During NADA 2012, hundreds of dealers and dealership employees visited the RouteOne booth to catch a demo of the new RouteOne Compliance Dashboard. The Compliance Dashboard will be available to dealers in mid-February 2012. This free tool allows a dealer the ability to visually evaluate their compliance status within RouteOne, including assessment of Identity Verification, OFAC, Risk-Based Pricing / Credit Score Disclosure Notices, and Adverse Action Notices.
Dealers may view transactions at a dealership or individual user level, and may customize the categories they wish to track and monitor.
Compliance is a significant issue within the dealer community, and many dealers expressed concern regarding the growing complexity of rules and regulations within the F&I office, particularly how challenging it can be to manage compliance duties within the dealership. RouteOne was pleased to demonstrate to dealers its comprehensive compliance suite, designed to assist with managing compliance and staying ahead of government regulations. In addition to the Compliance Dashboard, RouteOne offers identity verification, electronic document storage, Adverse Action/Credit Score Disclosure notices, and more.
Dealers interested in personalized training on the Dashboard or other RouteOne features may contact their Business Development Manager or RouteOne Customer Support at 866.933.0663.
RouteOne has served as an industry leader in the online credit application management space, helping automotive dealers and finance sources to enjoy a faster, more efficient credit application process. The services that RouteOne provides have helped automotive dealerships sell more vehicles and have also provided finance sources a channel to grow their business. RouteOne continues to build upon the list of active finance sources on the platform.
Many used car dealers have also taken advantage of the tools available on RouteOne. RouteOne is currently growing its lender base within the used car niche. The combination of a strong used car market and a large number of participating finance sources makes RouteOne an excellent platform for both franchised and used car dealers.
RouteOne offers a host of useful features to its finance sources, all of which enhance the dealer user experience:
- eContracting
- Rates and Forms
- Reporting Suite
- Payoff Quotes
- Dealer Reserve Reports
- Vehicle Values
- Text Messaging
- Contract Status
- Deal Refresh
Using these tools enables a truly integrated process between the dealer and finance source, while maximizing customer satisfaction.
If you are a finance source interested in participating on the RouteOne platform or a dealer interested in viewing existing active finance sources on RouteOne, please click the appropriate button below and complete the form as directed.
RouteOne will host two informative and educational webinars in December. Please join us December 6, 2011 for the first in this webinar series, focusing on bank fraud. Dealers and Finance Sources welcome.
The Realities of Bank Fraud: What a Dealer Needs to Know presented by Gil VanOver of gvo3 and RouteOne
Bank fraud at automotive dealerships has become a serious issue. From straw purchases to power booking, falsifying down payments to falsifying information on credit applications, these forbidden practices can jeopardize the health of your dealership.
Please join RouteOne and Gil Van Over, President and Founder of gvo3 & Associates, as we discuss the implications of bank fraud in the auto industry. Gvo3 & Associates specializes in developing and implementing compliance strategies within the F&I and Sales departments of automotive dealerships.
Gil will explain the four types of dealership bank fraud and its impact on a dealership. He will also share real-life examples of dealerships around the country that have experienced bank fraud firsthand. Finally, Gil will share best practices you can implement to help prevent bank fraud from occurring in your dealership.
After Gil’s presentation, RouteOne will offer a short presentation on security features and tools that may be used to help prevent fraud and theft within the dealership. We look forward to your attendance. Don’t miss out on this valuable session – register today
By Chuck Gucwa, VP Business Development
Increasing CSI while complying with industry regulations
The automotive lending community continues to be subject to increased regulatory scrutiny and enforcement, and there are no signs of this slowing in the near future. It’s the responsibility of every dealership to ensure their compliance with the laws – or risk expensive fines, penalties and increased analysis and inspection from the regulatory community.
Though these guidelines may require additional effort, time and resources on the part of dealerships to ensure compliance, there is an upside. These laws are designed for consumer protection – and that’s a message you need to be providing to your automotive customers. Look at it as a way to improve customer service while potentially growing your business and increasing profits in an ever changing market.
