VisualGAP News

Frost, Mercer Group Announcement

CINCINNATI, Ohio – May 17, 2010 – Frost Financial Services, Inc (Frost) is proud to announce the launch of a new company that will focus on helping credit unions to maximize cross-selling and non-interest income opportunities. Frost has entered into a partnership with industry veteran, David Mercer, to form a new agency called Frost, Mercer Group, LLC.
 
Frost, Mercer Group, LLC will provide a suite of insurance-based services and products that will enhance credit union revenue growth and provide streamlined product delivery at the member level.  

“We look forward to working with Dave, to leverage his broad credit union experience to better serve the needs of credit unions in today’s tough economic environment,” said Phil Markwell, partner of Frost.  “Dave has a proven track record of helping credit unions utilize technology to streamline and maximize the sale of non-interest income products” he said.
 
The new company has adopted the slogan, “Where independents grow”, which refers not only to credit unions who are willing to take a fresh look at their non-interest income opportunities, but also to the services that Frost, Mercer Group, LLC will deliver to other independent agents in the country who serve the credit union community.
 
“The independent agents who work with credit unions in this country serve an important function,” stated Mercer.  “They work specifically for their credit union clients rather than for a specific insurance company. This allows the agent to structure product combinations that can best serve each credit union’s unique needs. Increased competition has resulted in superior deals for credit unions who demand improved financial performance from their insurance portfolio.”
 
Frost is a leading provider of GAP programs and menu-selling technology to the credit union movement. Frost currently serves more than 950 credit union clients nationwide and their VisualGAP web-based platform has led the market in new innovations for more than 10 years.  The VisualGAP web tool has allowed credit unions to streamline their cross-selling efforts and point of sale packaging of GAP, service contracts and credit insurance/debt cancellation.
 
David Mercer has worked with over 100 credit unions in the last 25 years to develop revenue growth strategies and solutions through the use of menu selling technology and insurance.

Frost Financial Services and Teres Solutions Integrate,
GAP Administration and Lending Automation Software.

Move Allows Credit Unions and Financial Institutions to
Automate GAP Sales Process and Cross-sell Insurance Products

CINCINNATI, Ohio – October 27, 2008 – Frost Financial Services, the largest “independent” GAP program administrator serving the Credit Union market, today announced that it has partnered with Teres Solutions™, Inc., a leading provider of direct and indirect lending software to credit unions and financial institutions As part of the agreement the two companies have integrated the Frost VisualGAP® software application with Teres Solutions SAIL lending software in order to streamline the sales process for GAP and Payment Protection products for vehicle loans. The integration will also allow credit unions and other financial institutions to graphically show a borrower the advantages of GAP for their specific vehicle, provide a menu-selling approach to determine the best product package for borrowers, including GAP, service contracts, credit life & disability and more. In addition, lenders can automatically receive insurance quotes and placements for the loan applications they manage for customers through the SAIL lending software.

“Borrowers are facing tough economic times and lenders are looking for ways to increase Fee Income and better their protect loans,” stated Phil Markwell, Partner and Director of National GAP program Sales for Frost. “Customers find the ‘perfect’ car and simply want to drive it off the lot as quickly as possible for a monthly payment that they can afford. Our partnership with Teres Solutions will better allow credit unions and other financial institutions to streamline the cross-selling process in order to increase sales of ancillary products such as GAP, Service Contracts and Credit Insurance.”

Teres Solutions SAIL software family is used by some of the nation’s most successful credit unions, lending CUSOs, banks and finance companies to automate their indirect, direct and web-based lending processes. With SAIL software, not only are lending processes faster and more efficient, but existing staff can be more productive by focusing on improving yields through new member acquisition or sales of add-on services.

“Credit unions and other financial institutions understand that time is money and automation is the key to succeeding in this hyper-competitive lending market,” said Tim Kelly, CEO of Teres Solutions. “Our partnership with Frost will allow institutions to streamline their lending process by entering borrower data one time to provide product recommendations and begin the application process.”

Credit Insurance Calculations Coming Soon.

The VisualGAP menu-selling tool will soon be able to support Credit Insurance and Debt Cancellation products for all insurance carriers. Frost has contracted with and purchased the "SmartCalcs" calculation engine from Carleton, Inc, a leading supplier of financial calculation software for the Financial and Credit insurance industries.

By providing the Credit Insurance calculations in conjunction with the VisualGAP Menu-selling platform, Frost clients will now have an unparalleled cross-selling system. VisualGAP will allow Lenders to effectively offer all of their loan protection products such as GAP, Service Contracts and Credit Insurance in one simple process.

Enhanced GAP programs for Boat and RV loans

Warm weather is here and that means that your borrowers will be looking to purchase items like Boats, Pop-up Campers or possibly that incredible new RV. Don't miss out on the opportunity to finance these loans and to cover them with the new "enhanced GAP programs" available only through VisualGAP.

If you make these types of loans , make sure that you can also protect them with the new Boat, RV, Camper and Travel Trailer GAP programs available through VisualGAP.

System Interface with LOS and DP providers.

Frost is pleased to announce that it is now working with several of the leading Loan Origination System (LOS) providers and industry leading Data Processing (DP) companies in an effort to further streamline the lending and cross-selling process. The primary objectives are to eliminate duplicate data entry and increase operational efficiency. Initial testing and deployment are scheduled for mid 2008 with several LOS providers.

New GAP Marketing Supplies - New GAP Brochures and Posters

We have recently completed several new marketing pieces to give a fresh new look and message about why borrowers should purchase GAP. To better serve your borrowers, the new GAP brochures are available in both English and Spanish. If you would like some supplies for your institution, please contact your local representative or Frost at 888-753-7678.