CrossCheck Blog

It’s my fifth day here in New Orleans. Day one – fly in. Day two – set up booth. Day three – look sharp for the evening reception. Day four – attend opening session, get inspired!, staff booth, meet a million new contacts, celebrate 30th anniversary, give away iPad, tweet, go to the Discover party, return to hotel, collapse. Day five – catch up on everything I didn’t do yesterday and then pack up. Wow! What a whirlwind. But I’m ready to start it all again tomorrow and here’s why.

It’s here, it’s happening and it’s moving fast! The Electronic Transaction Association (ETA) is holding its Annual Meeting and Expo in New Orleans this year and CrossCheck is here, right in the heart of it. Starting out with a great evening reception yesterday, the tradeshow continues today and tomorrow and the floor is buzzing with activity.

Can the cost of a natural catastrophe truly be calculated? Yes and No.

Auto sales are up. Interest rates are down. Good news, right? Hmmmm... not so fast. Experian Automotive announced that along with increased sales, we're seeing an increase in subprime loans for new and used vehicles. In fact, according to their research, new vehicle loans to the "credit-challenged" are higher now than they were in 2007 and 2008! That means more loans with more risk. Maybe not so good. Experian's study, State of the Automotive Finance Market, revealed that because auto lending has eased up, more loans are being made to a wider range of customers including many that would have had a tough time getting a loan a few years ago due to not so great credit scores. These credit scores put them in the nonprime or subprime categories and are considered higher risk by the lender.

CrossCheck recently challenged our employees to help raise brand awareness, generate business leads and mutually promote one another's endeavors through our social networks with the following contest - For the Love of Social Media Challenge.

CrossCheck challenged our employees to help raise brand awareness, generate business leads and mutually promote one another's endeavors through our social networks with the following contest - For the Love of Social Media Challenge.

Truecar.com recently released auto industry sales data that even the most cynical of financial prognosticators would say is encouraging. Between Truecar's Sales and Incentive and Transaction Pricing Forecasts, we've identified 5 Auto Industry Trends sure to raise dealership profits, and increase the need to have a sound Check Services Plan in place before the 2012 gold rush: 1. New car sales in 2011 were projected to reach 12.8 million units - an 8.1% increase over 2010. Was your check services plan in place and was your dealership a beneficiary of this near 10% increase?