Indirect Lending For Credit Unions, Banks, and Everyone In Between

TCI Offers Wolters Kluwer Loan Documents to Client Base

2011-09-23T13:15:00.000-04:00

TCI Offers Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ Loan Documents to Lender Network
Sept. 8, 2011 – Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced today that TCI, which provides web-based loan origination software offered as software as a service (SaaS), will offer the Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ Bankers Systems® retail contracts and lease agreements to the more than 250 financial institutions using TCI’s DecisionLender.
TCI helps link credit unions, banks and finance companies with various types of merchants, including those in the furniture, appliance and automotive markets, whose customers require financing for major purchases. TCI’s DecisionLender system allows the merchant to easily send an applicant’s data to the lender, and helps the lender quickly evaluate the application and make a lending decision.
Through this new relationship, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ Bankers Systems® retail contracts and lease agreements will be integrated into DecisionLender. For TCI customers, this new relationship means that retail contracts and lease agreements can be easily prepared from the DecisionLender platform.
The contracts, which document financing for goods and services, are protected by the company’s limited compliance warranty and are built on more than 50 years of compliance knowledge and experience. They are maintained by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ compliance experts who monitor legislative and regulatory changes affecting the indirect finance industry in all U.S. jurisdictions.
“Lenders must continually ensure that they are staying on top of regulatory changes and meeting compliance requirements,” said Bill Nass, president, of TCI. “By integrating Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ contracts with our software, we can help lenders, as well as their customers, simplify this challenge and prepare loan documents with just a few mouse clicks.”
“Like TCI, we are committed to helping lenders accelerate the loan approval process, and regulatory compliance is a key part of this,” said Jason Marx, vice president and general manager of Indirect Lending and Mortgage at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. “Working with TCI, we can help more lenders and merchants gain access to the critical contracts they need to ensure each loan is documented accurately from the beginning.”
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ Indirect Lending business unit offers compliance documentation and customizable tools that address the regulatory requirements of the indirect lending market and help mitigate risk. In addition to Bankers Systems®, other prominent brands include AppOne®, a web-based platform that helps automate the indirect lending, credit approval and compliance processes for lenders and vehicle dealerships; CompliSource, an online tool for managing state and federal compliance law governing consumer finance and indirect lending; and DocOne®, a document printing engine and compliance validation tool that simplifies the finance process.
For more information, visit www.WoltersKluwerFS.com/Indirect.
About Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services is a comprehensive regulatory compliance and risk
management business that helps financial organizations manage operational, compliance and
financial risk and reporting, and improve efficiency and effectiveness across their enterprise.
The organization’s prominent brands include: FRSGlobal, ARC Logics for Financial Services, PCi,
Compliance Resource Network, Bankers Systems, VMP® Mortgage Solutions, AppOne®,
GainsKeeper®, Capital Changes, NILS, AuthenticWeb™ and Uniform Forms™. Wolters Kluwer
Financial Services supports its global customers with more than 30 offices in 20 countries and is
a leading worldwide provider of compliance and risk management solutions for the financial
services industry, serving more than 15,000 banking, insurance and securities customers across
the globe. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services is part of Wolters Kluwer, a leading global
information services and publishing company with annual revenues of (2010) €3.6 billion ($4.7
billion) and approximately 19,000 employees worldwide. Please visit our website for more
information.
About TCI
Supporting more than 250 credit unions, banks and finance companies across the United States,
TCI provides affordable loan origination solutions that give direct, indirect, internet and retail
lenders the edge they need to be first. For more information, visit www.tcidecisionlender.com.
###
Angie Peterson
Corporate Communications Manager
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
612-656-7745 tel
angela.peterson@wolterskluwer.com
On Twitter: http://Twitter.com/AngiePeterson
www.WoltersKluwerFS.com

TCI Featured In CUES Magazine

2011-07-18T10:12:00.003-04:00

Compliments of CUES Magazine, July 2011 Edition, Author: Jamie Swedberg

TCI Becomes a Symitar™ VIP Member

2011-07-15T09:19:00.001-04:00

TCI Becomes a Symitar™ VIP Member

TCI, a leader in loan origination solutions for credit unions, banks, and finance companies continues to enhance customer support by enrolling in Symitar’s Vendor Integration Program (VIP). Symitar, a division of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), provides core processing solutions and enterprise-wide automation for
approximately 700 credit unions.

VIP membership simplifies the process for lender credit unions that want to integrate Symitar’s Episys® core system with DecisionLender. As a Symitar VIP member, TCI has access to Symitar’s technical resources—implementation, programming, quality assurance and testing as well as support—so that customers don’t have
to worry about compatibility or technical issues.

“Our customers are seeking more and more complex solutions to stay competitive,” said TCI President Bill Nass.“As a Symitar VIP member, we are ensuring that the integration of their core system with the DecisionLender interface is simplified. Through this relationship our customers aren’t burdened with the technical aspects of
software integration.”

About TCI: Supporting more than 250 credit unions, banks and finance companies across the United States, TCI provides affordable loan origination solutions that give direct, indirect, internet and retail lenders the edge they
need to be first.

www.tcidecisionlender.com
For more information:
Sales Department
Teledata Communications, Inc. (TCI)
631-231-6700

Indirect Lending!

2011-07-11T15:30:00.001-04:00

More exciting news coming soon...sorry readers, we here at TCI have been very fortunate to have one of our biggest years for new customer additions.

More news to come.

Thanks
Barry

TCI partnership offers state-of-the-art risk management

2011-06-15T13:35:00.001-04:00

FOR RELEASE
June 2, 2011

TCI partnership offers state-of-the-art risk management TCI, a leader in loan origination software (LOS) utilized by credit unions, banks and finance companies to
automate their lending processes announced today that they have entered into a partnership with Jericho Information Technology (JIT) to give their lenders the competitive tools they need to rapidly respond to changing market conditions. By integrating Jericho’s state-of-the-art risk management solution to the data generated in TCI’s DecisionLender (LOS), lenders can immediately view their performance against their goals.

“Our goal is to provide solutions that give our customers a competitive edge,” said TCI President, Bill Nass, “and Jericho is unsurpassed in risk management solutions. Our lenders can drill down and determine how their business is performing and therefore react immediately to changing market conditions.”

By providing customers with JIT real-time predictive analytics, TCI’s DecisionLender gives lenders business intelligence solutions to identify trends and opportunities while improving the accuracy of their sales and credit data. JIT measures sales and operations, credit and portfolio information as well as competitive threats and adverse selection. Through a graphic display of metrics, available in real time, lenders maximize performance and boost profits.

“As a forerunner in providing affordable loan origination software solutions to lenders, TCI is a natural partner for Jericho Information Technology,” said Dave McCune, President of JIT. “Companies that use JIT react faster to market influences, improve profitability, and reduce enterprise risk factors. They recognize the value of fast, accurate, up-to-date enterprise information. “

Supporting over 250 credit unions, banks and finance companies across the US, TCI provides Decision Lender as a suite of loan origination software products delivered as “Software as a Service” (SAAS) for direct, indirect, internet and retail lenders.

www.tcidecisionlender.com
For more information:
Bill Nass
Teledata Communications, Inc. (TCI)
631.404.4122

Jericho Information Technology LLC provides Enterprise Business Intelligence, Risk Management, and Contact Management solutions for the lending Industry. Jericho provides services to extract and normalize data from all your legacy systems to help you eliminate the reporting silos that exist today.
www.jerichotech.com
For more information:
Dave McCune
817-282-4744.

Looking for a CUSO approach to Symitar...

2011-05-23T13:40:00.003-04:00

Check out our partners at MDT in Michigan!

http://www.mdtmi.com/

Lending Declining at Credit Unions Across Nation

2011-05-02T17:02:00.002-04:00

A Recent article from Credit Union Journal states lending is declining at Credit Unions throughout country. Lending was down 1.1% this quarter alone.

