ATLANTA -

Finance companies wondering about which competitors are booking the deals they believe they should be originating now can tap an enhanced solution to find answers.

Through a partnership with Black Book, Equifax on Wednesday introduced new features to its Lost Sales Analysis tool for guiding finance companies’ business decisions based on analysis of their lost opportunities.

First launched in April of last year, Equifax explained the Lost Sales Analysis tool uses auto loan application data, DMV title and vehicle registrations (which are provided by IHS Automotive, driven by Polk), and credit attributes to evaluate the deals finance companies lost to competitors and how those lost opportunities are performing.

The resulting information includes:

— The financing source that booked the application

— Deal metrics such as customers' annual percentage rate, amount financed, type of loan, term and more

— Performance metrics

— Payment history as reported by the booking finance company

— Vehicle description.

Equipped with these insights, Equifax highlighted finance companies have been able to evaluate lost sales applications and determine how their credit offers compared to the competition. As a result, Equifax noted many finance companies have been able to enhance their underwriting practice within 30 days of losing the sale.

Lost Sales Analysis from Equifax now incorporates vehicle values, which aid auto financers when calculating loan-to-value ratios to better match loan terms to the depreciated value of the collateral.

In addition, the new version of Lost Sales Analysis can provide finance companies with greater flexibility to synthesize the specific attributes they are most interested in. Finance companies can submit up to 50 custom fields for analysis, and they can receive the information tailored to their specific business needs.

“Using a lender's own, unique loan application data, Lost Sales Analysis helps them understand the big picture of how they compare in the market," said Lou Loquasto, auto finance leader at Equifax who will be one of the industry experts on hand during the SubPrime Forum at Used Car Week.

“In the past 12 months, 30 of the top automotive finance lenders have incorporated the findings into their sales and lending practices to make their offers more accurate,” Loquasto continued.

“Additionally, with the enhancements we've made to the product, auto lenders will capture a stronger understanding of their vulnerabilities, so they can clearly define their buy box, help improve relationships with dealers in their network, and simultaneously maximize their immediate and long-term profitability,” Loquasto went on to say.

Black Book vice president of lender solutions Barrett Teague, another expert on tap to be a part of Used Car Week at the Phoenician in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Nov. 16-20, shared what the firm is bringing to the table to enhance Equifax’s tool.

“In today’s highly competitive market, auto lenders are increasingly relying on data, analytics and business intelligence to drive smarter, more profitable decisions for their portfolios,” Teague said. “The integration of Black Book data strengthens the auto lender's ability to analyze deals more closely to minimize missed opportunities.”

Additionally, existing Equifax consumer insight products, such as Equifax Risk Score and Bankruptcy Navigator Index 4.0, are now integrated into Lost Sales Analysis to better evaluate auto loan applicants' credit worthiness.

For more information about Lost Sales Analysis for auto finance companies, visit www.equifax.com/business/lost-sales-analysis.