Before the year closed, Reynolds and Reynolds added to its collection of libraries of standardized, legally reviewed finance and insurance (F&I) documents for dealers while a subprime finance company serving the Midwest — U Drive Acceptance — moved into new offices.

Furthermore, FICO is looking to help finance companies begin 2017 successfully by dissecting alternative deal structures through a free webinar.

In late December, Reynolds released the Reynolds LAW Montana F&I Library. That announcement came on the heels of the company rolling out the Reynolds LAW Oklahoma F&I Library as well as the Reynolds LAW New York F&I Library.

“The documents in the (libraries) are designed to help dealers meet compliance obligations and manage risk,” said Jerry Kirwan, senior vice president and general manager of Reynolds Document Services. “At the same time, because the documents in the library are written in consumer-friendly language, they can help dealers to establish a clearer, more efficient F&I process. A more efficient F&I process can help lead to a better overall customer experience with the dealership.

"Since regulatory scrutiny is an ongoing concern for automotive retailers, the (library) is a tool to help dealers better meet compliance obligations and manage risk,” Kirwan continued. “Using standard documents written in consumer-friendly language can help to create a clearer, more consistent, and more efficient F&I process for the F&I manager and for the consumer.”

Kirwan also noted that the documents in the library are regularly reviewed for legal sufficiency with the latest automotive regulations by Reynolds’ forms specialists alongside Reynolds’ outside legal partners.

The printed documents in the resources for Montana, Oklahoma and New York 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.

Steven Rankin, president of the Oklahoma Automobile Dealers Association, added, “The Oklahoma Automobile Dealers Association aims to protect and support the business interests of Oklahoma car and truck dealers.

“We are happy to share the LAW Oklahoma F&I Library with our dealers because it is designed to help them maintain compliance, improve day-to-day F&I operations, and improve the experience of buying a car or truck for their customers,” Rankin went on to say.

Now with Montana, Oklahoma and New York in the offering portfolio, other states where Reynolds resources are 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.

U Drive Acceptance moves into new space

U Drive Acceptance (UDAC) recently shifted its operation into a new office at 1119 Historic Fourth in downtown Sioux City, Iowa. UDAC is a subprime finance company founded by president Brian Berkenpas and specializes in providing financial solutions to independent and franchised dealers and their customers.

UDAC currently operates in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and Missouri with plans to expand into other Midwest states in the near future.

Since 2013, UDAC has been sharing office space with its affiliated dealership, Big Deal Auto Plaza.

“Our growth has been beyond what had been forecasted. With all of the new technology we have implemented, it was time to make the separation,” UDAC vice president Neil Evans said.

UDAC leverages the technology provided by Creditsmarts to facilitate originations. UDAC chief financial officer Jeremy Bennett explained the importance.

“Our new LOS (loan origination system) has allowed us to go from working three different platforms to only one, which increases our efficiencies dramatically,” Bennett said. “We have been able to stream line our approval process through automation which allows our dealers to get approvals in a matter of seconds on one out of every four applications.”

Creditsmarts national lender sales manager Chad Simmons added, “When U Drive made the move to become an indirect lender, we were very pleased that they selected us for their LOS services. It has been our pleasure to work with Jeremy and Neil as well their team. We are excited to be a part of their growth and bright future.”

For more information, visit www.udriveac.com.   

FICO webinar on alternative deal structures

FICO is offering a free educational webinar focused on how to use predictive analytics and optimization to generate alternative deal structures.

The session set for 1 p.m. ET on Jan. 19 will be orchestrated by FICO global analytic segment leader Matt Stanley and Ken Kertz, FICO’s practice leader, auto and motorized.

Stanley and Kertz intend to elaborate about how this approach can eliminate “rehashing” while facilitating regulatory compliance as well as increasing profitability by reducing the perceived need to underprice the competition along with enhanced customer satisfaction.

“When car dealerships have interested customers who are ready to purchase vehicles, nothing is more frustrating than struggling to structure the right deals — ones that maximize profitability, fit the risk parameters of the lender and satisfy buyers,” FICO said.

“Lenders can spend a significant amount of time manually reviewing and restructuring each deal before customers sign on the dotted line. But manual deal restructuring is inefficient and leads to inconsistent origination strategies, credit and regulatory risk exposure and deals lost to the competition,” FICO continued.

Most lenders know that using predictive analytics can help them make better lending decisions. Optimization takes it a step further by identifying the best possible options given a set of variables, constraints and objectives,” FICO went on to say.

Registration for the free webinar can be completed here.