However, we see a different trend among our lenders. Our lenders are actually growing through diversification.

Feel free to learn more about our Retail Indirect Lending product @ www.tcidecisionlender.com

TCI is hitting the road, headed to Texas!

2011-04-06T10:01:00.002-04:00

We will be at the Texas Credit Union League show on April 26th...come by the booth to learn more about how TCI lenders are continuing to grow their loan productions while reducing the cost of business!

We will be displaying our indirect lending system as well as our very exciting Retail Lending platform.

Great Article on Navy Army's auto lending program

2011-03-28T09:34:00.001-04:00

Well done...
Click HERE to read

Member Driven Technology (MDT) Selects TCI as Preferred Indirect Lending Partner

2011-03-02T11:04:00.001-05:00

TCI, a leader in loan origination software (LOS) utilized by credit unions, banks and finance companies to automate their lending processes announced today that Member Driven Technologies (MDT), a member owned CUSO, has selected TCI as their preferred indirect lending partner. TCI’s DecisionLender, which is provided as Software as a Service (SaaS), enables lenders to reduce the time it takes to process a loan request and therefore reduce their costs.

Larry Nichols, CEO of MDT, stated, “We selected TCI because the DecisionLender product is very affordable but also very feature rich. As a Symitar service provider, we felt that it has the best bi-directional data interface to the Episys software which is crucial to our credit unions. In the hyper-competitive indirect lending market, our credit unions need tools that increase efficiency at an affordable price and DecisionLender delivers on that promise. It’s our philosophy that credit unions should concentrate on their members while we concentrate on the technology.”

“We thank MDT for their business” stated Bill Nass, President of TCI. “We believe our success is based upon the fact that we offer loan origination solutions and not just canned software. Our product is a total end to end solution that is simple and intuitive to use. We deliver efficiencies that reduce our customers’ costs by over 100%. We look forward to working with MDT and their credit union base.”

Supporting over 210 credit unions, banks and finance companies across the US, TCI provides loan origination software delivered as “Software as a Service” (SaaS) for direct, indirect, internet and retail lenders in a SAS 70, True Secure environment.

MDT provides the Episys software and other complementary products as a SaaS to over 50 credit unions throughout the country.

www.tcidecisionlender.com

Banner Year

2011-01-19T14:38:00.001-05:00

Thank you to all our new customers who helped make this past 2010 the best year for TCI.

Dont forget for you banks out there looking for a consumer lending platform, to give us a buzz!

Thanks
Barry

New Core System Interfaces

2010-11-24T13:39:00.001-05:00

Hi Folks! If you have been looking for a Loan Origination System to connect to your core system feel free to shoot me an email. We have recenlty wrapped up another round of completing several new core system interfaces and we now connect to about 90% of all banking and credit unions core systems!

Anoher Merchant Indirect Lender comes on board!

2010-10-20T21:25:00.001-04:00

PRESS RELEASE
Mutual Security Enters Merchant Lending Business
Hauppauge, NY October 20, 2010

TCI, a leader in loan origination software utilized by credit unions, banks and finance companies to automate their lending processes, announced today that Mutual Security Credit Union has agreed to implement DecisionLender:Retail, a module of TCI’s DecisionLender suite. DecisionLender:Retail is an end to end solution that accelerates the lending process by allowing qualified merchants to submit loan applications via a secure internet connection, automates the work flow so that a decision can be returned to the merchant in minutes, and provides for web based point of sale contract printing. Mutual Security will use DecisionLender:Retail to expand its lending product offering in support of its local community.
Mutual Security currently uses TCI’s DecisionLender to keep a competitive edge in its auto indirect lending market. However, Larry Holderman, CEO of Mutual Security Credit Union stated that “with the economic downturn, we needed to find new and creative ways to grow our loan portfolio.” Therefore they turned to TCI for input. Larry stated that “We believe that all of our loan products should be of service to our community. When we looked for new lending products to offer, we found that borrowers had few lending choices when financing items such as HVAC, oil burner replacement, spas, home improvements, and cosmetic/dental surgery. They were paying high interest rates. Therefore, it was an easy decision for us to make when TCI explained the benefits of retail lending for our community.”
“We appreciate and thank Mutual Security for their business, their trust in our ability to support them and we look forward to continuing to expand our partnership” said Bill Nass, President of TCI. Stating further he said, “DecisionLender:Retail allows a lender to easily enter the profitable retail lending marketplace. Because there is less competition, a lender has more control over their lending standards and can be more selective than in the hyper competitive auto indirect market place. DecisionLender:Retail provides the lender with a competitive edge by helping them give outstanding service and the ability to connect directly to the merchant, thus enabling the credit union to become his exclusive funding source.”
Supporting over 180 credit unions, banks and finance companies across the US, TCI provides loan origination software delivered as “Software as a Service” (SAAS) for direct, indirect, internet and retail lenders. Mutual Security is a credit union that serves the Connecticut area.
www.tcidecisionlender.com
For more information: Sales Department Teledata Communications, Inc (TCI) 631-231-6700
sales@tcicredit.com

Merchant Lending Success Story

2010-10-07T11:02:00.000-04:00

First State Finance Company Gains Competitive Edge with TCI's DecisionLender for Retail Lending

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- TCI, a leader in loan origination software (LOS) utilized by credit unions, banks and finance companies to automate their lending processes announced today that First State Finance, Inc. a subsidiary of First State Bank is implementing RetailLender, a module of TCI's DecisionLender suite. RetailLender automates the entire lending process including receipt of the loan application directly from lender approved merchants, via a secure internet connection. The sale can be completed while the consumer is at the merchant's location because a decision can be returned to the merchant in minutes and the web based point of sale contract printed. Due to the changed economic environment, First State Finance will use RetailLender to enter the underserved consumer finance marketplace.

First State Finance in 2007 selected TCI's DecisionLender to automate its automotive indirect lending process. John Bruno of First State Finance stated that, "Utilizing DecisionLender to run our automotive lending business has been a great experience. It is easy and intuitive to use, implementation went smoothly and their customer service is great. Because we are happy with our relationship with TCI, we turned to them to discuss our needs in the retail lending marketplace. We feel that there is a lot of opportunity in this area because consumers frequently place large purchases on their credit cards which carry interest rates that are up to 25%."

"We thank First State Finance for their business. Our companies' focus is to listen to our customers so that we develop products that assist them in obtaining a competitive edge," said Bill Nass, President of TCI. Stating further he said, "With the decline in housing prices, home equity lines have been shut down. Therefore a consumer can't utilize this finance option for needed emergency purchases such as HVAC upgrades. The alternative is high interest credit cards. Our RetailLender product assists lenders to quickly enter this highly profitable market with new competitive offerings. Because there is less competition, a lender has more control over their lending standards and interest rates, and therefore, can be more selective than with traditional products such as mortgages and car loans."

Supporting over a180 credit unions, banks and finance companies across the US, TCI provides loan origination software delivered as "Software as a Service" (SAAS) for direct, indirect, internet and retail lenders. First State Finance provides consumer lending in communities throughout Tennessee.

Merchant Lending

2010-10-06T08:31:00.002-04:00

A great way to grow your loan yield while meeting the credit union's goal of diversifying your loan portfolio.

Merchant lending is presenting a unique opportunity for Credit Unions to fill the void with local merchants who are looking for help with consumers financing lifestyle good, big ticket items, and much more.

This niche' opens many frontiers for the Credit Union because it allows the member to re-engage with the CU through another route other than just auto.

If you would like to learn more about how merchant lending or retail lending works, feel free to contact me!

Merchant Lending

2010-10-04T11:10:00.002-04:00

Great news for those looking to get into indirect retail lending, not only does TCI have a great system to facilitate the applications process, but NCUA has just passed a ruling raising the cap interest rate to 18.99!

