Westlake sees drop in charge-offs and rise in recoveries after implementation
FORT WORTH, TX 03/15/2017 – Digital Recognition Network (DRN) recently embedded DRNsights, powered by vehicle location data plus analytics, into Westlake Financial’s servicing platform to manage risk and reduce losses. Westlake’s recent monthly performance report showed DRN’s data assisted Westlake with an increase in recoveries and a drop in charge-offs during a one month period by using the new DRN-provided location data.
“The top auto lenders in the U.S. have been using our vehicle location data for repossessions with great success for some time. Those same lenders are now starting to use the data to help make right party contact. Under the leadership of Ian Anderson, Group President of Westlake Financial and Jorge Alvarado, Operations Manager, Westlake is taking DRN’s data to the next level by deploying DRNsights earlier in the servicing process. The results have been remarkable; they are able to reach out to customers, cure loans and prevent loans from going into recovery,” said Chris Metaxas, Chief Executive Officer at DRN.
“We knew the power of DRN could assist us in locating and recovering vehicles, so it was only logical to integrate DRN data into our servicing process. By using DRN’s vehicle location data, we are provided notifications through a series of flags based on what the data demonstrates. This is a game-changer for us; we can help customers earlier in the process and we are more efficient with our servicing and recovery,” commented Ian Anderson, Group President of Westlake Financial.
Vehicle location data from Digital Recognition Network (DRN) revolutionized the repossession industry by helping lenders recover up to 35% more vehicles and avoid charge-off losses. DRNsights leverage DRN’s vehicle location data and analytics to help lenders better understand their customer’s needs, provide new locations for making right party contact, enable faster recovery and reduce charge-off losses. The vehicle location data is gathered 24/7, 365 days a year nationwide through license plate recognition (LPR) technology. DRN’s nationwide coverage with over five billion vehicle sightings includes the date, time and location of each sighting. This data provides alerts of possible risk, protection from lien losses, new locations for making contact on 30% or more accounts, the ability to collect earlier to reduce charge-offs, and a 50% reduction in the days to recover vehicles out for repossession.
And for Westlake, DRN provided training on the system that guided Westlake’s collectors through the process of using vehicle location data to enhance skip tracing efforts. “We were impressed by the training and the impact it had on our servicing team. Our servicing team remarked on the difference the training and DRN’s data and analytics will have on their success,” noted Jorge Alvarado, Westlake Financial Operations Manager.
About Westlake Financial
Westlake is an internet based, privately held finance company that specializes in the acquisition and servicing of prime to sub-prime automotive retail installment contracts. Headquartered in Southern California, Westlake originates indirect retail installment contracts through a network of over 20,000 new and used car dealers throughout the United States. Westlake also offers portfolio purchasing through their ALPS division (Advanced Lending & Portfolio Services): www.WestlakeALPS.com. Flooring lines of credit are offered through their Westlake Flooring Services division: www.WestlakeFlooringServices.com. Direct consumer title loans are offered through Westlake’s wholly owned subsidiary, Wilshire Consumer Credit. All collections and servicing functions are performed in-house at its headquarters located in the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles.
