Reynolds and Reynolds recently released the Reynolds LAW Georgia F&I Library, which is a comprehensive catalog of standardized, legally reviewed finance and insurance (F&I) documents for franchised dealers in the state of Georgia.
The company now has developed more than 30 state-specific Reynolds LAW brand F&I documents libraries, surpassing the midway point to a goal of creating LAW F&I libraries for all 50 states.
“F&I paperwork can be exacting and demanding both for dealerships and for their customers,” said Jerry Kirwan, senior vice president and general manager of Reynolds Document Services. “The F&I forms in use are often sourced from different vendors, may be outdated, or may have other inconsistencies — all of which can raise compliance risk for dealers and add confusion for dealership personnel and car buyers.”
"With each state-specific F&I forms library, we’ve built a trusted resource for dealers to better manage all of the forms necessary to complete a deal; better meet federal, state, and city F&I paperwork requirements; and deliver a more consistent, rewarding experience to car buyers at the dealership,” Kirwan continued.
And now Reynolds is offering the services for stores in Georgia.
"Regulatory scrutiny is an ongoing concern for automotive retailers. The LAW Georgia F&I Library is a tool to help dealers meet compliance obligations and manage risk,” Kirwan said. “The documents in the library are regularly reviewed for legal sufficiency with the latest automotive regulations by Reynolds' industry-leading forms specialists alongside Reynolds' outside legal partners."
Kirwan noted that because the documents in the LAW Georgia F&I Library are written in consumer-friendly language, they are designed to help streamline the car-buying process and enhance the consumer experience with the dealership.
"The documents can help to create a clearer, more consistent, and more efficient F&I process for the F&I manager and for the consumer. And, because of those improvements to the overall F&I process, the overall consumer experience with the dealership can be improved,” he said.
The printed documents in the LAW Georgia F&I Library also are available in a digital format, which can help facilitate the conversion to laser-printed transactions and e-contracting. Reynolds Document Services maintains licensing agreements with all major providers of electronic F&I (e-F&I) solutions.
The Reynolds LAW brand F&I libraries contain a comprehensive suite of standardized F&I documents developed to help meet the business needs of new-vehicle retailers in the specific state.
Kirwan went on to mention each state-specific LAW forms library is designed to deliver the following for automotive retailers:
—Manage compliance risk: Reynolds forms specialists regularly review the documents in the LAW F&I Libraries for legal sufficiency with the latest automotive regulations. They work in conjunction with Reynolds' outside legal partners and, where applicable, state automobile dealer associations.
—Streamline F&I processes: By using the standardized vehicle deal documents in the LAW F&I Libraries, dealers can achieve a more consistent and effective F&I process in every transaction.
—Increase customer satisfaction: Documents in the LAW F&I Libraries are written in consumer-friendly language to help create a more transparent and understandable F&I process and improve the consumer experience with the dealership.
—Smooth the transition to electronic documents: The printed documents in the LAW F&I Libraries are also available in digital format, which helps facilitate the conversion to laser-printed transactions or e-contracting. Reynolds Document Services maintains licensing agreements with all major providers of electronic F&I (eF&I) solutions.
States available include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
“To surpass the midway point of creating an F&I forms library for every state is a testament to our team's document development knowledge and compliance expertise, as well as to the printing and fulfillment capabilities of our forms manufacturing operation,” Kirwan said.
“We look forward to the completion of this project nationwide and to the ongoing work of maintaining the F&I forms libraries. Our team will continue to regularly review and update the documents to incorporate dealer and OEM feedback and keep pace with current legislation and regulatory requirements,” he went on to say.
On Monday, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA announced key appointments to its executive leadership team in support of the captive’s business priorities and growth strategies to help dealership throughout the U.S. and Canada. Both appointments are effective immediately.
The finance company said Rodolfo Dominguez has been appointed vice president of business transformation and chief digital officer. Johan Swart has been promoted to vice president and chief information officer.
“Our focus on talent development has created a strong leadership bench that is fueling our success for sustainable business transformation,” said Peter Zieringer, president and chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and regional head of Daimler Financial Services Americas.
“Rodolfo and Johan will set a strong precedent in finding innovative digital solutions that benefit our dealers, customers and employees to enhance the Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and Daimler Truck Financial brands,” Zieringer continued.
In addition to his role as chief digital officer, Dominguez becomes the first to lead the newly formed business transformation office. The captive explained he will lead a team of more than 90 members and will be responsible for the transformational change of people, processes and technologies that accelerate the company's vision of providing a first-class digital experience for key stakeholders in the Americas region.