Indirect Retail Lending

2010-09-28T16:13:00.002-04:00

Its hot right now!

We have seen many of our customers auto business slow down due to the large banks getting back into the market and cranking rates way down. With rates down so low local lenders are finding margins getting thin.

If you are looking for new sources of interest revenue you may want to take a look at our Indirect Retail Lending platform. This is a stand alone software system that will allow you to work with HVAC Dealers, Mattress companies, electronic stores, etc and offer them financing. Many of the super banks that are driving your margins down have exited the Retail Financing sector.

This is a perfect opportunity to come to the aid of local merchants and provide them with a local financing source. Interest Rates are higher and allow for better margins, as well as provide a great source of local presence.

If you are interested in you could streamline and automate this process, or how you may go about getting into this vertical, feel free to email or call me.

Happy Lending!

Welcome to the Team

2010-08-25T08:41:00.002-04:00

TCI is proud to announce that Michael Spargo has joined the TCI sales team...Michael comes from a background in sales with Bank of America's merchant sales program. He will primarily be responsible for educating existing customers on our retail lending solution and new business development of our LITE offering.

Open Dealer Exchange (ODE) Indirect Lending Interface

2010-07-14T14:44:00.002-04:00

7/12/2010 - Open Dealer Exchange and Teledata Communications, Inc. (TCI) Announce Agreement for Integration

Open Dealer Exchange, LLC has announced its agreement with Teledata Communications, Inc. (TCI) to provide direct integration services with the loan origination system provider, allowing partnering finance sources to return credit decisions directly into a dealership’s dealer management system.

TROY, MICHIGAN – Open Dealer Exchange, LLC has announced its agreement with Hauppauge, New York-based Teledata Communications, Inc. (TCI) to provide direct integration services with the loan origination system (LOS) provider’s DecisionLender solution. The agreement allows partnering finance sources to receive credit application data and return credit decisions directly into a dealership’s dealer management system (DMS).

TCI provides affordable, web-based loan origination and automated decision lending software that accelerates the loan approval process for a lender. DecisionLender is provided as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution designed to simplify the LOS process for automotive finance companies. The service is utilized by more than 180 financial institutions, including banks, credit unions and finance companies throughout the U.S.

“Allowing dealerships to send credit applications for a car loan directly from the DMS creates a streamlined process between the dealership’s system-of-record and TCI’s lender clients,” stated Marty Zwolan, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Open Dealer Exchange.

“The interface with Open Dealer Exchange connects all the dots in the lending process including the car dealer’s DMS, TCI’s DecisionLender and the lender’s core processing system,” said Bill Nass, President of TCI. “Because all of the software systems are integrated, errors are eliminated, costs are reduced and loans are processed faster. All of these factors provide a substantial competitive edge in a highly competitive industry.”

Merchant Lending for Credit Union

2010-07-14T14:20:00.002-04:00

Expand your loan portfolio by serving more of your members and customers lifestlye needs!

RetailLender is an automated system that makes credit unions the choice for members who are financing lifestyle options like cosmetic and dental surgery or major home purchases such as HVAC units and pools. Its the fastest, easiest, most effective way to grow your loan volume in the competitive arena of member lending services.

What is Retail Lending?

Your members are looking for ways to finance non-insured personal services, they also need help with major home purchases such as washing machines, HVAC, Water heaters and much more. Too many of these loans are being captured by other lenders who offer rates and terms your products could easily beat. And they are using each new loan as a catalyst to capture more of your members business-possibly their next car loan or mortgage.

How Big is Retail Lending?

The growing market for retail lending services and purchases adds up to tens of billions of dollars each year. To capture indirect loans in todays competitive world, you need a system that connects you with the retails and puts your loan products in the members hands at decision time. It has to be easy for the members, easier for the retailer, and financially rewarding for the credit union.

What is RetailLender?

RetailLender is a web-based, automated system for indirect lending that links your loan officers to any type of retailer you work with. When clients get ready to discuss financial arrangments, retailers can enter data into our online applications, hit send and receive an almost instant loan decision based on your lending parameters in seconds. On your end, the system can automatically pull credit reports and other data needed for decisioning, then route the application for approval and track it through every step.

For more information on RetailLender, please contact Barry Kirby at 800.443.9349 or bkirby at tcicredit.com

TCI's RetailLending Automation Platform

2010-07-01T10:25:00.002-04:00

For those of you looking to expand your current lending beyond autos and RV's, TCI is happy to present our RetailLender which will allow your bank/credit union to work with any retailer.

For more information you are welcome to email me at barry.kirby@gmail.com

Meeting and Greeting Auto Dealers Proves to Be Key to Indirect Lending

2010-05-25T11:09:00.001-04:00

Meeting and Greeting Auto Dealers Proves to Be Key to Indirect Lending

Posted using ShareThis

I’m sick of paying for the high price of gas…so I hired someone to push my car to work!

2010-04-30T08:38:00.003-04:00

I'm sick of paying for the high price of gas...so I hired someone to push my car to work!

As ridiculous as this statement sounds, it actually happens quite often. Often times what looks to be a cost cutting measure will actually cost you more in the long run. Taking longer to get to work, paying someone to push your car, as opposed to taking advantage of what cars are supposed to provide; quicker, easier, more efficient modes of transportation.

Your indirect lending program is no different. A faxed application may appear to be the cheapest route, but the cost to enter data and correct mistakes, equate to longer decision times and will end up costing you business.

**I cant take total credit for this wonderful analogy, thanks George!

Top 30 Reasons To Buy A Deal

2010-04-26T14:20:00.000-04:00

Top 30 Reasons To Buy A Deal: "Top 30 Reasons To Buy A Deal
Bill Vogeney
April 26, 2010

Something a little more humorous - various reasons heard from dealer finance managers as to why we should buy a deal from them:
30. Everyone deserves a 13th chance.
29. Between you and me, he'll pay, I just know it.
28. Credit counseling says he's ok. So should you.
27. It's not a lot of money.
26. Yeah, but the bankruptcy was only 3k.
25. The truth? You can't handle the truth!
24. He's not a skip risk, he's a pillar in the community.
23. He was only a co-signer on the repo.
22. The BK was because of El-Nino.
21. It's current now.
20. You should hope it goes bad. You'll make money on the repo.
19. It's the end of the month… Please I'm begging!
18. You can't prove it's his, can you?
17. The BK and derog are the ex-wife's.
16. Someone stole his SS card.
15. Well, everything is charged off now.
14. No, he's not a gypsy, he's a pizza man.
13. If only you could see these people. You would buy the deal.
12. Don't look at the credit, look at the deal structure.
11. You have to help me, it's the oldest car on the lot.
10. It's the owner's girlfriend's mother's cousin.
9. Chapter 7, Chapter 13… what's the difference? He's had both.
8. The forclosure was due to the earthquake.
7. Look at it like this… He can't file again for 7 years.
6. He needs the car to get that job.
5. He's not uncollectable, he's got a checking account.
4. If you'll just help me on this one, I'll send you my good deals.
3. OK, but the repo wasn't with you.
2. They really are nice people.
1. I have the deal approved with another lender, but I'd rather you have it!"

Arcuso Selects Teledata Communications, Inc. (TCI) DecisionLender (DL) Solution To Propel Future Growth In Auto... -- HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., April 9 /PRNewswire/ --

2010-04-13T12:52:00.000-04:00

Arcuso Selects Teledata Communications, Inc. (TCI) DecisionLender (DL) Solution To Propel Future Growth In Auto... -- HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., April 9 /PRNewswire/ --

Ohio Credit Union League Show

2010-04-07T10:40:00.002-04:00

TCI will be onsite for the Zenith 2010 Ohio Credit Union League Meeting in Cincinnati on April 15th and 16th.

