Category: Technology

Be your own advocate!

10/31/2017

Be your own advocate! As a patient, it is important to do your own research, ask questions about the recommended course of medical action and then work in conjunction with your doctors and specialists to develop the best plan of action for yourself. The same holds true for your financial well-being and financial security. You must be your own advocate!

In September, over 140 million people were affected by a security breach at Equifax, one of the three major credit reporting agencies. It is essential for your own financial future protection to always be cognizant and diligent of anything or anyone that could adversely affect your ability to support the standard of living you have dreamed and hoped for. It is the age-old belief that it won’t be my personal information affected by the security breach. However, because of the large numbers of people affected, it is imperative for everyone to be diligent, be their own advocate and take the correct steps to protect themselves as best they can.

To advocate for your personal financial security moving forward, we have outlined a few easy strategies to follow:

1. Check Your Credit
You can apply for a free credit report. There are currently 3 credit reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian (which was formerly known as TRW.) These agencies are actually for-profit companies owned by their shareholders and not government entities or funded by the government as many people may think. Although they are generally regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), they are still independent companies and therefore it is important to verify information from all three institutions.

2. Credit Freeze
Consider placing a credit freeze on your account to ensure your information has not been recently compromised by fraudulent activity. If you have no reason to borrow money in the near future, it may be worth spending the small fee to freeze your account and thoroughly examine any transactions in question.

3. Monitor Money and Credit Card Statements
Life gets busy for all of us! But, you need to take the time and review your bank statements as well as your credit card reports more often than once a month. If you remember to analyze your personal financial information on a frequent basis, you are more apt to respond to fraudulent behavior in a more timely manner, thus reducing the amount of time required to remedy any unfortunate situations. Or, if you prefer, there are companies (like LifeLock or Identify Force to name a couple) who will do the monitoring (fee-based) and alert you regarding any suspicious behavior.

Be your own advocate! If a doctor prescribed a new medication, you should take the time to research the side effects and benefits as well as confirm that your new medication does not negatively interact with prescription drugs you are currently taking. The same theory applies to financial security and the future well-being of your assets and personal information. If you allocate the time to do the research and follow the strategies outlined above, you will greatly increase the potential for a worry-free financial future.

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Verizon’s Yahoo Acquisition Finally Completes

6/13/2017

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Verizon Now Officially Owns Yahoo

Verizon announced today that its acquisition of Yahoo has finally completed. This comes after Verizon announced that it was buying Yahoo in July 2016. The company then attempted to go back and lower its price, or even get out of the deal, due to the various security hacks that Yahoo had made public. But now, Verizon is the proud owner of about 50 brands, thanks to Yahoo. Verizon is combining Yahoo and AOL into a new company called OATH, which will house many different publications and brands, including Yahoo Sports, The Huffington Post, Engadget, TechCrunch, Tumblr, Flickr and more. Combined, these brands and publications engage with over a billion people around the world.

Yahoo’s CEO, Marissa Mayer has also decided to resign from her role at Yahoo following the acquisition. This is likely due to the number of hacks that were made public after Verizon announced the acquisition last year. In Verizon’s press release, the company announced that Mayer had chosen to resign and that it wishes her well in her future endeavors. There’s no word on where Mayer may appear next, but it’ll likely be another tech company, after all, she has been an executive at many of the bigger names in Silicon Valley, including Google, and HP.
Verizon bought AOL and then Yahoo so it could use the ad services from both companies for its Go90 service. Verizon offers up Go90 for free, but it’s ad-supported. And Verizon also wants to compete with Google, who is still king in the ad space. Surprisingly, AOL and Yahoo were Google’s only true competitors, as they did hold a decent market share, although pretty small comparatively. Of course, the amount of content that both companies have under their umbrella is definitely good for Verizon, especially with Go90 and their future streaming TV service, which the company has said that it wants to use exclusive content to differentiate its service from other services on the market. And since it is already a pretty competitive market – with Sling TV, PlayStation VUE, and YouTube TV – that’s a pretty good idea. Although many would love to get a true cable TV package without a cable box.

-Article by androidheadlines.com

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The key to auto finance in 2017: Technology

1/11/2017

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Experts from Equifax, Fiserv and J.D. Power all agree: Technology is going to be the catalyst to keeping the financing cog in the automotive retail machine humming in 2017 at least near the level dealerships, finance companies and other service and product providers enjoyed this past year.

Equifax auto finance leader Lou Loquasto said technology discussions simply can’t be missed whether it was back in November during Used Car Week or when the American Financial Service Association and the National Automobile Dealers Association gather for their annual events in New Orleans later this month.