Navigating the credit maze with your customers
Much of the current regulation, including Credit Score Disclosure notices and Adverse Action notices, relate to the significance of a customer’s credit score in obtaining the most desired financing rates available. While an Adverse Action notice is used to notify consumers when they have been denied credit, a Risk Based Pricing notice is required for those that do receive credit, but on material terms that are less favorable than the terms offered to a substantial portion of customers (or, in the alternative, a Credit Score Disclosure notice may be provided to all customers). Either way, presenting these documents to the consumer offers you the chance to further extend the customer relationship by offering to discuss the customer’s score with them. Many consumers have questions about how their credit score affects their purchasing power. Embrace the chance to assist them with their questions and offer input on how to improve their score (especially with subprime buyers). You may want to develop a road map of sorts for improving credit scores, or providing industry references on the topic. Your customer may take your advice and return in the coming months to make their vehicle purchase with you – establishing their loyalty and hopefully, setting the stage for a long-lasting relationship with your dealership.
The identity crisis
Another high profile regulation is the Federal Trade Commission’s “Red Flag Rule”, which requires dealerships to implement and follow a written identity theft prevention program. This rule serves to protect you and your customers from potential identity theft resulting in loss of property and profits. Additionally, OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) assists dealerships in screening customers to detect potential security threats. Explain these regulations to your customers, particularly when executing the steps within your identity verification program. Reassure them that the appropriate cautionary steps are being taken to protect both you and the customer from potential fraud.
Additional protection
Reassure your customers that you take cautionary steps within the dealership – steps not mandated by government agencies – to ensure the safety and security of customer data. Electronic document storage of all credit application materials and related information (credit reports, privacy notices, etc.) eliminates hard copy storage and the potential for lost or stolen documents at the dealership. Simple but effective policies such as a ‘clean desk ’and ‘acceptable use’ policy go a long way in protecting confidential and sensitive consumer data.
Take the opportunity to explain to your customers that you are there to assist them, and that you want them to obtain the best financing possible in the safest environment possible. This is your chance to establish long-term loyalty and customer retention at your dealership. Good selling!
Charles Gucwa is the Vice President of Business Development for RouteOne LLC, a free web-based credit application management system that connects automotive dealers to their subscribed lenders within a single portal. More information can be found at www.routeone.com or by calling RouteOne Customer Support at 866.933.0663.
The internet has revolutionized the way we conduct business. While the evolution of technology has provided us with immeasurable value, it also comes at great risk. As an industry-leading online provider of credit application and other supporting F&I tools, we share your deep commitment to security, and to safeguarding the critical customer information with which we have been entrusted. As such, we’ve taken great care to build a secure system to provide you the peace of mind you need to conduct your business.
Here are a few of our recommendations for simple steps you may take NOW to help secure your customer information:
1 - Run anti-virus / anti-malware software to protect your dealership systems, and update these protections regularly on applicable networks and machines (including desktops, laptops, tablets, and servers.)
2 - Only utilize ‘trusted’ equipment. Do not login from home or any location where malware protection is not being utilized.
3 - Never share your password or user accounts with others, and avoid writing your password down or placing it where others can see it.
4 - Keep confidential customer and employee data inside locked metal cabinets that are not easily accessible by the public.
5 - Eliminate unauthorized access to confidential data by conducting an ‘exit checklist’ for departing employees, including terminating access to RouteOne and all other dealership systems.
We hope that you’re able to implement some or all of these best practices to better protect your dealership.
By Alan Cross, Business Development Manager, RouteOne LLC
Tuscaloosa, AL
As most will recall, the city of Tuscaloosa, AL and surrounding communities were devastated by a massive tornado on April 27th of this year - taking many lives and leaving a path of destruction over a mile wide through the heart of the city. In early June, I was asked by RouteOne to make a trip into this portion of my territory and help identify ways we could support our dealer partners and help the community in the rebuilding effort – the subject of an earlier blog post, A Better Understanding of What We Can All Do To Help The Community.
