JR TOC Review

In the spirit of National Financial Literacy Month, freecreditscore.com created this infographic to share some simple credit tips: [Download the full infographic here.]

When Kermit the frog said, “It’s not that easy being green,” he may not have been referring to the automotive market, but he may have been on to something. Hybrid/alternative power vehicles are one of the smallest segments in the U.S., and have only just recently achieved a little more than one percent of the total vehicles in operation. However, according to Experian Automotive’s recently released Earth Day report, the segment has witnessed steady market share growth, increasing by 40.9 percent since 2011. The report focused on some of the characteristics of a hybrid owner, as well as the financial attributes of hybrid vehicle loans. The infographic here provides a snapshot of a hybrid owner, highlighting that 53 percent are women and that 16 percent of hybrid owners are 25 to 34 years old. Additionally, the report found that it’s not just “green” consumers that purchase hybrids: only eight percent want to be viewed as environmentally conscious. The analysis, in fact, showed consumers purchasing a hybrid have significantly higher credit scores than those purchasing another type of new vehicle. For example, the average credit score for a loan on a new hybrid was 790 compared with the national average credit score of 755 for a loan on any new vehicle. Other loan attributes in the analysis included the average amount financed, monthly payment, interest rate and loan terms of hybrid vehicles purchased in 2012. The analysis also showed that Toyota hybrid vehicles made up more than 62 percent of the vehicles financed in 2012. For more information on this report or other automotive-related insights, please visit ExperianAutomotive.com.

When I think of large, successful companies, a couple of thoughts come to mind; excellent customer service, constant innovation and the unmistakable ability to attract new customers. While each of these is important in its own right, some would argue, the mark of a truly successful company is one that satisfies its existing customers, and keeps them coming back for more. In our recently released Loyalty and Market Trends Report, we found that Ford did just that, as they passed GM and Toyota to take the top spot in corporate loyalty during Q4 2012. During the time period, 47.9 percent of the customers who owned a Ford vehicle returned to market to buy another Ford or Lincoln. General Motors had the second highest corporate loyalty ranking at 47.7 percent, followed by Toyota Motor Corporation at 46.9 percent. The remaining auto manufacturers in the top 10 were Mercedes-Benz (43.4%), Honda (41.8%), Kia (40.0%), Hyundai (38.9%), Subaru (38.9%), Chrysler (38.1%) and BMW (37.0%). Not only did Ford surpass its rivals in corporate loyalty, but it also remained as the top automaker in overall brand loyalty, with 47.1 percent of Ford owners returning to the market to purchase another Ford vehicle. Mercedes Benz was second in brand loyalty with 43.7 percent (a significant increase over the previous quarter when they came in ninth place with 34.6 percent), followed by Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet, to round out the top five. As if that wasn’t enough good news for Ford, it also had a record eight out of the top 10 models in brand loyalty, led by the Ford Fusion, Ford Flex and Ford Edge. Other Ford vehicles included the Ford Five Hundred, Ford Fiesta, Ford Escape, Ford Focus and Ford Taurus. The only non-Ford models included were the Kia Forte and Chevrolet Sonic. The report also highlighted several other key areas of the automotive industry including registration trends, market share and average age vehicles. To see a webinar recorded presentation of the report or to learn more about Experian Automotive’s other industry insights, please visit www.Experian.com/Automotive. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Linda Haran has been selected for her leadership and contributions to the field of mortgage technology by Mortgage Banking Magazine for the development and introduction of Experian’s IntelliView product. The company’s new interactive, Web-based query, analysis and reporting tool enables financial professionals to optimize strategic planning, uncover new opportunities and improve decision making by having 24-7 online access to Experian’s aggregated quarterly consumer credit data. Data is available for seven lending categories, including bankcard, retail card, automotive, first mortgage, second mortgage, home-equity lines of credit and personal loans. IntelliView data is sourced from the information that supports the Experian–Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Reports and is easily accessed through an intuitive, online graphical user interface, which enables financial professionals to extract key findings from the data and integrate them into their business strategies. This unique data asset does this by delivering market intelligence on consumer credit behavior within specific lending categories and geographic regions. According to Janet Reilley Hewitt, editor in chief, Mortgage Banking Magazine, the magazine is thoroughly impressed with the ease of use and depth of information that is readily available via IntelliView to help mortgage banking professionals improve their strategies and make better business decisions. Only seven people received Mortgage Banking Magazine‘s Tech All-Star Award in 2013. In Linda Haran's current position, she leads a dedicated team in packaging and executing solution sets that encompass analytics, consulting and software capabilities based on market trends and client needs. To find out more about IntelliView, go to https://www.experian.com/market-intelligence.