Swart succeeds Udo Neumann, who is now the global CIO for Daimler Financial Services. Swart will lead more than 400 team members and direct overall IT strategy, resource planning, budgeting and operational initiatives for the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
The captive highlighted Dominguez and Swart co-led the delivery of an innovative technology solution in the U.S. and Canada to replace the company's core contract management systems and establish the foundation for future digital expansion.
Previously, Dominguez was vice president of enterprise portfolio management, responsible for overseeing the prioritization and execution of strategic enterprise-wide initiatives. Dominguez has held several roles of increasing responsibility throughout his career, leading teams in the United States, Canada and Mexico. These have included: vice president of global products, processes and systems; president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Canada; and business center director in Canada.
Before joining the company in 1996, Dominguez worked for Hussmann Refrigeration and KPMG in his native Mexico.
Most recently, Swart was senior manager of IT applications management. He joined Mercedes-Benz Financial Services as an IT senior manager in 2006 after serving as the CIO of financial services and sales for Mercedes-Benz South Africa, where he led the full integration of information technology management functions for the company's various IT units.
Swart began his career with Mercedes-Benz South Africa in 1998 as a business analyst in the IT division.
AutoGravity announces partnership with Mercedes-Benz Financial Services
In other company news, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services recently partnered with AutoGravity.
With Mercedes-Benz Financial Services fully integrated into the public beta release of a digital platform, California buyers using AutoGravity will experience a selection of retail installment contract and lease options when financing a new vehicle on the AutoGravity iOS App, Android App or mobile-responsive Web App.
“AutoGravity was created to empower car buyers through their smartphones and give them access to a wide selection of auto finance options from the palm of their hands,” said Andy Hinrichs, founder and CEO.
“The partnership with Mercedes-Benz Financial Services provides choice for our users and gives Mercedes-Benz access to a broader pool of new and existing digitally savvy customers,” Hinrichs continued. “This is a prime example of how the AutoGravity platform benefits consumers, dealerships and lenders.”
Founded in 2015 in Irvine, Calif., AutoGravity uses proprietary technology to introduce efficiency, transparency and the power of choice to the auto financing process.
The AutoGravity app is designed to allow buyers to choose any new car make, model and trim, browse nearby dealerships that sell that vehicle, apply for financing online with three easy steps and select from up to four resulting finance offers. Customers then take their offer to the dealership and complete the process of leasing or purchasing the vehicle they selected with personalized finance offers in the palm of their hand.
The partnership gives AutoGravity users access to Mercedes-Benz Financial Services as a financing option when purchasing a Mercedes-Benz or smart vehicle, while offering the finance provider unprecedented pathway to the growing segment of smartphone-reliant customers.
“Our partnership with AutoGravity is valuable, because it enhances our positioning among the growing number of digital-savvy consumers who rely on smartphone technology when making purchasing decisions,” Zieringer said.
Instant loan and lease offers from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services will now be included among the options available on AutoGravity’s mobile and web apps.
The AutoGravity app is available for Apple devices running iOS 8.4 or higher on the App Store, Android devices running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or higher on the Google Play Store and all web devices at www.autogravity.com.
The company added that financing for vehicles purchased in other states — as well as additional app features, updates and accessibility options — are currently under development, and will be announced soon.
Fiserv recently launched a multi-tier implementation model for its auto loan origination system (LOS) and automotive account servicing solutions to help new entrants expand into auto financing and growing companies improve their efficiencies.
According to credit bureaus, an estimated 114 million new contracts and leases are expected during the next three years, and auto loans now make up 9.6 percent of the consumer wallet. With this increased demand for financing, Fiserv emphasized new and established finance companies alike want to capitalize on auto financing that requires little ramp-up time and low upfront costs without the need for dedicated resources to implement and manage.
Loan Advantage from Fiserv is designed to address the needs of new entrants and growing finance companies with a packaged approach to loan configuration and implementation, through business process outsourcing (BPO) services. These services include credit processing, contract funding, dealer integrations, accounting and cash management, default management, collateral management and customer care, which can enable finance companies to use a single partner for their origination, accounting and servicing needs.
“Lenders typically work with multiple vendors to tie a full solution together. They struggle with scalability and automation with limited technology, and often end up servicing accounts through manual processes,” said Bret Leech, president of lending solutions at Fiserv.
”With Loan Advantage from Fiserv, the implementation is unique, as we establish key customizations upfront and then stand up the servicing, accounting and originations together, thereby shortening and streamlining the entire process of purchasing and leasing a vehicle,” Leech continued.
This right-sized approach to the Fiserv end-to-end solution can allow for a more specialized configured or customized solution that support a lender’s individual needs. For those finance companies that only need to replace certain components of their technology, Fiserv can also provide originations or servicing solutions independently in either preconfigured or specialized configuration implementation models.
