Merrick Bank VP of strategy talks powersports expansion

Merrick Bank is expanding into powersports financing after 20 years in recreational vehicle (RV) and marine lending with Lars Lundberg , vice president of strategy and revenue, leading the way. [caption id="attachment_57330053" align="alignright" width="256"] Lars Lundberg [/caption] In January, the bank launched nationwide financing for utility terrain vehicles (UTVs), all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and side-by-side vehicles, Lundberg told Auto Finance News . Merrick also recently began personal watercraft financing and plans to launch programs for snowmobiles in September followed by motorcycles in 2023. Powersports lending “is closely related to what we've been doing for nearly 20 years in the marine and RV spaces, and we feel like it's a natural fit for our organization to provide dealers with another financing source for their credit challenged customers,” Lundberg said. Draper, Utah-based Merrick Bank, founded in 1997, is a wholly owned subsidiary of consumer finance lender CardWorks . The lender has about 95% distribution with marine and RV dealers across 48 states in the U.S., Lundberg said. The bank primarily focuses on nonprime consumers and customers with credit challenges, according to its website. Lundberg oversees strategy, earnings and marketing activities for RV, marine and powersports programs at the bank. He has more than 13 years’ experience in marketing and business development and joined the lender in June 2021 after serving as brand manager for PepsiCo and in several senior marketing positions at 3M . Lundberg recently discussed Merrick Bank’s powersports expansion strategy with Auto Finance News . What follows is an edited version of the conversation. Auto Finance News : What opportunities does powersports lending provide Merrick Bank? Lars Lundberg: For the past two years, we’ve partnered with a national retailer financing ATVs, UTVs and side-by-sides for their customers. That’s gone very well for us, so Jan. 1, we launched nationwide into powersports, taking a phased approach. We have strong relationships with brokers, service providers and dealers in the marine and RV space; we are not walking away from that. But we see growth opportunity in the powersports space. We're in all 48 states, and we've been signing up dealers since January. The program has been well-received. [caption id="attachment_57330054" align="alignnone" width="2560"] © Can Stock Photo / breaker213 [/caption] AFN : What consumer base does the bank primarily target? LL : We are a full-spectrum lender, but we specialize in nonprime and near prime. From a national perspective, we're a well-known lender in the nonprime and near-prime credit space in marine and RV, and we want to get to that point in powersports as well. Merrick Bank’s powersports rates range from 9.95% to 17.95%, and in the RV and marine side, the bank’s rates start at 6.95%. For powersports products, Merrick offers loans up to 84 months for a maximum of $40,000. RV and marine loans can carry terms of up to 20 years and a loan maximum of $100,000. AFN: What are your thoughts on expanding into the powersports market? LL : We're excited for the trends that we're seeing . Everyone is focused on getting out and recreating and being able to spend time with family and loved ones outdoors. We want to be a part of that any way that we can. Pricing is somewhat inflated right now but could come back down in the next year or two. Inventory is probably the biggest challenge for dealers. We want to make sure that when they do have the inventory that they have access to a nonprime or near-prime program to satisfy any customer that walks through their doors. What dealers often say to us is they always need another nonprime lender or near-prime lender. Some of the other existing programs that are out there seem a little more stringent on what they'll lend against, especially as far as credit scores and credit history is concerned. That's a strong competitive advantage for us. With some of the macroeconomic trends we're seeing, there may be an even greater need for more nonprime lending options for dealers in the next 12 to 24 months. AFN : What incentives does Merrick Bank offer dealers? LL : We pay up to 4% of dealer participation on every loan as an incentive to use our bank. For example, if a dealership sends the bank a $10,000 loan, we fund the dealership an additional 4%, or $400. It’s a really common practice in marine and RV, and some banks are doing it in powersports — but not many. Powersports Finance Summit, a premier event for companies involved in recreational vehicle financing, returns October 25-26 at the Wynn Las Vegas. To learn more about the 2022 event and register, visit www.PowersportsFinance.com .

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Merrick Bank VP of strategy talks powersports expansion

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