In addition to having a booth onsite we will also be doing a breakout session on Indirect Lending and its impact on Credit Unions, Compliance and opportunities in the future for Credit Unions in the space. We will be presenting on April 16th at 1:30pm in room 234....Please come by and see us.

If you would be interested in meeting with me while I am onsite please feel free to shoot me an email. We will also have our partners Koger & Williams who focus on helping Credit Unions develop solid dealer agreements, indirect policies, market penetration studies and much more.

Thanks!

Still Processing Applications via Fax?

2010-03-18T10:06:00.004-04:00

Are you still processing Indirect applications via fax? If so, it may not be a surprise to you that your application volumes are down, look to book ratios are lower, and your paper grade quality isn't as high as you would like.

Put yourself in the dealers shoes...if an A credit customer comes into the F&I office and has probably been in the dealership for several hours up to this point. The customer at this point is ancy and wanting to get the papers signed off on and ready to go.

This leads to the dealer wanting a quick response so they can book the deal and move the metal. If you are operating on the fax machine you are automatically at a disadvantage for competing for this paper but you all are also causing yourself more work

CUDL Credit Unions listen up!

2010-03-03T15:07:00.000-05:00

If you are currenlty using CUDL and are looking to offer new channels of indirect applications or looking to sign up new dealers who are insisting on DealerTrack or RouteOne, give us a call. We can bring DealerTrack/RouteOne and CUDL applications all into one system and integrate those applications directly to your core system!

Competition Rains on Auto Lending

2010-02-23T10:15:00.001-05:00

Competition Rains on Auto Lending

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Available interfaces!

2010-02-12T14:10:00.002-05:00

Are you a bank that is looking to streamline and increase your indirect lending process?

Contact TCI to learn how TCI can get your program up and running more efficiently with full integrations to DealerTrack and RouteOne and a multitude of host systems including Jack Henry Silver Lake, 20/20, OSI, FiServ and Many others!

Its your turn!

2009-12-21T15:29:00.002-05:00

For 2010 I want to continue to make sure the indirect lending articles are relevant to your business...

With that said, for those of you who read this, share with me what you all would like to hear about in the coming months?

Dealer Track automation?
Route One automation?
How you can grow your indirect program, more applications, better paper grade quality, etc?

TCI adds CUDL Integration

2009-11-30T15:00:00.001-05:00

TCI now offers CUDL customers the opportunity to use the DecisionLender platform to receive not only their DealerTrack and RouteOne applications but also CUDL applications.

Indirect Lending stats to chew on...

2009-11-10T14:44:00.002-05:00

Thought I would share some very interesting stats that I brought away from the CUNA Lending Council conference this year

90% of all auto financing happens at the dealership
Only 30% of Credti Union members seek out their own Credit Union for auto financing
Credit Union members seek out new auto financing every 26 months

Enjoy!

Yakima Valley CU harnesses TCI to boost indirect lending process

2009-10-13T09:46:00.002-04:00

TELEDATA COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (TCI)

YAKIMA VALLEY CREDIT UNION USES DECISIONLENDER TO BOOST
SPEED, QUALITY AND CONTROL OF INDIRECT AUTO LENDING

Automated Reports Make the Difference in Improving Dealer Relations

The Challenge

Before trying to expand their indirect auto lending business, managers at the 31,000-member Yakima Valley Credit Union wanted to tighten up internal practices, as well as improve relationships with currently served car dealers. Previously, those dealers faxed most loan applications to an outside YVCU contracted underwriter who screened them and routed
those that passed muster to the credit union’s lending team for funding. Not only did this system result in delays, it made the credit union vulnerable to a Pandora’s Box of potential problems that are standard throughout the industry:

Inconsistency

The decisioning process wasn’t always uniform from one app to another because it was difficult to ensure that lending guidelines were applied consistently. Manipulating Info When apps were declined, some dealers resubmitted their paper with altered data of unknown accuracy, or they sent in loan documentation with stipulations missing.

App vs. Offer Too often, back-and-forth rehashing of loan details led to dealer-lender disagreements about what was changed and what was accepted.

Reports

Organizing data into useful reports was slow and error-prone, so YVCU managers often lacked reliable data to use in dealer performance reviews and employee evaluations. For months, the YVCU management team had been considering adding automated systems in other areas. Alicia
Stromme, their newly arrived director of lending operations, took on the task of finding an automated loan decisioning system to upgrade their lending program.

“I googled software vendors, talked with other credit unions, and called other industry sources for recommendations,” Ms. Stromme said. “When I sent out the RFPs, it came down to two: TCI’s DecisionLender – an affordable Web-based system – and a vendor that wanted to sell us a big, expensive, on-site-installed software package. After I got the proposals, the right choice was pretty clear.”

The Solution

TCI’s DecisionLender gave YVCU all the automated functions they needed at a cost they could afford – modest up-front expenses combined with low per-click charges for online processing of applications. TCI programmers worked closely with USERS, a Fiserv company, to make sure DecisionLender integrated seamlessly with Yakima’s core processing system, so the new lending platform was up and running quickly. DecisionLender also runs smoothly with DealerTrack, YVCU’s main auto portal.

Today, DecisionLender is helping YVCU improve virtually every aspect of their indirect auto lending operation.

“The lending business is all about service, service, service,” said Ms. Stromme. “And DecisionLender let us deliver service to dealers that was much faster and less prone to obstacles like missing documentation or misunderstandings in counter
offers.”

Christine Moore, the finance director at Canopy Country, a busy auto-RV dealer with showrooms in Yakima and nearby Ellensburg, saw the difference DecisionLender made in their dealings with YVCU.

“Back in the fax-age, it could take days before they could get back to us,” she said. “Now it’s down to just minutes or maybe an hour. That means the buyer is usually still here and we can close the deal. Funding is faster, too. With all the stipulations spelled out, we know the document package is complete when we send it over. No surprises, no hold-ups.”

With DecisionLender, rules and rates are uniformly applied so all underwriters use the same decisioning criteria. Dealers can still ask for special considerations, but they can’t ‘game’ the system by resubmitting declined applications with changed data. Whenever an app is resubmitted, DecisionLender alerts the underwriter so stipulations can be added requiring documentation. And everything is spelled out clearly, eliminating questions about what was or wasn’t agreed upon.

DecisionLender’s real-time reports proved to be exactly what YVCU needed. With the Dealer Funded Loan report, for example, they can show any auto dealer well-organized data detailing the number of apps processed, dollar amounts, paper grade and other summaries. These specifics give a much better basis for negotiating an improved relationship with the car
dealer.

The same holds true for internal evaluations. Since DecisionLender captures all applications, checking any loan officer’s productivity is a snap. With a few mouse clicks, managers can check things like real-time trends in paper grade, loan volume or dollar amounts.

The credit union found another big internal benefit from the fact that DecisionLender is browser-based rather than a system requiring in-house support and maintenance. That meant YVCU needed no additional servers or IT manpower. TCI takes care of everything from maintenance at the serverfarm to software upgrades and troubleshooting. All for an affordable, pay-per-use cost.

“One of the best things about DecisionLender is TCI’s people,” said Ms. Stromme. “They worked very closely with us through start-up and training, and they’re always readily available by phone and email whenever we need something.”

The Results

Although boosting auto loan volume wasn’t an initial goal of YVCU’s automation effort, after a few months utilizing DecisionLender and DealerTrack, the credit union is doing about 30% more indirect lending volume. Dealers are shifting business to YVCU’s underwriters because the credit union is suddenly so much faster and simpler to work with.

And what about control? With the facts in hand, Ms. Stromme knows exactly which dealers are routing them the best paper grade and which are sending too many unacceptable apps. She also knows what each of her underwriters is doing. Lending guidelines are consistently applied, and with so much of the clerical work completed automatically by DecisionLender, she’s seeing big improvements in productivity.

