Tag: nonprime

Article written by Melanie Smith, Senior Copywriter, Experian Clarity Services, Inc. It’s been almost a decade since the Great Recession in the United States ended, but consumers continue to feel its effects. During the recession, millions of Americans lost their jobs, retirement savings decreased, real estate reduced in value and credit scores plummeted. Consumers that found themselves impacted by the financial crisis often turned to alternative financial services (AFS). Since the end of the recession, customer loyalty and retention has been a focus for lenders, given that there are more options than ever before for AFS borrowers. To determine what this looks like in the current climate, we examined today’s non-prime consumers, what their traditional scores look like and if they are migrating to traditional lending. What are alternative financial services (AFS)? Alternative financial services (AFS) is a term often used to describe the array of financial services offered by providers that operate outside of traditional financial institutions. In contrast to traditional banks and credit unions, alternative service providers often make it easier for consumers to apply and qualify for lines of credit but may charge higher interest rates and fees. More than 50% of new online AFS borrowers were first seen in 2018 To determine customer loyalty and fluidity, we looked extensively at the borrowing behavior of AFS consumers in the online marketplace. We found half of all online borrowers were new to the space as of 2018, which could be happening for a few different reasons. Over the last five years, there has been a growing preference to the online space over storefront. For example, in our trends report from 2018, we found that 17% of new online customers migrated from the storefront single pay channel in 2017, with more than one-third of these borrowers from 2013 and 2014 moving to online overall. There was also an increase in AFS utilization by all generations in 2018. Additionally, customers who used AFS in previous years are now moving towards traditional credit sources. 2017 AFS borrowers are migrating to traditional credit As we examined the borrowing behavior of AFS consumers in relation to customer loyalty, we found less than half of consumers who used AFS in 2017 borrowed from an AFS lender again in 2018. Looking into this further, about 35% applied for a loan but did not move forward with securing the loan and nearly 24% had no AFS activity in 2018. We furthered our research to determine why these consumers dropped off. After analyzing the national credit database to see if any of these consumers were borrowing in the traditional credit space, we found that 34% of 2017 borrowers who had no AFS activity in 2018 used traditional credit services, meaning 7% of 2017 borrowers migrated to traditional lending in 2018. Traditional credit scores of non-prime borrowers are growing After discovering that 7% of 2017 online borrowers used traditional credit services in 2018 instead of AFS, we wanted to find out if there had also been an improvement in their credit scores. Historically, if someone is considered non-prime, they don’t have the same access to traditional credit services as their prime counterparts. A traditional credit score for non-prime consumers is less than 600. Using the VantageScore® credit score, we examined the credit scores of consumers who used and did not use AFS in 2018. We found about 23% of consumers who switched to traditional lending had a near-prime credit score, while only 8% of those who continued in the AFS space were classified as near-prime. Close to 10% of consumers who switched to traditional lending in 2018 were classified in the prime category. Considering it takes much longer to improve a traditional credit rating, it’s likely that some of these borrowers may have been directly impacted by the recession and improved their scores enough to utilize traditional credit sources again. Key takeaways AFS remains a viable option for consumers who do not use traditional credit or have a credit score that doesn’t allow them to utilize traditional credit services. New AFS borrowers continue to appear even though some borrowers from previous years have improved their credit scores enough to migrate to traditional credit services. Customers who are considered non-prime still use AFS, as well as some near-prime and prime customers, which indicates customer loyalty and retention in this space. For more information about customer loyalty and other recently identified trends, download our recent reports. State of Alternative Data 2019 Lending Report

Findings from Experian's latest State of the Automotive Finance Market analysis showed market share for nonprime, subprime and deep subprime automotive loans for new vehicles grew by 13.6 percent and new vehicle leasing increased by 7.53 percent year over year in Q3 2012. Thirty-day delinquencies fell slightly from 2.78 percent in Q3 2011 to 2.67 percent in Q3 2012 and 60 day delinquencies fell from 0.71 percent in Q3 2011 to 0.69 percent in Q3 2012.

Loans to customers in the nonprime, subprime and deep-subprime credit risk tiers accounted for more than one in four new vehicle loans in Q2 2012. With 25.41 percent of all new vehicle loans opened by customers in the nonprime, subprime and deep-subprime credit risk tiers, loans for this group were up 14 percent when compared with Q2 2011. Listen to our recent Webinar on Q2 2012 automotive credit trends Source: Experian Automotive's quarterly credit trend analysis

The automotive loan market continued to improve, with lenders showing more willingness to lend outside of prime. In Q4 2011, average credit scores for new and used auto loans dropped when compared with Q4 2010. Additionally, the percentage of loans to customers with nonprime, subprime or deep-subprime credit scores increased. Average credit scores for new vehicle loans dropped six points, from 767 in Q4 2010 to 761 in Q4 2011 Average credit scores for used vehicle loans dropped nine points, from 679 in Q4 2010 to 670 in Q4 2011 New vehicle loans to nonprime, subprime and deep-subprime customers increased by 13.8 percent from Q4 2010 to Q4 2011 View our recent Webinar on the Q4 2011 state of the automotive market. Source: Experian Automotive's quarterly credit trend analysis. Download the quarterly studies and white papers.

Lenders continued to increase their appetite for risk in Q2 2011, with new vehicle loans for customers with credit outside of prime increasing by 22.4 percent compared with the previous year. In Q2 2011, 22.29 percent of all new vehicle loans went to customers in the nonprime, subprime and deep-subprime categories, increasing from 18.21 percent in Q2 2010. The largest percentage increase in new car loans was in the category with the highest risk: deep subprime, which jumped 44.1 percent, moving from 1.48 percent of all new vehicle loans in Q2 2010 to 2.13 percent in Q2 2011. For more information on Experian Automotive's AutoCount® Risk Report, visit www.autocount.com Source: Automotive quarterly credit trends

Lenders are increasing loans to credit-challenged customers. According to Experian's quarterly automotive credit analysis, 21.87 percent of all new vehicle loans went to customers in the nonprime, subprime and deep-subprime categories. The largest percentage increases were in the two highest-risk segments: deep subprime, which jumped 17.3 percent, and subprime, which jumped 17.8 percent. Nonprime loan share increased 12.5 percent. View our recent Webinar on the state of the automotive market. Source: Experian Automotive's quarterly credit trend analysis. Download the quarterly studies and white papers.