“Additionally, where lenders would need their own internal team for ongoing maintenance, minor system configuration changes, and to make adjustments based on the market ebb and flow,” Leech said.
“The Fiserv approach builds in time to make these changes on the lender’s behalf, enabling the company to focus less on technology configurations and more on car buyers,” he went on to say. “The servicing portion is offered through BPO and can easily scale as a lender’s portfolio grows.”
This week, CU Direct appointed former AutoNation and TrueCar executive Ron Frey to serve as the company's chief strategy officer for automotive solutions. Frey begins his new position this month.
Frey has spent 30 years serving the automotive and credit union industry, bringing innovative business and technological advancements to the industry. In his position with CU Direct, he will oversee the planning and direction of automotive solutions as it relates to product and market expansion.
This includes the oversight of existing products, including CUDL, one of the nation’s largest credit union auto financing platforms, and AutoSMART, a credit union industry's online vehicle shopping site that offer more than 2 million vehicles in dealer inventory.
Frey comes to CU Direct from AutoNation, where he was chief strategy officer and president of AutoNation Direct.
“Ron's expansive leadership, partnered with strategic planning has led him to succeed in implementing cutting-edge technology solutions,” CU Direct president and chief executive Tony Boutelle.
“We are excited to have him join our team, as we continue to evolve our innovative automotive products to better serve our 1,000 credit unions and more than 12,000 dealer partners,” Boutelle continued.
Frey's extensive experience also includes serving as CEO of Autoland, and playing an integral role in the launch of Cars Direct. In addition, he served as the chief operating officer and partner of TrueCar in 2005.
“I am pleased to be joining the CU Direct Team where I can leverage my background in technology innovation, deep automotive experience and credit union experience,” Frey said.
“I look forward to digging in and looking for ways to bring innovation and value to our credit unions and dealer partners,” he went on to say.
National Automobile Dealers Association chairman Jeff Carlson went back to the media this week in an effort to sound another warning to Washington, D.C., about implementing policies that would inadvertently make buying, financing, trading-in, and servicing vehicles harder and more expensive for consumers.
Carlson, in NADA’s annual policy speech to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit, illustrated a number of real-world examples of how decisions in Washington and elsewhere are leading to increased prices for consumers when they go to buy new vehicles, when consumers obtain financing for those vehicles, and when consumers go to trade-in older vehicles for newer, cleaner and safer cars and trucks.
Carlson asked the gathering a series of questions:
—If Washington wanted to implement a policy that would add $600 to the cost of financing a new car, what would you call that?
—What about a policy that would take anywhere from $1,200 to $6,000 out of a customer’s pocket when they went to trade-in a used vehicle in order to buy a new one?
—How about a policy that would add thousands of dollars to every single new vehicle that every manufacturer makes, up and down their entire lineups, right out of the gate?
—Or what if new-car buyers had to pay hundreds of dollars more at the retail level because Washington thought it was no longer beneficial to consumers to have multiple, independent retailers competing with each other for the same customers?
Carlson continued, “Leaving aside what Washington calls it, what would that feel like as a customer? Do you think that customer feels like they just got taxed? You’re darn right they do.”
Carlson — who is also the president of Glenwood Springs Ford and Glenwood Springs Subaru in Colorado, as well as Summit Ford in Silverthorne, Colorado — has been leading the efforts of franchised dealers to remind leaders in Washington that their policy objectives can’t be achieved if vehicles become too expensive for consumers to afford.
“NADA is in the business of telling Washington that they better get it right. And getting it right means keeping it affordable,” Carlson said. “So what NADA has said to leaders in Washington is that: We understand your goals, and we agree with many of your goals, but we cannot accomplish those goals on the backs of our customers.”
“What we’re doing is standing up for our customers, and helping Washington find a better way that protects our customers but still gets us across the policy goal line,” he went on to say.
To see Carlson’s complete remarks, go to this website.
Along with adjustments of its top management, White Clarke Group announced on Tuesday that Five Arrows Principal Investments — the corporate private equity business of Rothschild & Co. — made what is being described as a “significant equity investment” in the global provider of specialist technology and software solutions to the automotive, asset and consumer finance markets.
Having invested substantially in its CALMS product range during the last few years, White Clarke Group highlighted that it has achieved “considerable” growth globally and has now reached a point where the business will benefit from greater scale to meet growing customer demand.
Officials highlighted Five Arrows Principal Investments will leverage its capabilities to support White Clarke Group in its transition into the next stage of growth. Five Arrows Principal Investments has a focus on supporting software and technology platforms with recurring revenue streams underpinned by high customer satisfaction and retention rates.