“It’s a great system from a dependable company, and I’ve already recommended both of them to credit union people who are following the steps I took,” said Ms. Stromme.

DecisionLender

BY TELEDATA COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (TCI)

DealerTrack is a registered trademark of DealerTrack, Inc. USERS and Fiserv are trademarks of Fiserv, Inc. DecisionLender is a registered trademark of Teledata Communications, Inc. (TCI), www.tcicredit.com

(800) 841-9950 www.tciDecisionLender.com 185 Commerce Drive, Suite 300 Hauppauge, NY 11788

Case Study: Family Security Credit Union's Indirect Lending Team taps TCI to connect to DealerTrack/RouteOne and Symitar

2009-09-28T15:09:00.004-04:00

Visit http://www.tcidecisionlender.com to view the most recent case study!

Indirect Look to Book Ratios

2009-08-25T14:46:00.002-04:00

If your look to book is suffering these days, you may want to consider your call back times as an area for improvement. High quality paper is out there, its just going to the lenders that can approve the deal quickly (less than a minute). This will further drive your Look to Book ratio down, thus increasing your workload, while eventually driving down your bottom line.

If your shop is looking for opportunities to reduce your call back times or raise your LTB ratio, feel free to reach out.

Barry~

New Credit Unions to Indirect Lending!

2009-06-15T15:25:00.001-04:00

We continue to bring on new credit unions to our Loan Origination System, DecisionLender...if you have considered new ways to reduce your overhead and operation expenses, or ways to grow your indirect program, it would be worth your time to shoot me an email!

~Barry

We have a new website!

2009-06-09T10:12:00.001-04:00

Check out our DecisionLender website! www.tcidecisionlender.com

Auto Dealers are Closing Down!

2009-05-18T12:10:00.002-04:00

Auto dealers affiliated with GMC and Chrysler are shutting down left and right...time to freak out? Not quite...it just means that your dealer network is going to shrink and you are going to see more mega dealers who sell these brands in your market.

If you were getting 10 applications a month from 10 GMC dealers, you should likely see well over a 100 hundred applications from one GMC dealer. This is going to pose some challenges to your program, first being that your remaining GMC and Chrysler dealers are going to have considerably more clout now that they command the market share. If you haven't invested in a software program that can control the quality of applications and consistancy of your paper, its now or never.

This is the time to get out there and start working that relationship hard and find out what areas the other lenders are weak on and see if you can be their primary resource for loans.

2009-04-23T17:23:00.000-04:00

Westerra Credit Union Selects TCI’s DecisionLender for Robust Loan Origination and Decisioning Workflow

April 23rd, 2009, Hauppauge, New York - TCI announces that Westerra Credit Union has purchased TCI’s DecisionLender, a loan origination software solution, for direct and indirect lending. Westerra will use DecisionLender for their auto indirect lending program. Because DecisionLender is delivered as a Web-based solution (ASP), it does not burden existing IT resources and can go live in weeks, not months.

Shawn Gibbons of Westerra Credit Union stated: "Our first priority was that we wanted one loan origination platform that provides connections to DealerTrack, RouteOne and CUDL. Secondly, we needed a robust integration with our Symitar System. And third, we wanted strong reporting capabilities. TCI delivered all this at a very affordable price."

"We are very excited to welcome Westerra to the TCI family of customers," stated Bill Nass. "We are very dedicated to providing our customers with the tools they need to compete during these challenging times. For example, auto dealers need a quick response to loan requests. They want to close that sale ASAP. With DecisionLender we’ve reduced many credit unions’ response time from 30 minutes to five. That’s customer service that will build auto dealer loyalty! Another competitive edge our product gives lenders is that DecisionLender is delivered as an ASP, therefore we’re able to respond faster to the marketplace as it evolves. Customers don’t have to wait months for software updates."

About Westerra Credit Union

Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009, Denver-based Westerra Credit Union holds over $940 million in assets and serves 70,000 members through its branch locations across the Denver metro area and Colorado Springs. For more information, visit www.westerracu.com.

About TCI

TCI was founded in 1982 and is based in Hauppauge, NY. The company offers a wide range of solutions for the credit granting community that includes credit report retrieval, connections to key databases, tenant and employment workflow automation as well as its leading Web-based loan origination and decisioning solutions. TCI has over 3,800 customers utilizing its reliable ASP-based solutions. More information is available at www.tcicredit.com.
For further information contact:

Barry B Kirby (631-404-4135) bkirby@tcicredit.com

TCI Continues to Add New Lenders

2009-04-21T12:55:00.002-04:00

I am proud to announce that TCI continues to bring on new Credit Unions and Banks in their effort to compete effectively and reduce their dependency on the fax machine to facilitate their indirect lending process. We have seen a lot new faces to the indirect market that have found their is much to gain by entering at this point.

If you have considered entering the indirect lending market or are looking to streamline that process and provide better credit consistency and get away from duplicating efforts, please feel free to pop me an email as I would be delighted to help.

GMAC Conversion poses big competition to CU Indirect Auto Lending

2009-01-07T08:43:00.004-05:00

With the recent bank conversion of GMAC and their new access to TARP money...Credit Unions need to begin reviewing what they can do to be proactive in addressing this new competitor, and a new competitor they will be. Their new buying practices will take aim on much of the paper CU's have been getting recently.

When times are good, there is no better time to go back and review what makes your program different from the rest? Do you offer speed and service? Do you offer a personal touch or particularly niche that you specialize in? Or is business coming your way b/c there is a lack in finance sources?

I would encourage you to go back to the old school methods of business review and find out where you are in the Product Life Cycle...

Stage Market Obj. Investment Yield

-Introduction- Accelerate market growth Moderate-High Negative

-Growth- Increase Competitive Advantage High High

-Shakeout- Improve and Solidify Position Moderate Low-Moderate

-Mature- Maintain and improve Low High

New To Indirect Lending?

2008-12-18T07:28:00.002-05:00

If you are looking to get into indirect lending or looking to optimize a current program, I urge you to give me a buzz and I would be happy to share a few ideas on how to address your particular situation.

There is a huge opportunity with the local CU's to make a difference in their community with the exile of the large auto lenders. People still needs cars, and not everyone is unqualified to buy a vehicle.

So get out their and start capturing your auto market share...lets not forgot that Auto Lending is the bread and butter for Credit Unions.

2008-10-13T08:07:00.002-04:00

I recently read an excellent article by JD Power and Associates that outlined 3 factors as to why dealers sent the majority of their paper to one particular source...they identified the following factors as the defining reasons.

Being able to interact with 1 underwriter
short application approval times
expedient funding

Read the entire article at http://www.fi-magazine.com/t_inside.cfm?action=news_pick&storyID=34463

Credit Union Indirect Growth?

2008-10-10T09:23:00.003-04:00

I continue to find more and more of my Credit Union customers expressing their reinforcement that the indirect market for them is extremely strong. With so many of the big players out of the market a vacuum has been created and the CU's who continue to stick with the business as usual model are experiencing tremendous growth. Has your Credit Union in turn experienced a surge in indirect auto growth?

Indirect underwriting guidelines

2008-08-14T10:05:00.002-04:00

In recent months all of the large banks have tightened their lending parameters significantly leaving a wide gap in the market for marginal to average buyers...have any of you reading made any changes to your buying procedures or have you noticed an uptick since you have maintained consistent buying practices?

Strike While the Iron is Hot!

2008-07-15T09:30:00.002-04:00

Amid all of the shake up in the big banking space their has never been a better time for the credit union and local banking market to make a push to seize more market share. I am hearing from F&I people everyday that are expressing their distaste with their large indirect lenders such as Wells, HSBC, Cap, and so on. All of these lenders are battening their hatches and only booking deals that are in the high 700's and meet a rigorous schedule of rules.

Not only can local CU's and banks easily get the other paper, you all can easily beat these big players rates.

