and produce very lucrative portfolios. In 2020-2021, delinquency and loss dropped by around 20% on average due to the fact that there was so much forbearance in the market. Deferred auto, rent, student loan and credit card payments along with stimulus put the consumer in a good position. As that forbearance has evaporated, performance has to move back to a normal baseline. What has been booked in the last two years is solid as it is, but lenders must make sure economic factors don’t push that shift too far past that baseline or their access to lending capital could be impaired.
AFJ: How have you and the TruDecision team sharpened your client tools to help users feel more confident about the paper that’s going into their portfolios?
DP: Credit is always a moving target, which is why we tend to be very high touch with our customers. Many lenders rely on black box models that overfit yesterday’s world as if it is a perfect projection of tomorrow’s. While it is critical to have sophisticated models, sharpening the tool — or the prediction as it were — really involves understanding where the lender should go beyond the score. This includes integrating economic and market factors, competition, program execution and in-depth performance tracking, and linking those elements to a competent loss forecast. With the latter, the lender can see and make adjustments in real time to protect performance and ensure a healthy closure rate. The number one reason lenders struggle is that they do not get out in front of performance issues early enough to affect timely change. We are very focused on those early warning metrics that allow them to do that.
AFJ: What do you see at the top factor impacting auto financing in 2023 and why?
DP: Many would expect my answer to be falling vehicle values, but it is not. Inventory shortages take time to correct, so there is not a recovery cliff coming. We will see values fall over the next 12-18 months, but those are offset with new originations that are adjusting to the current auction trends. Values will drop, and it will have an impact that is spread over many months leading to a gradual return to historical recovery rates. The top factor in the near term (i.e., 2023) is really the debt stressed consumer in a recessionary environment. Many subprime lenders that have been at $17,000-$20,000 average amount financed have been booking deals at $25,000-$30,000 amount financed. Average payment has gone up more than $100 over pre-pandemic levels. The effect of inflation in all segments of the economy are hitting consumers hard. While unemployment is low now, due in part to a lower participation rate, it will likely increase. A portion of consumers with the highest debt loads and large payments on a vehicle that is rapidly depreciating will turn in their car or trade down. I am not predicting a meltdown event, as some often due regarding auto finance; however, lenders that don’t tighten up on some of these already stretched consumers in their lowest risk tiers will see performance deteriorate. For lenders who utilize warehouse debt facilities, their borrowing base will shrink causing them to either cut volume or come up with more equity to keep funding at the same pace. This is not an inevitable outcome, but I strongly recommend lenders take a close look at where they are exposed on this issue and take preventative measures.
Last week, Solutions by Text, a provider of enterprise text messaging solutions focused on consumer financial services, announced an integration with LiveVox, a leading cloud-based provider of customer service and digital engagement tools.
According to a news release, Solutions by Text (SBT) will join the LiveVox Partner Ecosystem, a network of technology and solution providers working together to shape the future of customer and agent experience by powering contact center performance.
As a result of the integration, Solutions by Text customers will have access to LiveVox’s full-suite of digital engagement solutions for contact center customers and agents, including AI-powered virtual agents, a purpose-built contact center CRM, and self-service tools, as well as agent optimization and engagement capabilities.
“LiveVox’s comprehensive and easy-to-implement contact center platform will greatly benefit our customers that are looking to take an omnichannel approach to their customer engagement strategy,” Solutions by Text CEO David Baxter said in the news release.
“Text messaging continues to be consumers’ preferred method of communication — our integration with LiveVox ensures that our customers can deliver a best-in-class customer experience, bringing consistency and compliance to every interaction and touchpoint,” Baxter continued.
By joining the LiveVox Partner Ecosystem, SBT mentioned that its customers will have the option to manage all of their communication channels through a single interface to optimize their customer service and digital engagement capabilities.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Solutions by Text to the LiveVox Partner Ecosystem,” LiveVox CEO and co-founder Louis Summe said. “Text messaging is a critical channel for immediate and effective customer engagement, and SBT’s solutions will help to further expand our customer engagement capabilities.”
To learn more about Solutions by Text, visit http://www.solutionsbytext.com. To learn about LiveVox, visit https://livevox.com/.
On Wednesday, ACI Worldwide and Constant highlighted how they’re now working together.
The provider of mission-critical, real-time payments software and the fintech involved in self-service loan management software announced a partnership that they said will allow finance companies to increase contract volumes, streamline their collection process, drive revenue and lower cost to serve.
Pairing ACI Speedpay and Constant’s CX capabilities enhance the self-service experience for loan management driving greater digital engagement with customers. ACI Speedpay serves thousands of billers in the U.S.
Both ACI Worldwide and Constant said consumers are increasingly turning to digital when it comes to managing bill payments, including seeking out better self-serve experiences.
According to industry research they cited, 81% of consumers say they want more self-service options, with 95% of businesses seeing growth in self-service requests.
More than 34% of consumers cited faster response times as their number one benefit, based on the research ACI Worldwide and Constant mentioned in a news release.
“Keeping up with consumer expectations requires a more proactive focus, which is why Constant and ACI Worldwide held a tech summit with the leaders of top lending institutions to discuss how we can help them close the customer experience gaps today and tomorrow,” said Darcy Locke, head of consumer finance of the biller segment at ACI Worldwide.
“With this collaboration, we are creating the next level of user experience for consumer finance lending, across all debt types and devices,” Locke continued.
Powered by ACI Speedpay’s comprehensive suite of products offering advanced bill payment capabilities and Constant’s enhanced user experience, finance company customers can self-serve for a greater number of servicing tasks that are typically handled manually.
The company highlighted the expanded services will provide access to the most relevant payment services (debit, prepaid, credit, EMV and contactless), digital wallets (Apple Pay and Google Pay) and alternative payment methods (PayPal, Venmo, etc.)
“Many institutions are under pressure to expand their digital presence, respond to borrowers faster and generate revenue from existing customers. However, many of them still rely on legacy systems that limit automation, self-service and access to the payment methods and processing speeds that customers are demanding today,” Constant chief executive officer Catherine York Powers said.
“Our partnership with ACI will help lenders quickly stand up a solution that meets a growing number of customer preferences. Against the backdrop of rising defaults and lower margins, we can help them drive revenue in the loan servicing experience,” York Powers went on to say.
Visit www.aciworldwide.com/acispeedpaypulse for more billing and payment insights.