As part of the transaction, White Clarke Group has announced that Brendan Gleeson, currently executive vice president of the group, will take on the role of chief executive officer. Ed White, currently president and chief executive officer of the group, will transition into the role of chairman.
“Five Arrows Principal Investments’ confidence in White Clarke Group and its CALMS product is a significant endorsement of our strategy and the way we have transformed the business over the last five years. The Rothschild & Co. partnership will give us the platform we need to achieve the next phase of our growth strategy and help scale the business,” Gleeson said.
“I very much look forward to working with the leadership team to ensure White Clarke Group achieves its considerable potential,” he continued. “We will continue to invest in our people, our product and our customers to ensure this happens.”
Meanwhile, White touched on what it means that the company is elevating Gleeson to his new post as this “significant” equity investment arrives.
“With a strong executive leadership team and Brendan’s passion for this business, White Clarke Group is well-positioned to move to the next stage of its growth trajectory,” White said. “I believe Five Arrows Principal Investments will be an ideal shareholder. Under their stewardship, the legacy of my late business partner, Dara Clarke, and myself — which bears both our names — will be protected and our business can move from strength to strength.
“I am very proud of what the people in our organization have achieved and grateful for our customers’ continued faith in us,” White went on to say.
The latest report from Fitch Ratings indicated U.S. auto loan and lease credit performance will likely continue to deteriorate in the second half of 2016 and into 2017.
Analysts noted year-over-year credit performance deteriorated for auto finance companies in the first half of 2016, despite improved loss rates in the first half of this year relative to the second half of last year, which Fitch attributed primarily to seasonality.
“Fitch expects credit performance to continue to deteriorate going into 2017, particularly in the subprime segment as less tenured auto finance companies with looser underwriting standards have entered the market in recent years,” Fitch Ratings director Michael Taiano said.
Strong vehicle installment contract as well as lease portfolio growth for Fitch-rated auto finance companies continued in the first half of this year due to strong vehicle sales, low interest rates and continued consumer demand for leases and extended loan terms. Although analysts acknowledged the growth rate decelerated slightly from last year.
Fitch is expecting financing growth to continue to moderate, particularly should interest rates rise and used-vehicle values decline, which could impact lease pricing.
Despite the recent credit deterioration, Fitch-rated auto lenders' ABS credit performance continues to be strong relative to historical norms as the average net loss rate increased a modest 8 basis points to 0.73 percent in the second quarter of this year from 0.65 percent in the year-ago period.
The firm pointed out average 30-day delinquencies actually decreased slightly to 3.16 percent from 3.25 percent during the same period.
“Losses among the largest auto lenders remained low, but continue to normalize due to an increase in both loss frequency and severity,” Fitch said. “The average net charge-off rate on the managed portfolios for lenders cited in the report increased to 0.53 percent from 0.43 percent year-over-year.”
Fitch went on to mention that Huntington Bank, Chase and American Honda Finance ended the first half of the year with the lowest credit loss rates largely due to the prime nature of their portfolios and consistent underwriting standards.
“Credit losses and delinquencies for the auto finance industry will likely trend higher as more recent vintages continue to season and recovery values decline from historic highs,” Taiano said.
This week, EFG Companies and Northwood University announced the student competitors and F&I mentors participating in the second annual F&I Innovator of the Year competition.
Vying for $25,000 in prize money, this year’s 18 contestants hail from Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and the mentors come from six different franchised dealer groups.
The credit-based competition pits the student teams against each other to conceptualize and build a new F&I product. Each team is mentored by an F&I director, and the competing teams develop a business case for their new F&I product that incorporates industry research, market viability, and the product’s potential to facilitate F&I product sales in franchise dealerships. The teams will also keep weekly YouTube video diaries of their progress, challenges and breakthroughs.
“The mentors’ industry experience is invaluable in guiding the competitors on the real-world challenges facing dealerships today,” said John Pappanastos, president and chief executive officer of EFG Companies.
“From changing consumer purchasing behaviors, to increased FTC and CFPB compliance oversight, and a call for enhanced transparency, these mentors will impart a wealth of knowledge that spurs innovation among the students,” Pappanastos continued.
The teams and mentors include:
—Angular Momentum: Charles Elledge of Coal City, Ill., Charles Wheatley of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., and Harry Collins of Franklinville, N.J.; mentored by Ben Hagan of the Bob Moore Auto Group, Oklahoma City.
