Description of Business

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

Since 1972, Credit Acceptance has offered financing programs that enable automobile dealers to sell vehicles to consumers, regardless of their credit history. Our financing programs are offered through a nationwide network of automobile dealers who benefit from sales of vehicles to consumers who otherwise could not obtain financing; from repeat and referral sales generated by these same customers; and from sales to customers responding to advertisements for our financing programs, but who actually end up qualifying for traditional financing.

Without our financing programs, consumers are often unable to purchase vehicles or they purchase unreliable ones. Further, as we report to the three national credit reporting agencies, an important ancillary benefit of our programs is that we provide consumers with an opportunity to improve their lives by improving their credit score and move on to more traditional sources of financing.

We refer to automobile dealers who participate in our programs and who share our commitment to changing consumers’ lives as “Dealers”. Upon enrollment in our financing programs, the Dealer enters into a Dealer servicing agreement with us that defines the legal relationship between Credit Acceptance and the Dealer. The Dealer servicing agreement assigns the responsibilities for administering, servicing, and collecting the amounts due on retail installment contracts (referred to as “Consumer Loans”) from the Dealers to us. We are an indirect lender from a legal perspective, meaning the Consumer Loan is originated by the Dealer and assigned to us.

Substantially all of the Consumer Loans assigned to us are made to consumers with impaired or limited credit histories. The following table shows the percentage of Consumer Loans assigned to us with either FICO® scores below 650 or no FICO® scores:


	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
Consumer Loan Assignment Volume	2021		2020
Percentage of total unit volume with either FICO® scores below 650 or no FICO® scores	94.3	%	96.5	%

We have two programs: the Portfolio Program and the Purchase Program. Under the Portfolio Program, we advance money to Dealers (referred to as a “Dealer Loan”) in exchange for the right to service the underlying Consumer Loans. Under the Purchase Program, we buy the Consumer Loans from the Dealers (referred to as a “Purchased Loan”) and keep all amounts collected from the consumer. Dealer Loans and Purchased Loans are collectively referred to as “Loans”. The following table shows the percentage of Consumer Loans assigned to us as Dealer Loans and Purchased Loans for each of the last five quarters:


	Unit Volume				Dollar Volume (1)
Three Months Ended	Dealer Loans		Purchased Loans		Dealer Loans		Purchased Loans
March 31, 2020	64.9	%	35.1	%	60.5	%	39.5	%
June 30, 2020	62.5	%	37.5	%	59.1	%	40.9	%
September 30, 2020	64.1	%	35.9	%	60.9	%	39.1	%
December 31, 2020	65.3	%	34.7	%	62.7	%	37.3	%
March 31, 2021	65.4	%	34.6	%	62.7	%	37.3	%

(1)Represents advances paid to Dealers on Consumer Loans assigned under our Portfolio Program and one-time payments made to Dealers to purchase Consumer Loans assigned under our Purchase Program. Payments of Dealer Holdback (as defined below) and accelerated Dealer Holdback are not included.

Portfolio Program

As payment for the vehicle, the Dealer generally receives the following:

•a down payment from the consumer;

•a non-recourse cash payment (“advance”) from us; and

•after the advance balance (cash advance and related Dealer Loan fees and costs) has been recovered by us, the cash from payments made on the Consumer Loan, net of certain collection costs and our servicing fee (“Dealer Holdback”).

We record the amount advanced to the Dealer as a Dealer Loan, which is classified within Loans receivable in our consolidated balance sheets. Cash advanced to the Dealer is automatically assigned to the Dealer’s open pool of advances. Dealers make an election as to how many Consumer Loans (either 50 or 100) will be assigned to an open pool before it is closed, and subsequent advances are assigned to a new pool. Unless we receive a request from the Dealer to keep a pool open, we automatically close each pool based on the Dealer's election. All advances within a Dealer’s pool are secured by the future collections on the related Consumer Loans assigned to the pool. For Dealers with more than one pool, the pools are cross-collateralized so the performance of other pools is considered in determining eligibility for Dealer Holdback. We perfect our security interest with respect to the Dealer Loans by obtaining control or taking possession of the Consumer Loans, which list us as lien holder on the vehicle title.

The Dealer servicing agreement provides that collections received by us during a calendar month on Consumer Loans assigned by a Dealer are applied on a pool-by-pool basis as follows:

•first, to reimburse us for certain collection costs;

•second, to pay us our servicing fee, which generally equals 20% of collections;

•third, to reduce the aggregate advance balance and to pay any other amounts due from the Dealer to us; and

•fourth, to the Dealer as payment of Dealer Holdback.

If the collections on Consumer Loans from a Dealer’s pool are not sufficient to repay the advance balance and any other amounts due to us, the Dealer will not receive Dealer Holdback. Certain events may also result in Dealers forfeiting their rights to Dealer Holdback, including becoming inactive before assigning 100 Consumer Loans.

Dealers have an opportunity to receive an accelerated Dealer Holdback payment each time a pool of Consumer Loans is closed. The amount paid to the Dealer is calculated using a formula that considers the number of Consumer Loans assigned to the pool and the related forecasted collections and advance balance.

Since typically the combination of the advance and the consumer’s down payment provides the Dealer with a cash profit at the time of sale, the Dealer’s risk in the Consumer Loan is limited. We cannot demand repayment of the advance from the Dealer except in the event the Dealer is in default of the Dealer servicing agreement. Advances are made only after the consumer and Dealer have signed a Consumer Loan contract, we have received the executed Consumer Loan contract and supporting documentation in either physical or electronic form, and we have approved all of the related stipulations for funding.

For accounting purposes, the transactions described under the Portfolio Program are not considered to be loans to consumers. Instead, our accounting reflects that of a lender to the Dealer. The classification as a Dealer Loan for accounting purposes is primarily a result of (1) the Dealer’s financial interest in the Consumer Loan and (2) certain elements of our legal relationship with the Dealer.

Purchase Program

The Purchase Program differs from our Portfolio Program in that the Dealer receives a one-time payment from us at the time of assignment to purchase the Consumer Loan instead of a cash advance at the time of assignment and future Dealer Holdback payments. For accounting purposes, the transactions described under the Purchase Program are considered to be originated by the Dealer and then purchased by us.

Program Enrollment

Dealers may enroll in our Portfolio Program without incurring an enrollment fee. Access to the Purchase Program is typically only granted to Dealers that meet one of the following:

•assigned at least 100 Consumer Loans under the Portfolio Program;

•franchise dealership; or

•independent dealership that meets certain criteria upon enrollment.

Seasonality

Our business is seasonal with peak Consumer Loan assignments and collections occurring during the first quarter of the year. This seasonality has a material impact on our interim results, as we are required to recognize a significant provision for credit losses expense at the time of assignment. For additional information, see Note 3.