ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010087
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF
First Union Corp. is a player in a new venture aimed at making loans to people it calls "credit-impaired individuals."
Loans would be granted to customers of more than 1,800 automobile dealers in the Southeast. First Union spokesman Mark Folk said 415 of those dealers are in parts of Virginia outside Northern Virginia and another 367 are in Washington and its suburbs.
The risk of this line of business will be carried by the new subsidiary, Auto Credit Clearinghouse L.P., rather than by the bank. In the past, Folk said, First Union dealt only in "A-quality loans."
The alliance was formed by First Union's Sales Finance Group and a subsidiary of National Auto Finance Co. L.P. Under the three-year contractual arrangement, First Union's Sales Finance Group will originate what are called "nonprime" loans from First Union's client base of auto dealers.
The partnership, the first of its kind in the Southeast between a major financial institution and an independent auto finance company, will allow First Union to expand its dealer customer base, said Betty Trautwein, chief executive of the Sales Finance Group.
LENGTH: Short : 30 linesby CNB