—Envision: Alex Rogers of Lancaster, Pa., Ali Nasrallah of Dearborn, Mich., and Zach Peters of Philadelphia; mentored by Caleb Hargreaves of the Hanlees Auto Group, Davis, Calif.
—Groundbreakers: James Skop of Petoskey, Mich., Tori Mason of Detroit and Zach Luchenbill of Pinkney, Mich.; mentored by Sam Levin of the Nyle Maxwell Auto Group, Austin, Texas.
—Triple Clutch: Amanda Poriefka of Midland, Mich., Harrison Ervin of Chesaning, Mich., and Mollie Arnold of Lowell, Ind.; mentored by Dena Moore of the Davis-Moore Auto Group, Wichita, Kan.
—Team Turbo: Cody Davidson of Green Bay, Wis., Kendra Taylor of Flushing, Mich., and Mark Ruhle of Royal Oak, Mich.; mentored by Greg Grimes of the Rohrich Auto Group, Harrisburg, Pa.
—Team Vigilance: Alec Bond of Lindin, Mich., Houston Huff of Tucson, Ariz., and Lucas Myhre of Austin, Texas; mentored by Craig Drew of the Central Maine Motors Auto Group, Waterville, Maine.
Each year, Northwood selects the best and brightest students from the Automotive Marketing and Management Program to participate in the F&I Innovator of the Year competition. To be eligible for participation, each student must maintain a 3.0 GPA, and hold internships or extracurricular activities in the automotive industry.
The competition runs through Nov. 11 when a panel of leading dealer principals and EFG executives will judge each team’s business case. EFG Companies will award the winning team $25,000 and will develop the winning F&I product for the retail automotive market. The company will also return a percentage of the product’s revenue to Northwood University.
For more information on the competition, visit this website.
Tile, a Silicon Valley-based smart location company, and Axiom Product Administration, a finance and insurance (F&I) product company, recently signed an exclusive distribution partnership to help protect individuals from the stress and expense of losing their vehicle keys.
The Revolution Key Protection program, or RevKey, will combine a new protection product by Axiom along with a technology device and smartphone app designed and built by Tile.
The companies explained automotive key fobs are expensive electronic devices — essentially, tiny computers — that can cost hundreds of dollars to replace. Most drivers are unaware that their auto insurance policies do not cover the loss of key fobs and they are caught by surprise when they are forced to cover the expense themselves.
Axiom and Tile have worked together to design a solution that solves this pain point. Tile’s Bluetooth tracker will attach to a driver’s key fob to help locate misplaced keys. If the keys end up lost, stolen or quit working, Axiom will provide up to $1,000 to cover the cost of replacing the key fob and Tile device.
“Keys are one of the most frequently lost items in a person's everyday life, and key fobs for modern cars are incredibly expensive to replace," said Scott Shillington, vice president of sales and business development at Tile. “We are happy to work with Axiom to provide drivers with increased peace of mind.”
RevKey is currently available through dealership F&I departments nationwide and in most cases, will be sold at the point of purchase as a one, three, or five-year policy. Customers will be provided with a new Tile each year.
Each dealership promoting the RevKey program can customize the Tile fob with a brand/logo, giving the dealership 24/7 brand exposure.
“Our mission is to offer F&I products that resonate with today's automotive consumer and to create a unique and modern user experience,” said Axiom president and chief executive officer Michael Reth. “Revolution Key Protection sets the benchmark very high by combining a traditional F&I protection product with the awesome technology features of Tile.”
Dealerships interested in offering Revolution Key Protection can contact Axiom at (844) 252-0937 or [email protected].
GSFSGroup, a nationwide provider and administrator of F&I products and hiring solutions for the automotive industry, recently launched what the company is calling the Dealer Executive Dashboard. It’s a flexible online data solution that can offer GSFSGroup dealers and agents a host of benefits to help with strategies to improve dealer profitability.
Dealer Executive Dashboard can allow clients to gain access to five critical pieces of information, including:
—Extensive claim analytics
—Customer retention data
—Performance reports
—Dealer comparisons
—Participation structure information
And that information all can be found within a centralized online repository.
The company highlighted the user-friendly design and mobile compatibility can offer quick access to reports on the go. Reports are available at the touch of a button and eliminate reliance on paper.
“We saw a pain point for our clients when it comes to information and wanted to find a solution. This gives our clients the ability to access info anywhere and anytime,” GSFSGroup president Steve Amos said.
“Our clients that piloted this tool are telling us that the Dealer Executive Dashboard puts GSFSGroup a step ahead,” Amos continued. “I am proud of our team for creating, developing and launching this tool. We will continue to build and push the market forward using tomorrow’s technology."
For more information, visit www.gsfsgroup.com.
