My son brought home a test recently and the grade on the test was quite low, much lower than the grades he usually brings home. My wife went through the test and many of the answers that were marked as being incorrect were questions that he knew when the two of them studied for the test. She couldn't understand that questions he knew so easily when sitting at the kitchen table were questions that all of a sudden he didn't know when he was sitting at his desk at school.

She went over…

TD Auto Finance has taken a page from Hyundai's playbook ― three years later.

TD Auto debuted a loan-protection program this week aimed at Canadian customers who lose their jobs during the first year of vehicle ownership.

The new program allows qualified consumers to sell back their car to TD, plus receive up to $7,500 to compensate for depreciation. It covers sudden job loss, but not bankruptcy, out-of-country job transfer, or several other major events that could prevent a…

Mitsubishi Motors North America has selected Ally Financial as the preferred provider of leasing and financing for the Mitsubishi i. The partnership also calls for Ally to provide leasing for other vehicles in the Mitsubishi lineup, alongside Mitsubishi Motors Credit of America Inc.…

As social media continues to be an important factor in a company’s success, myAutoloan.com just reached a milestone of achieving over 11,000 “fans” on Facebook and 32,000 “followers” on Twitter.

As for the success, it didn’t happen overnight. The strategy has taken years to accomplish, CEO of myAutoloan.com, Greg Thibodeau said in a…

As social media continues to be an important factor in a company’s success, myAutoloan.com just reached a milestone of achieving over 11,000 “fans” on Facebook and 32,000 “followers” on Twitter.

As for the success, it didn’t happen overnight. The strategy has taken years to accomplish, CEO of myAutoloan.com, Greg Thibodeau said in a statement.…

Social networking has turned people into oversharers. Until it's time to talk about banking. 

Consumers need to take the approach that a certain toilet paper manufacturer is taking in a series of new commercials, where they say, "It's time to get serious about what happens in the bathroom."

The notion is a little bit off-putting when it comes to discussing bathroom habits, but when it comes to banking products, sharing is caring. 

I was reading about a new app,…

Caars.net, an online loan shopping tool for consumers, has added more lenders to its lineup.

The free site allows consumers to shop around for the lender that will ultimately give them the best rate.

By entering their name, email and answering a few questions, the search engine will provide a shopper with a variety of loan options from lenders throughout the country.

In most cases, approval happens instantly and 100%…

SAN DIEGO ― Social responsibility drives a lot of consumer decisions these days.

Take TOMS Shoes, for instance. The company promises that for every pair of shoes a customer buys, the company will donate a pair to a needy child. “One for one” is the company’s mission.

So far, the TOMS philosophy has been paying off. Just months after the company was founded, TOMS had sold 10,000 pairs of shoes. By September 2010, it had sold a million. And as the company touts its…

As the asset-backed securities market continues to recover, as captives look to drive new car sales, and as several large-cap banks reduce pricing, investment bank Credit Suisse believes direct and indirect auto loan growth will slow for some regional banks.

In a recent installment of Barron’s…

SAN DIEGO ― Stiff competition in the financial services sector has put credit unions at a crossroads ― they must adapt or risk extinction.

“One thing is clear: Simply staying with the old model of branch dynamics will eat you alive,” said John Lass, SVP of strategy for CUNA Mutual Group, during a session at America’s Credit Union Conference held here yesterday.

Lass talked about the uphill battle credit unions face these days to keep up with technology changes and to remain…

About 22 years ago, I worked at a retail store back in Canada. While I was there, the retailer upgraded to using computers to manage inventory from checking a manually updated catalog. One of the features of using computers was now we were going to be able to cross-sell.

Anyone who's ever sold anything knows what cross-selling is. Someone buys a stereo, you try to sell them batteries. Today, it's impossible not to go somewhere and buy something and not be asked if you want to buy an…

On the heels of partnerships with Cars.com and Vehix, RoadLoans.com has inked a third online alliance, this time with AutoTrader.com.

Through the AutoTrader.com site, shoppers interested in a direct lending option can access financing…

Depreciation for compact and midsize vehicles is expected to worsen this summer, according to NADA's Used Car Guide Industry Update.

May’s 1.3% decline marked the first drop in used-car prices since late last year, according to NADA. The decline ended a four-month period in which vehicle appreciation averaged 2% per month. Prices dropped 1.3% in May and midsize cars and midsize vans fell the hardest.

NADA projects that softening seasonal demand will continue to pressure down…

When my wife and I had a TiVo, one of the cool features was that TiVo would recommend shows we might like based on what we asked TiVo to record. But it had some glitches. We once accidentally recorded an infomercial about the LifeCall alert system. For years. TiVo thought my wife and I were elderly people who lived alone and wanted to make sure we would be safe in case of an emergency.

There isn't a website or service out there that doesn't offer some kind of recommendation. Different…

LEAP Financial has stopped originating leases due to lack of capital, the company announced yesterday.

The San Diego, Calif.-based vehicle leasing company serves consumers who have difficulty obtaining credit and works with them to either keep their current vehicle or obtain another one. The company's product also enables customers who are unable to qualify for traditional financing to lease a vehicle.

Despite attempts to source capital over the past few months, the company has…

After 39 years in the business, TD Auto Finance CEO Tom Gilman will retire at the end of July, AutoFinanceNews.net has learned.

Paul Clark, the auto unit’s chief operating officer, will assume Gilman’s responsibilities.

Gilman joined Chrysler in 1973, and held numerous positions at the carmaker and its captive for nearly three decades. Gilman also served as senior vice president at Asbury Automotive Group, and as a director at DealerTrack, among other…

Auto loan outstandings in the United States took a step forward in 2011, inching higher as the auto finance sector continued to exhibit strong performance after the Great Recession. For the second straight year, the combined portfolios of the Top 100 financiers increased, according to the annual Auto Finance Big Wheels ranking of car lenders and lessors, which was released today.

“The auto finance landscape continues to improve, evidenced by origination and portfolio…

We’ve been hearing it everywhere we turn: The auto industry is recovering well, despite economic uncertainties. In fact, light vehicle sales for May totaled 1.3 million, up 26% from May 2011 and on track for a SAAR of 13.8 million. Sounds pretty great, right?

As May is typically a strong month for auto sales, some manufacturers reported their best sales totals in years. Still, the economic outlook has worsened. Between lower consumer confidence and weak unemployment numbers, the…

Facebook started as an idea, grew into a website and now is becoming a platform. 

A new service, called Ordr.in, aims to allow people to order food while on Facebook, never having to leave the site to have a meal delivered to their house. The service is mainly offered in and…

FORT WORTH, Texas — Competition is getting heated, earnings are solid, and static pools are holding up “pretty well.” In general, lenders are encouraged by what the future has in store for auto finance. Particularly, capital is back in the market, and banks are competing for a piece of that pie. That was the sentiment here yesterday during a CEO panel at the NAF Association's Nonprime Auto Financing Conference.

Two of three companies represented during the session touted their…