Resiliency

Bill Long · February 28, 2023

So here we are in March of 2023, and as a country we are divided on a lot of things. Politics, government spending, COVID, and student loan forgiveness are just a few. But there is one thing that always rings true in the U.S. that ties us together, and that is our shared resiliency. Throughout history, we have always persevered.

Today, we are faced with high inflation, limited wage growth, and even underemployment in our workforce. That’s not a great combination. It causes financial stress for a lot of families in our country. One of the things that we try to do at On the Road Lending is provide opportunity for those that might not otherwise be able to purchase an affordable, reliable vehicle. In times like these, our work is even more important.

The cost of everything is higher—food, gas, utilities, insurance. When you are working on a budget that takes you from one paycheck to the next and leaves you little extra, it requires hard decisions. When we make loans to our clients, we always go through their budgets. We look at bank statements to see what cash flow exists and make sure we are putting clients on a path to success. We try to make sure there is a cushion to allow for the unexpected. We price our loans much lower than they would be at traditional lenders because we believe our clients will be successful. This is especially important in our current economy, which hurts clients in the lower- and middle-income brackets much harder.

If our clients had gotten loans in the open market, sometimes at double what they pay with us, the scenario could look like this:

• A $20,000 loan with On the Road Lending for 72 months at a 12% interest rate has a payment of $391.
• A $20,000 loan at XYZ Financial for 72 months at a 21% interest rate has a payment of $491.

That $100 a month would be useful for working families for food, medication and more. It could keep families from making choices they shouldn’t have to make.

Our program not only saves them money on the purchase of a vehicle, but also saves them money each month that can then be used for other things, including savings. By making the payments more affordable, we increase the likelihood that payments will be on time every month. This in turn increases credit scores, which truly gets our clients on the road to success. This metric also shows our investors that what we do helps not only individuals, but also the economy overall. Our clients go on to purchase homes and other vehicles through conventional financing.

We are so proud of our clients. They are holding strong, looking at their budgets, and making sure they continue to build their credit in a positive way. Our investors are amazed by the performance of the loans in our portfolio. They can’t believe that our losses are as low as they are in these challenging times. We can because we know our clients and have faith in their resiliency. We see it and hear it as we work with them to make sure their journey is successful. The people we work with are going to get through this because they won’t give up. They may feel like they are taking two steps forward and then inflation knocks them back a step. But they don’t stop. They know how important their car is to their family’s future.