The Informed Team is just back from an event we dubbed “Dallas Auto Week.” The AFSA Vehicle Finance Conference and the 2023 NADA Show ran back to back, making it easy for the team to hit both events. We were excited by the energy at the events and energized for the year ahead. Below are some of the highlights.

The American Financial Services Association (AFSA) Vehicle Finance Conference provided a fantastic opportunity to hear from industry leaders on pressing topics such as: 

• Customer experience
• Consumer purchasing market trends
• Interest rates
• The economy
• Supply chain challenges
• Regulatory and compliance matters 

And, there was a heavy focus on greater transparency around voluntary protection products and ancillary product fees. 

So Many Great Sessions

Speakers discussed the need for continued technology investments. They cited the opportunity for lenders and dealers to leverage analytics and data as a competitive differentiator. Also encouraging lenders to leverage the data to create personalized customer experiences and streamline operations. It was evident that the technology solutions that will ultimately “win” are those that help with: 

• Customer acquisition through digital experiences
• Reducing costs via simplified workflows and automation, and 
• Enabling greater compliance with ever-evolving federal and state regulations

We enjoyed many great sessions throughout the conference. Michael Lomardi, long time NFL GM shared experiences from the football world, inspiring listeners to excel. Jeremie Papin, SVP of Nissan America shared his market outlook and steps they are taking to address challenges and opportunities.

A panel of speakers gave their best guesses and predictions on where the U.S. and global economies are heading in 2023.  Topics ranged from interest rates and potential fed rate hikes, Washington policymaking, and forecasts for economic trends.

Consumers have many options for purchasing and financing a car. Leveraging technology that makes that experience as seamless as possible for all parties is key. In a time of such rapid change for the automotive industry, we appreciate these opportunities to meet with peers and share ideas, ask questions, and gather feedback.

A New Partnership

Also at the AFSA conference, Informed and FIS officially announced our partnership. FIS is leveraging Informed so their lenders can automate their consumer and auto lending verification processes. Informed delivers accurate consumer income calculation and validation of applicant data, allowing FIS and their customers to make faster, more accurate credit decisions.

This announcement is the culmination of months of work as part of the FIS Fintech Accelerator program and a cross-functional effort between the teams. Plugging Informed into FIS’ network of financial institutions, expands market reach and capitalizes on FIS’ market-leading brand as a fintech services provider. Together, we hosted prospective and existing customers at the FIS booth throughout the conference.

On to NADA

Next up was NADA where close to 30,000 people gathered for 4 days. The annual conference, targeted at auto dealers, was an incredibly valuable experience for all of us. With speakers like Deion Sanders, Nikki Haley, and Greg Gutfeld, it was a star studded affair and exhibitors came in numbers. As the conference went on, several themes became clear:

• Dealer focus on modernizing their retail experiences and expanding their online presence – Now more than ever, dealers understand they must converge their online and in-dealer buying experiences. Coordinating these two processes is essential to the modern car buyer, and this was the year you could see dealers focusing on solving the problem. Dealers understand an omnichannel approach is necessary for their customers and are taking action by purchasing digital retailing platforms like Tekion, AutoFi, WebBuy, etc. Informed contributes to the dealer experience through collection tooling that’s incredibly impactful to dealers. 

• Scrutiny and concern around GAP Insurance and Ancillary Products – A number of lenders, dealers and partners expressed concern in the wake of increased regulatory scrutiny on GAP insurance and ancillary products. Lenders need to comply with a ton of state regulations and need help. Informed specializes in helping lenders stay compliant with state and federal regulation as it relates to ancillary products. We’ve recently onboarded F&I Sentinel as a key strategic partner to bolster this capability.

• A need for seamless lending processes to ensure faster funding – Another theme we heard from dealers was the need for faster funding and how lenders and partners can help. Dealers don’t want to wait for lenders taking days and even weeks to fund a loan for a prospective customer. With solutions like InformedIQ, lenders can review and validate entire deal jackets in seconds, using AI and machine learning. So lenders answer their dealers more quickly and provide a seamless customer experience. Want to see Informed in action? Contact us today.