Its time to up your loan volumes and begin seizing market share while the big guys are sitting on the side lines!

Dealer Communication

2008-06-19T09:55:00.002-04:00

Take a page from what Chase Bank is doing to help create a better relationship with the dealers...they have created a website called ChaseDealer.com which discusses their program guidelines, resources, dealer reps, etc. This is wonderful idea and one I have supported for some time.

Credit Unions should be the first to jump on board and begin putting these sites out their for their dealers. This is just another tool to add to your program that will help make your CU more accessible to the dealers.

New Dealer Growth

2008-06-02T10:31:00.002-04:00

Of the readers, what is your penetration percentages for auto dealerships in your seg or market? Are you finding that it is harder to grow your current base of dealers or get those current dealers to send you more paper?

From a CU's Perspective

2008-05-14T16:34:00.002-04:00

I would highly recommend my CU readers to call on this CU and discuss their experience on Dealer Track and an automated Decisioning System...

http://cuindirectlending.org/?p=27

Are You Bringing Value To Your Indirect Lending Program?

2008-05-14T13:33:00.004-04:00

In visiting with F&I folks, you may be aware they have many lenders they can do business with. Some I have come across have a list of 30-40 lenders than can submit an application too, but only choose to send it to a handful of those lenders.

Their main reason for this? Simple, application turnaround time. Auto dealers have many choices when it comes to lenders, if you are trying to get to the top of their list then you need to be able to differentiate yourself from the others with Instant Approvals and Application Turnaround times that are less than 5 minutes. Reserves are great, low rates help, but neither of those 2 factors will keep an F&I employed if he/she doesn't get a quick answer before the consumer begins to have buyers remorse and leave the lot to shop around for a better deal.

From what I have seen, lenders with Decisioning Systems are experiencing look-to-book ratios that are sometimes 20-30% higher than those who are doing business via the good ole' fax machine. Which directly correlates to the fact that the dealer is less likely to send their quality paper when they can get a qucik response back from your competitors.

Is your credit union or bank on the same page as your F&I?

Enough with the Doughnuts, Help Me Sell a Car!

2008-04-09T10:36:00.003-04:00

I was chatting with a few lenders not to long at an industry conference on Auto Indirect Lending when we began discussing the evolution that indirect lending has taken. During our conversations, I had mentioned that Lenders need to continue to evolve if they are going to compete and compete effectively. Part of my evolution discussion was that the lenders get an Automated Loan System in place and bring on Route One and Dealer Track. Over 30,000 dealers use these two systems as their primary source of application submission, why shouldn't you?

At that point, one of the lenders told me they didn't think their dealers used Dealer Track or Route One and they would rather spend their money bringing them doughnuts, Bagels, and giveaways.

With this point made, it occurred to me how out of touch we can sometimes be. I am sure your F&I guy appreciates the doughnuts and these visits are great in building the initial relationship, but does that truly bring value to the dealership? Dealers main concerns are; !)How can we get more people to the dealership, 2)and when they are here, how can I get them to leave in my car. I would recommend you visit the dealers and understand their business, what drives it, what are their hurdles and redefine your program to bring value to the dealers, not just bagels :)

If YouTruly Want to Compete and Grow

2008-03-04T09:45:00.002-05:00

As the market is shaping out, its becoming less of an option whether a lender is automated or not, but more of question as to when are you going to throw that fax machine out. Dealers are experiencing a much more more volatile market and will take less of a risk sending a deal to a fax lender because the possibility the buyer will leave in the time it takes to get the deal done.

I am finding that fax lenders are seeing the applications that have already been shopped out on the electronic end and when they cant get the deal they need then there, they result to the other option, you, the Fax Application Lender. The results are less than quality paper, much lower Look To Book Ratios, and the a lower member retention rate.

The cost of getting automated these days has dramatically gone down and if you are going to be a viable financing source for your auto dealers, you need to present them with less risk and more value.

Where's the Money-Used Car Shops!

2008-01-03T09:11:00.000-05:00

As has been reported by more resources than I can count...new car sales are down! Cars are continuing to tick up in prices and consumers are feeling the crunch at the new car dealership. With this shift in the market consumers have refocused their energies and dollars on the used car market. The used car market has often been unchartered waters for CU's for many reasons including horror stories and swift moving new car sales. However, now that consumers are looking for more bargains and less expensive vehicles, it may be time that your CU examine your market and local used car players. Often times these dealers are only serviced by local banks who can't compete against a CU's used car rate. I understand the risks are higher, so do your homework, interview the principles and dealers, lay out the boundaries, and stick to your guns!

If you want to go above and beyond and provide that WOW factor for your member, offer a used car purchase guide...included with a CARFAX® Report. Contract with a local mechanic who will provide vehicle inspections on the potential auto purchase to ensure your member is getting a sound vehicle, this also keeps the dealer honest and provides one extra step to ensure your collatoral is in sound condition.

Happy Funding!

A New Blog with Good Insight!

2008-01-02T10:47:00.001-05:00

Check out another TCI customer who has begun his own blog to help and support the CU Indirect Movement...

http://cuindirectlending.org/

I haven't forgot about you all

2007-11-27T11:00:00.001-05:00

A series of New Post coming soon!!!

Voice of the Dealer

2007-10-19T08:21:00.001-04:00

After returning from the Auto Finance Summit this week in Las Vegas, I wanted briefly document my findings with my readers on my perspective of the main takeaway. The most informative session I attended was titled, "The Voice of the Dealer."

In this moderated session Lenders and Dealers were brought together to discuss how best one another could continue to foster and grow the relationship. With that said, roughly 3 points were clearly agreed upon by all the dealers (large and small).

Niche-Lenders need to be specific and clear with their dealers on what their buying niche will be. Do you buy prime, near prime, leasing, etc. Clearly identify with your dealer what you are specifically looking to purchase.
Stability-Lenders need to exemplify stability and consistency in the market. One dealer even mentioned that flavors of the month will come and go but remaining true to your relationship and market presence will always prove fruitful.
Service & Speed-every dealer mentioned that servicing the customer more quickly in this on-demand age was a very important topic for them. With the customer being much more educated in pre-purchase research, they are less willing to wait on decisions.

Collins Community Credit Union streamlines their Indirect Lending through TCI’s DecisionLender

2007-10-01T16:47:00.000-04:00

Started by ten Collins Radio employees back in 1940, Collins Community Credit Union has become one of the largest credit unions in Iowa. One of the reasons that they have grown to over $440M in assets is that their staff of more than 175 employees is dedicated to the credit union philosophy of “People Helping People.” This philosophy has led them to tremendous growth in indirect auto lending in the state of Iowa. In order to handle this rapid expansion, Collins Community CU turned to industry leader, Teledata Communications, Inc. (TCI) and their powerful DecisionLender platform.

Rick Samek, AVP and Consumer Loan Manager at Collins Community CU, was chosen by the senior managers at the credit union to find a new system. Samek recalls that “we were completely overloaded with loan applications. They were coming in by fax and we had to process them manually, which was very inefficient.” He emphasizes that “we needed to automate our processes, or hire more people. There was no in-between.” Samek met TCI at a CUNA conference, saw a demonstration and was quite impressed. He still needed to perform due diligence, however, so he spent two to three months in comparative research. In the end, he came back to TCI because their system was clearly superior.

One of the factors that affected Samek’s decision was that their fifty car dealers had various auto loan routing networks in place. “We liked the fact that DecisionLender supported the two most popular portals for handling auto loans - DealerTrack and Route One – the ones that our dealers use,” says Samek, adding that “TCI’s system has all of the elements bundled into it that we need to effectively run our car dealer network.” Of course, pricing always plays a role in any new technology decision, and Samek was pleased to discover that “DecisionLender was easy to cost justify because it really is an affordable solution.”

