Kmart customers can now stop into their nearest location and pay for more than just their housewares. The company recently launched its in-store bill pay program which will allow consumers to pay their auto loan at any Kmart store nationwide.

Kmart is offering these capabilities through the CheckFreePay walk-in bill payment service from Fiserv. In…

Credit scores for consumers purchasing a vehicle have dropped to near pre-recession levels, according to Experian Automotive.

The average credit score for financing a new vehicle dropped six points to 760 and dropped four points to 659 for used vehicles, according to 1Q12 results. In 1Q08, credit scores were at an average of 753 for new vehicles and 653 for used, according to Experian’s quarterly automotive credit analysis.

Interest rates were lower year-over-year, and loan…

Santander Consumer USA has expanded its Santander Auto Finance lending program to include prime tiers, turning the company into a “full spectrum” lender.

Though Santander will continue to provide loans to near-prime, nonprime, and subprime credit customers, the new program allows Santander to fund car loans to consumers with prime credit, too.

“Dealers can send all of their applications through Santander Auto Finance for decisioning without having to think through which lender…

The buzzword of the day in marketing circles is engagement.

Businesses should engage their customers, not just sell to them. Engagement is different than selling because it's considered to be more consultative and less transaction-based. Engagement is something you do with family around Thanksgiving dinner, not something you do when someone walks onto your used car lot.

I was reading…

Barbeques aren’t the only thing heating up this weekend as new-car sales are expected to rise almost 30% this month, with the help of the long weekend and holiday sales. Though compared to some pretty weak results last year, both Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds.com foresee the biggest sales gain in more than a year.

As you may recall, this time last year Japanese Manufacturers like Honda and Toyota were struggling with the effects of an earthquake and tsunami. This year, however, Toyota…

DBRS, one of Wall Street's smaller credit rating agencies, is promoting itself to prospective clients as the “stable” credit rating provider.

While ratings from other credit rating agencies might lack “stability,” meaning that they might change in a…

The auto finance sector may be in the Department of Justice's line of fire for enforcement of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, after settlements with two towing companies for SCRA violations.

According to law firm Ballard Spahr, the DOJ would likely crack down on the following actions:

- Failing to reduce a servicemember’s interest rate as required;

- Repossessing property purchased by a servicemember under an…

The national auto loan delinquency rate — the rate of borrowers 60 or more days past due — reached its lowest level since TransUnion began tracking the data in 1999. Auto loan delinquency rates in 1Q12 dropped to 0.36%, down from 0.49% in 1Q11 and down from 0.46% in 4Q11.

"Auto loan delinquencies continue to perform exceptionally," said Peter Turek, automotive vice president in TransUnion's financial services business unit. "This can be attributed primarily to growing demand for both…

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As Ally Financial continues to expand its presence in the RV industry,  the finance company will now be an additional provider for dealer inventory financing in the U.S. for Forest River Inc.

Ally will participate in Forest River’s interest reimbursement program for RV dealers who obtain wholesale financing from Ally. Eligible dealers can receive an interest rebate from Forest River for units sold to retail customers within…

As if competition weren't already pressuring margins, Mojo Motors has snared $3 million in series A financing to help expand its vehicle discount site.

Boston-based Mojo Motors operates a free website that guarantees the lowest prices on the internet, granting members access to exclusive discounts on thousands of vehicles and sending personalized alerts when dealers drop prices. When a consumer is ready to buy, he prints a…

NEW YORK — Auto-backed securitizations will likely account for 55% of total ABS volume this year, and subprime issuers are largely the reason.

"An increasing portion of the auto finance market today is coming from the growth and reemergence of the subprime sector,” Michael Binz, managing director and business leader of ABS Ratings at Standard & Poor's, told attendees at a structured finance event on Friday. “With this growth, new issuers are coming into the markets [along with]…

Way back during the 1928 Presidential campaign, the Republican party released an ad promoting candidate Herbert Hoover that promised "a chicken in every pot and a car in every backyard, to boot." 

Hoover ended up winning the election, but shortly after taking the oath of office was derailed by an economic downturn known as the Great Depression. 

The economy recovered, eventually, but then America went off to war that lasted into 1945. After the war ended, the U.S. economy…

Ally Financial’s chief executive made it very clear that the company is "absolutely not" looking to sell its core U.S. auto lending business in the wake of Monday’s announcement that its Residential Capital mortgage unit filed for bankruptcy protection.

In fact, “the actions position Ally very strongly for the future,” CEO Michael Carpenter said in a conference…

Indirect lender Tidalwave Finance Corp. has received an increase in its revolving credit line -- to $6 million -- from Sunwest Bank.

Tidalwave,which originates loans to auto dealers in Southern California, was the first client of the Irvine, Calif.-based bank's Specialty Finance Group, a sector that provides rediscount lines of credit to lenders. 

"The…

Earlier today, Ally Financial’s mortgage unit, Residential Capital LLC, filed for bankruptcy protection. The move is part of a broader plan to boost the company's financial profile and accelerate repayment of the U.S. Treasury Department's investment.

Of the $17 billion the lender owes the Treasury, Ally has paid approximately $5.5 billion. During the financial crisis, the Treasury assisted the lender though multiple bailouts and now owns nearly 74% of the company. 

"The action…

A central tenet of Ally Financial's reorganization plan for its ResCap unit filed today is the company's continuing ability to grow its auto finance business. The question is, can Ally, in fact, grow that…

We’ve recently seen data proving that owning a vehicle is just not on the top of young people’s wish lists. Besides cyberspace placing them exactly where they need to be without driving and environmental concerns, the mere financial strain steers them away from wanting to make the purchase.

In London, Peugeot is including drivers 21 and up into its Just Add Fuel incentive…

I don't listen to the radio much, but the last two times I've turned it on while driving, I've heard the same infomercial.

The commercial aims to get people to buy into a financial management system that helps them pay off their mortgages faster and to save more money. There's nothing terribly special or noteworthy about this particular commercial; I'm sure there are dozens, if not hundreds, of others like it bouncing across the airwaves.

While I have no plans to purchase the…

Since the collapse of the new-car market in 2008, industry participants have talked about a “new normal” for car sales. The argument was that the prior 17-million-unit sales pace was inflated, and 14 million units was a more appropriate rate based on population figures and driving habits. Manufacturers have since recalculated production volumes and reduced headcount accordingly.

While adjustments were made on the new-car side, the used-car market has been strengthening. Limited…