“Anybody that went to (Used Car Week) or is going to NADA or AFSA — I’ve been going to these conferences for 20 years — they can see how much innovation is going on,” Loquasto told SubPrime Auto Finance News before 2016 closed. “I think because margins are going to continue to be tough to get to the levels post-recession, growth isn’t going to be where it was. So I think 2017 is going to be the year of innovation in our industry.

“When we talk about innovation in our industry, it’s not just about technology. It’s data and analytics, too,” he continued. “In 2017, I think you’re going to see more innovation coming out of our industry because you’re going to have to if you want to keep good margins and continue to grow.”

While most dealerships and finance companies aren’t strangers to technology, the advancements these constituencies have made in the past 15 years evidently still lags consumers’ expectations. According to the Expectations & Experiences quarterly consumer research from Fiserv, the company learned that 53 percent of borrowers had negative feelings about the financing process, including 33 percent who said it made them anxious.

In a phone conversation last month with SubPrime Auto Finance News, Fiserv’s Scott Hendriks added that within the contingent that had negative feelings, 78 percent of those respondents said there needed to be greater efficiencies in the finance process.

“It’s still a very dealer-driven model, going back into the F&I office to determine what rates and programs are available. What’s my payment going to be on a lease or what’s going to be my rate on a retail deal? I think that part of it is still very much in dealer control. I think consumers are looking to have more transparency and take that process online,” said Hendriks, who is director of product management at Fiserv Lending Solutions.

Since joining Fiserv in 2002, Hendriks has been very involved in the development of the company’s auto loan origination system product.

“I think what we’re going to see over the next period of time is that evolution where that very dealer-driven model we have today for finance is going to go the way of the sales process, which is more to a consumer model where they’re able to determine those things up front and arrange financing online. So it is when they go to the dealership a one-stop delivery. It meets the borrower’s expectation of their time as well as their experience,” he said.

“Technology is really at the forefront of how that’s going to happen. Lenders need to have technology assets that allow them give the customer that experience and be able to engage with them online at the point of decision on the purchase as opposed to waiting until they go to the dealership,” Hendriks went on to say.

More of the same sentiment came from the 2016 U.S. Consumer Financing Satisfaction Study produced by J.D. Power. The firm made its assertions in light of expectations of new-vehicle sales to plateau this year, prompting Jim Houston, senior director of auto finance at J.D. Power to say, the marketplace “is making for a very competitive auto lending market, which means dealers and lenders in many ways need to get back to the basics to satisfy customers.

“Lenders need to move beyond a transactional relationship and create a customer-centric culture that helps them build a relationship with their customers. The lenders — and dealers — that are able to do that are the ones most likely to excel,” Houston added.

The J.D. Power study highlighted what analysts called five fundamental “musts” that a dealer or finance should keep in mind as means to improving customer satisfaction.
That collection included:
— Understanding the Deal: In the luxury brand segment, overall satisfaction is 49 points higher (on a 1,000-point scale) among customers whose dealer or finance manager explained account features, services, or benefits of their financing than among those whose dealer or finance manager did not (880 versus 831, respectively).
— Reference Guide: A finance company welcome package that answers basic loan servicing questions (such as how to make payments and how to sign up for automatic payments) can reduce the number of contacts the customer needs to make. Specifically, among luxury brand customers who say they “completely” understand all of the servicing information, problem incidence drops to 8 percent, compared with the overall luxury problem incidence of 10 percent.
— Accessible Self-Help Tools: When email customer service is available, satisfaction improves by 42 points among customers of luxury brand vehicles and 61 points among customers of mass market brand vehicles. When online bill pay is available, satisfaction improves by 53 points in the luxury segment and by 86 points in the mass market segment.
—One and Done: Satisfaction declines significantly when a customer has to contact their finance company more than once to resolve a problem. Overall satisfaction among luxury brand customers resolving a problem with one call is 875 points but declines to 821 among those whose resolution requires two calls.
—Satisfaction Equals Loyalty: Highly satisfied luxury and mass market brand customers (overall satisfaction scores above 900) can have a significant effect on dealers and lenders, as they are nearly twice as likely to return to a particular dealership and are more than twice as likely to lease or purchase the same brand again as those who are less satisfied (scores range between 801 and 900).
“In the seemingly complicated environment of vehicle financing, it’s the sometimes-overlooked customer handling steps that can bring clarity to the customer and give dealers and lenders a unique competitive advantage,” Houston said.

“Working together on the steps that clearly affect satisfaction levels can enable dealers and lenders to turn first-time customers into repeat customers,” he added.

-Article By Nick Zulovich

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Be your own advocate!

To advocate for your personal financial security moving forward, we have outlined a few easy strategies to follow:

Verizon’s Yahoo Acquisition Finally Completes

Verizon Now Officially Owns Yahoo

The key to auto finance in 2017: Technology

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