Today, Samek’s 12 person Consumer Lending Department is off and running with the new system - 6 employees use it regularly. Samek can personally direct the decision making now that the DecisionLender system handles all of the heavy lifting. He notes that “the main summary screen provides an excellent overview of the applicant, and I can now handle about 40 applications in just a couple of hours or so, while before it could take me all day.” Another area where there were tremendous labor savings was in generating adverse actions. According to Samek, “we used to spend at least a couple of hours a day keying in information and printing adverse actions, but now with DecisionLender this tedious task is handled with just a click of the mouse.”

He admits that it is hard to pinpoint all of the labor savings that TCI’s system delivers because savings accumulate throughout the process, but Samek points out that “we haven’t needed to add more staff to handle the increased volume. Our capacity has dramatically increased and we are much more efficient now.” For instance, DecisionLender automatically pulls credit reports, and checks the OFAC database when new members join the credit union. “The time savings really add up across the board,” states Samek.

As for the administrative features of DecisionLender, Samek “likes the reporting capabilities because they meet our needs. Plus, the main summary screen provides an excellent overview of the applicant.”

Collins Community Credit Union has been so pleased with TCI’s lending platform that they have actually performed hands-on demonstrations for other credit unions looking to automate their lending systems. Samek notes that “they were very impressed with the DecisionLender system and our operations here. It is easy to see that we are ahead of the game by working with TCI.”

Three Ways Credit Unions Can Recapture Auto Loan Market Share?

2007-09-18T11:51:00.001-04:00

This was the title of a recent article by Callahan & Associates discussing the recent downturn of Auto Loan Share by Credit Unions...After discussing the article with my clients we find the exact opposite to be true. My CU's are growing and growing at leaps and bounds. There has been no better time for the Credit Unions to capture market share than now, but there is a catch. They need the tools to compete effectively if they are going to make a significant dent in the market. Auto Dealers work on the following three premises;

Are you automated (Dealer Track/RouteOne/Instant Decisioning)
What are your rates
What are your incentives

With a combined solution encompassing at least 2 of these 3 challenges, a CU with some work can become the market leader in their area.

If you would like to reference the article, it is here

Mortgage Crisis as an Opportunity?

2007-09-10T14:47:00.001-04:00

With the recent down turn in the mortgage industry I have begun to hear that more Credit Unions are considering indirect lending as a more viable route to generate interest income. New sources of interest revenue will need to flourish elsewhere as long as the home market is ticking downward. Has anyone here heard the same and how are you off setting the downturn?

New Customer

2007-08-23T09:51:00.001-04:00

We dont do a whole lot of press releases, but I did want to share this most recent one of our newest customer, Golden Plains Credit Union...a wonderful CU in Kansas with a very diverse auto dealer network.

Golden Plains Credit Union Selects TCI’s Decision Lender Solution

Powerful lending software allows them to serve both large and small auto dealers

HAUPPAUGE, New York, August 13, 2007- Teledata Communications, Inc. (“TCI”), a leading provider of web-based Indirect Loan Origination Solutions, announced that Garden City, Kansas-based Golden Plains Credit Union (GPCU) has chosen industry leading Decision Lender to enhance its competitive auto indirect lending program. GPCU chose DecisionLender because its larger car dealers require connectivity to Dealer Track and Route One and they found it to also better serve their smaller independent dealers that still rely on faxing.

Michael Webb, Vice President of Indirect Lending at GPCU, said that, “TCI’s DecisionLender is very well designed and priced and that’s why we believe it’s the best solution in the marketplace. They even performed a Return on Investment analysis for us that showed the real value of their system.” Webb, who has more than twenty years of lending experience, added that “we felt that TCI’s system was the best one for our needs and that it will make everything much smoother for our loan officers.” DecisionLender is semi-customizable in that it can support real-time decisions based on the credit unions own guidelines and policies, plus it automates month end reporting in a real-time environment.

William Nass, President of TCI., said that “we are pleased to have one of the largest indirect credit union leaders in the state of Kansas to join our growing list of credit union clients. Competition is very stiff in the auto lending arena and our DecisionLender solution will help GPCU win more deals with its powerful instant decisioning engine, management tools and its automated connection to Route One and DealerTrack.”

About Teledata Communications, Inc.

Teledata Communications, Inc. was founded in September 1982. TCI employs a staff of 35 talented professionals to serve their customers, including a team of 20 who are highly dedicated to innovation and product development. For additional information , visit TCI’s website: www.tcicredit.com or call toll free: (800) 824-9069 and ask for Barry Kirby.

About Golden Plains Credit Union

Golden Plains Credit Union (GPCU) is a $210M asset credit union based in Garden City, Kansas that has been serving Kansas residents since 1951. At GPCU, anyone who resides in Kansas or the Liberal trade area, members of their family, employees of the credit union, members of the Lee Richardson Zoo, and organizations of such persons are eligible for membership.

# # #

Forward Looking Statements

Statements made in this news release that relate to future plans, events or performances are forward-looking statements. Any statement containing the words such as “believes” “anticipates” “plans” or “expects” and other statements which are not historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking , and these statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations. Consequently, actual results could differ materially from the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements.

Yield Tracking and Profitability

2007-08-03T15:03:00.000-04:00

I visit many Credit Unions throughout the year and continue to come across indirect shops that aren't aware of what their actual yield and profits are per indirect loan. It is key that we continue to treat this as any other line of business and continue to track and monitor not only our credit quality/delinquencies, but the actual return that we retain after the loan is granted.

This point ties our justification of automation tools/software as well as the introduction of Dealer Track and Route One. Lenders can justify the introduction of new software and portals by simply calculating what their average yield is per deal. From that point figure out how many new deals you need to acquire to pay for the newly acquired software or portal. The numbers will either justify the purchase or not.

If you would be interested in learning more on how to do, feel free to drop me an email or call.

Attention Symitar Users

2007-07-27T12:23:00.001-04:00

I will be at the Symitar Conference in San Diego on September 12-14 if anyone is intersted in getting together while we are there. I would be happy to speak with you in regards to your indirect program and opportunities to streamline the process. Please email me to setup meeting times.

You Hit the Nail on the Head----

2007-07-26T16:41:00.000-04:00

A post worth reading! Click Here

Indirect Lending Conferences

2007-07-09T15:19:00.001-04:00

What conferences is everyone attending that address the Indirect Lending arena? Auto Indirect Lending is often the bread and butter of many institutions and there doesn't seem to be too many conferences focused on that area.

Success Stories on Cross Selling to Your Indirect Members

2007-07-09T10:08:00.001-04:00

For those of you out there who are actively cross selling your indirect members, please share any success stories you may have. I would be delighted to hear what others are doing to capture the full value of these new members.

Cross Selling Indirect Members

2007-06-28T10:10:00.000-04:00

I recently purchased a car the other day and financed through Wells Fargo. Not two weeks into my loan did Wells Fargo call and offer me a discount on my rate if I opened a savings accont with there institution. The follow through, offer, and timing were impeccable. Which leads me to this, Indirect Lending provides the ultimate opportunity to capture new members and loans that the Credit Union wouldn't have otherwise gained...with that said how is your Credit Union maximizing on that new relationship? Are you strictly servicing the loan or does your Credit Union have a documented procedure in place to cross and upsell the new member on other services and products that the credit union offers?

How Many of You are connected with Dealer Track and/or Route One?

2007-05-30T09:45:00.000-04:00

As many of you may already be aware, dealers are creatures of habit. Dealer Track and Route One are Auto Portals that allow them to send applications electronically to there Lending Network (up to 6) and receive faster responses. With that said, it is no surprise that over 22,000 Dealers use Dealer Track and 20,000 +- use Route One. The question is, are you where your dealers and members are?

Click here to take the survey, results will be published.

Bank of America Just doesn't Get IT!

