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Everybody in lending knows that collateral recovery and vehicle repossessions are unpleasant and unenjoyable for all parties involved. Unfortunately, it's a part of business in auto lending. And as long as your financial institution and its staff are tracking collateral and assets, you'll encounter angry, hostile borrowers who will make asset collection as difficult as possible. Here are some tips for how to deal with hostile debtors when your financial institution staff, field agents, and repossession agents are trying to recover collateral.

In the everyday hustle and bustle that occurs at your financial institution, it can be easy to wander off the path and lose focus. It happened to Texans Credit Union, but they were ultimately able to regain focus, leading them back to their philosophy to generate sales through service. And focus on what’s important to them--their members!

If your financial institution works with a third-party vendor for your collections efforts, you know how important it is to ensure your partners perform at an optimal level. The vetting and on-boarding process alone can take months, so the "set it and forget it" mentality could be detrimental to the overall performance of your collections operation. To ensure your outsourced partner performs at a high level, it’s wise to understand their company procedures and establish agreed upon benchmarks to measure their performance.

When we consider the U.S. economy, we see good and bad news. The good news is that we've almost reached full employment, and consumers are feeling confident about their ability to maintain a stable income, make large purchases, and repay loans. The bad news is that confidence may be misplaced, since U.S. consumers’ credit card debt is at an all-time high, and delinquencies are rising.

An Automated Valuation Model, or more commonly known as an AVM, is a program that automatically analyzes various data points to produce an estimate on the current value of a home or property. An AVM includes:

Ah, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)...that ole' chestnut. There hasn't been much change to this law, which went into effect back in 1991. Clarifications have been issued—as recently as 2013—however, the core ruling hasn't shifted since inception regarding contacting a debtor using an autodialer or pre-recorded message. If you don't know what the TCPA is and how it impacts the financial services industry, you can read one of our previous blog post that covers the TCPA basics. However, in this article, we'll dive a little deeper into how a financial institution can navigate the particulars of obtaining express consent from borrowers, specifically for the purposes of contacting them on a mobile device.

Though U.S. auto sales have cooled of late, one segment is thriving and even growing against the odds. Almost 70% of all auto sales these days consist of light-duty trucks and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, mid- and full-size trucks are also enjoying double-digit sales growth, reports trucks.com.

While the automotive industry and numerous dependent industries, such as auto lending, are usually pleased with increased vehicle sales in any segment, this time there's a catch: trucks and SUVs have become the priciest class of vehicles, and borrowers are beginning to have a hard time paying back these larger loans.

Being in the payment industry for well over two decades, now, more than ever, we are seeing consumer experience and the demand for self-service solutions causing significant growth in online and mobile payments. Particularly, in the last year, we’ve seen self-service channels are growing at about three times the rate of “agent-led” calls.

Increasing non-interest income to help cover costs and introducing new services while also staying true to your financial institution's mission can be tricky. One way to do so is by introducing new products that complement your current offerings and bring value to your new and existing consumer base. To that end, voluntary protection products, often available in combination with premium checking accounts, are a great option for financial institutions to add to their product and service portfolios.

No matter the industry, customer retention should play a critical role in your business model—and financial institutions are no exception. While acquiring new customers is always top of mind for financial institutions, retaining existing customers might be a smarter business move when it comes to growing and remaining profitable.