Organizations across a range of industries and geographies are facing an increasingly complex, new business environment. As a result, they have a desire to implement originations and customer acquisition strategies quickly and at low risk. The acquisition enables Experian to package Decisioning Solutions’ powerful and proven multitenant, multilingual software with its consumer and commercial data, analytical expertise, and identity proofing and authentication technologies, all from a robust and flexible SaaS model. This will allow small, medium and large organizations to make secure, on-demand, analytics-based customer decisions so they can achieve and sustain significant growth. This is extremely important for telecommunications, banking and consumer finance organizations that want to acquire customers, automate processing and decisioning, manage customer accounts, and reduce customer acquisition costs and risks. These organizations also require an enhancement in the security they use to prevent fraud as well as the ability to drive profitable growth through targeted, analytics-based customer decisions. This is accomplished by including Experian’s flexible and customizable identity proofing and authentication services within this new SaaS platform. Additionally, the platform will enable organizations to quickly and easily develop and deliver the most relevant and profitable customer strategies because it integrates with Experian’s PowerCurveTM Strategy Management and Optimization software. Even more important is that the platform supports multiple languages, so it can be rapidly deployed into new countries and markets around the world. Decisioning Solutions was founded in 2004 and is based in Canada.

The used car buying process can be as challenging for dealers as it is for consumers. Both parties want to make sure they are getting the best deal on a car that is safe and reliable. But how does anyone really know what they are getting? Across the Internet there are many resources available to help in this process including tips from trusted sites like Edmunds.com, KBB.com and NADAGuides.com. The one common thread among them is that they all tell you to get a vehicle history report as part of the research. And that is good advice. Here at Experian, we offer a vehicle history report called AutoCheck. AutoCheck reports contain information on odometer issues, title brands, frame-damage announcements and other important data points. In addition, where available, the reports contain information on accidents (including airbag deployment, point of impact and whether the vehicle was towed). The reports also include the patented AutoCheck Score, a tool that enables dealers and consumers to quickly and easily understand a vehicle’s past and compare it to other vehicles. The important piece to understand about all vehicle history reports is that no single source of information can be fully comprehensive, since not every accident or other auto-related incident is reported. However, at Experian, we are constantly working to enhance and expand our information sources to provide as much detail as possible. For example, our reports contain exclusive auction announcement information from the two largest U.S. Auction houses that may not appear in other reports. These auction announcements show if the vehicle has any potential issues that dealers and consumers should watch out for including frame damage, major repairs, or if the airbags are missing or defective. Additionally, two of our largest private sources of accident data are exclusive to Experian. These sources provide enhanced accident information that allow AutoCheck users to see additional reported accidents and accident details, even in states where state agencies do not collect or choose to share the information. The truth is, all of this information provides dealers and consumers with a unique view into a vehicle’s past, but it will not eliminate all risk from the used car shopping process. It has long been our philosophy that vehicle history reports should only be one step in the pre-owned vehicle purchasing process. In addition to purchasing an AutoCheck report, we encourage every pre-owned shopper to physically inspect the vehicle whenever possible, and to have a licensed mechanic inspect the vehicle to ensure the best and safest vehicle choice is made. During the shopping process dealers and consumers should also consider: 1. Using online resources such as valuation guides and online sales portals (which can obviously help in showing buyers if there is damage to a vehicle) to get a better idea of the vehicle’s value. 2. Visiting the manufacturer’s website to double check for any safety or recall notices that have been issued on the vehicle. To learn more about AutoCheck vehicle history reports, visit www.AutoCheck.com. Photo: Shutterstock