2007-05-22T10:31:00.001-04:00

This is not a typical post that discusses indirect lending, however, I did want to share an experience I had on how not to treat a lifetime customer! I have been a life long Bank of America customer with 3 Checking Accounts, 2 Savings, 1 Credit Card, and a Money Market. My wife and I have direct deposit going into a main account from which I dole out a certain amount of money into another account for her express "Shopping Purposes." When using BofA's bill pay system I paid the Mortgage through it and it defaulted to my wife's account overdrawing it without my knowledge. She then unknowingly made 4 more purchases that day from which then put it in the negative. I was subsequently hit with 5 Overdraft fee's when the bank can well see that I have always paid the mortgage out of the main account.

I emailed and called several times explaining the situation, here was my response from the customer service agent...

Service Agent: Thank you for your inquiry dated 5/15/07 regarding the Bill Payment. We will be happy to assist you. Please be informed that if you have more than one eligible account enrolled for bill payment, funds will be debited from your primary account unless you chose any other account as an option for making a bill payment. Our records indicate that the bill payment in question was made from the checking account ending - *^&$. Our research indicates the charge was applied correctly and no error occurred. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with a refund. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Because you are an important customer to us, we would greatly appreciate the opportunity in keeping your account relationship with Bank of America. If you need assistance with your account in any way, please send us another message, as we are more than happy to serve you. If feasible, we may be able to convert your account type to another that will better fit your needs. We value you as a customer and appreciate your business. If we may be of further assistance, please contact us again by e-mail. Thank you for choosing Bank of America. Sincerely, Freddie Rogers Bank of America.

Well Freddie, this is a great canned response to a customer who is obviously distraught with your system. You have offered to help me but have yet to offer! I think its time to reply to Freddie...

My Reply: Freddie, once again, I have multiple accounts. There is only one account that is receiving direct deposits...if you look through my history, 100% of all Bill Payments have been made out of my primary account. Your system defaulted to my wife's leisure account. Please let me know how you can shore up this mishap. Please call with a response.

Service Agent: (note; we now have a new CSR) Dear Barry B. Kirby, Thank you for your inquiry dated 5/17/07 regarding the Online Banking. We will be happy to assist you. Allow us to apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced in this matter. Bank of America strives to provide the best products and services to achieve customer satisfaction. As we mentioned in our previous e-mail, because you are an important customer to us, we would greatly appreciate the opportunity in keeping your account relationship with Bank of America. If you need assistance with your account in any way, please send us another message, as we are more than happy to serve you. We value you as a customer and appreciate your business. If we may be of further assistance, please contact us again by e-mail. Thank you for choosing Bank of America. Sincerely, Ray Gil Bank of America

Are you kidding me! No answers what's so ever...Ray is obviously angry with his employer. "We will be happy to assist you", but you have yet to assist anything. They continue to offer assistance but have yet to offer a solution or to address the specific concerns posed.

What can we all take away from this...We live in a world of emails and automated phone systems. The financial institution who understands how to harness technology while maintaining the relationship will prevail.

*One side note, MSN's The Customer Service Hall of Shame

Excellent Way to Communicate to your Customers

2007-05-04T14:56:00.000-04:00

I came across some wonderful content while surfing around the net. Credit Unions and Community Banks have always prided themselves with being very member/customer focused. Credit Unions were established on the principle of educating the members on financial solutions and there best options. The following link is a wonderful example of how a large bank is leveraging a medium (TV) that there customers are acclimated with to educate them on the benefits and value of using there banks services, in turn laying the foundation for a bridge of trust to be built between the viewer and the Financial Institution. I could see this type of content being harnessed in multiple areas, including Auto Lending!

Enjoy
http://keybank.mindblazer.com/(jdmuzfuxiz5bpn55mygad355)/olbpublicV2/dmc.aspx?vBW=_hi

Great Book to Read

2007-05-02T13:28:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are challenged by trying to create top of mind brand recognition over this commercialized and publicized society should give "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin a shot. Seth lays out several easy to read scenarios that will help to transform your business from Good to Remarkable!

The following excerpt is a description that changed Seth's thinking from Good-to-Remarkable and unforgettable.

"While driving through France a few years ago, my family and I were enchanted by the hundreds of storybook cows grazing in lovely pastures right next to the road. For dozens of kilometers, we all gazed out the window, marveling at the beauty. Then, within a few minutes, we started ignoring the cows. The new cows were just like the old cows, and what was once amazing was now common. Worse than common: It was boring. Cows, after you've seen them for a while, are boring. They may be well-bred cows, Six Sigma cows, cows lit by a beautiful light, but they are still boring. A Purple Cow, though: Now, that would really stand out. The essence of the Purple Cow -- the reason it would shine among a crowd of perfectly competent, even undeniably excellent cows -- is that it would be remarkable. Something remarkable is worth talking about, worth paying attention to. Boring stuff quickly becomes invisible."

This theme applies very well to a financial services market that is always looking for ways to differentiate themselves. In a market of over 8,000 Credit Unions and many thousands more banks, I have yet to come across a purple cow. But rest assure, I will share it with you when I do come across it!

Are your vendors SAS 70 Certified?

2007-04-27T16:39:00.000-04:00

It's a topic that many Credit Union's and Banks often forget to address when reviewing there vendors qualifications. A SAS 70 is a certification that verifies that the company has adequate controls in place in areas such as change management, customer service and development practices. The company's certification attests to the accuracy of the controls description and the rigor with which controls are designed, implemented and monitored.

I always recommend to clients and peers to take serious consideration when reviewing ASP solutions for these certifications. These certifications not only provide the highest level of security to members/customers data and credit files, but also attest to the level of due dilligence that the vendor has taken to ensure they meet and exceed the level of service there clients would provide to there member/customer base.

Are your vendors SAS 70 Certified?

Click here to take the Survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=117193776110

Indirect Lending Survey

2007-04-27T13:18:00.000-04:00

Please take a moment to complete this Indirect Lending Survey. You don’t have to share anything but general information; no detailed information required or requested. Quick and simple less than 5 minutes! This is for a client of mine that is putting together some industry trends and will be sharing on his blog http://cuindirectlending.wordpress.com/

Article on Auto Decisioning

2007-04-27T12:18:00.000-04:00

I read a wonderful article that was published on research by a dozen or so CU's around why Automated Decisioning is still widely unadopted, here is some of there findings!

Common Objections are;

Existing Procedures are Really Good
Auto Decisioning Systems are expensive
“Systems like these are about credit scoring and that would make us impersonal
and uncaring like the banks”
“Our people will forget how to lend”

"Auto Decisioning systems are an integral part of credit risk management, sales, and
channel management strategies. Financial institutions that embrace a Decisioning
system have found consistency in terms of the credit quality of their portfolios, decision
turnaround time, and reduced administrative burden."

Rationale for Credit Auto Decisioning Systems

• Savings in underwriting costs of 75% to 95% are generally reported.
• Improvements in the risk/return ratio of loan portfolios.
• Consistent credit policy applied across branches and channels."

2007-03-23T09:14:00.000-04:00

The first in my series of post will lay the ground work of the indirect lending environment as I see it now, this may or may not hold true in your region...

As far as Credit Unions are concerned I see them continuing to plug holes in the indirect space where commonly banks have always prevailed. The biggest catalyst I have seen in this is CU's moving to community charters or open fields of membership. This truly gives them a much larger and diverse prospect pool. The second largest shift I am seeing is Credit Unions have slowly become adopters of technology in an effort to streamline there processes, increase portfolios, in turn widening there yield margins. This shift is one I see as a natural fit for all Credit Unions. CU's have always prided themselves on member service,better products, and doing what is best for the member. In todays world of WiFi, Bluetooth, and 5 second approvals, it is key that Credit Unions continue to keep pace while sticking with there committment to provide the best possible service in this ever changing market.