Left to Right - Tommy Townsend (Townsend Ford), Shawn Turner (Project Blessings), Alan Cross (RouteOne), Marsha Sprayberry (Project Blessings) and Barry Buckner (Tuscaloosa Hyundai)
On Tuesday, August 9th I had the honor and privilege of returning and presenting a $5,000 donation to Project Blessings on behalf of RouteOne and our dealer partners in the area. Project Blessings has done a phenomenal job in their community to restore hope, rebuild homes and help rebuild lives in the aftermath of the storm. The donation was presented to Marsha Sprayberry, founder of Project Blessings, at the site of one of their ongoing projects with two of our dealer partners, members of the organization and around 20 volunteers in attendance. We were able to see firsthand how donations and volunteers were making a difference in the community.
With the group of volunteers from Creekside UMC (Creekside, PA)
I was a bit surprised as I pulled up at the home where we had agreed to meet – it was outside the tornado zone and, from the outside, appeared to be untouched by the storm. A group of volunteers were busy at work inside stripping walls, tearing out rotten floors and restoring the home’s structural integrity. I later learned that this group was a church congregation from Pennsylvania that had learned about Project Blessings through their website. Like so many groups before them, they had travelled many miles to Tuscaloosa to spend a week assisting in the rebuilding efforts.
Marsha explained to us that this project was a first for them. The house, in bad need of repair, had been donated to Project Blessings by the family of its former owner in hopes it could be repaired and become the new home for someone who lost theirs in the storm. Once repaired, Marsha explained, Project Blessings would work with HUD to identify a new owner for the home. She told the group that a portion of our donation would be used on this project and on others to purchase supplies and also hire professionals to perform required, permitted work unable to be performed by volunteers.
RouteOne is proud to be involved with such an organization, and look forward to contributing to their rebuild efforts in the future. If you are interested in learning more, please contact me at 248.686.8400 or across@routeone.com.
We all know that consumer credit plays a critical role in the auto sales business. Running a credit report as soon as possible on potential customers allows you to quickly assess the type of financing you will need to obtain for the customer, saving you time and energy later on.
We also know that the credit application and credit reports go hand in hand – that’s why RouteOne offers you the ability to run a bureau directly from within the credit application on our platform. You can enter the bureau information first, before starting the app, and that information will pre-populate a credit application for that consumer, eliminating duplicate entry and increasing your selling time. Or, enter the app first and then run the report – the credit report request will be automatically populated with the customer data. It’s a win-win!
Additionally, when you run bureaus within RouteOne, credit score disclosure and/or adverse action notices will be pre-populated with that customer data – saving you valuable time and eliminating the risk for errors.
And imagine this – you meet a customer on the lot but sense he’s not yet committed to sitting down and running numbers, much less purchasing a vehicle. No problem! You can pull reports through your mobile devices such as the Android, iPhone, and iPad. Collect that customer’s information and run their credit report in the palm of your hand – no need for office time or lengthy paperwork – more time saved!
It doesn’t matter, either, which bureaus you are affiliated with - you can access virtually any credit bureau source through RouteOne by obtaining dealership account credentials, or codes, from your credit bureau service provider. You can then enter the codes into RouteOne and begin running bureaus immediately!
When you run bureaus through RouteOne, you can process and store the reports AND applications within the same system, which is not only efficient – it’s smart. We’re integrated with ADPs Credit Check and other resellers. We also provide access to the three credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. And credit reports are stored for 60 days within RouteOne – even longer if you’re a subscriber to our electronic document storage tool, SecureDocOne.
Get started today. Visit our website to learn more here, or contact the RouteOne Customer Support team at 866.933.0663 for more information. Thank you for your business!