[Don]

Looks like there will be new terms: PPS,SID, & APS:

Payment Protection Systems, Starter Interupt Devices, Asset Protection Systems

Article:

Late on car payment? Meet instant 'repo man'
Tuesday, June 13, 2006

By DEBORAH YAO
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Alison Zaccone :
Payment Protection Systems, Inc. (PPS), the manufacturer of ON TIME, the patented starter interrupt system that ensures timely collection of customer car payments, has merged with Sekurus, Inc.

Sekurus’ proprietary products and solutions are used to secure and manage the sub‑prime auto loan portfolios of both buy-here-pay-here auto dealerships and financial institutions throughout the world. It is an international leader in providing asset protection, tracking and overall payment management. Sekurus, Inc. will be the name of the new company, while Mike Simon, president and CEO of Payment Protection Systems, will assume the same title and responsibilities.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for both companies. Growth has accelerated so rapidly during the past few years that we needed to find a partner that shared our long-range business plans and international goals,” said Mike Simon, president and CEO of Sekurus. “This new relationship now enables us to offer a fuller range of products and services to a wider variety of financial institutions around the globe.”

The Sekurus product line will now include:

– ON TIME: The renowned electronic starter-interrupt unit that tracks payments and prevents a vehicle from starting if a customer’s scheduled payment is not made. ON TIME is used worldwide by lending institutions and car dealerships that provide automobile financing to individuals who are sub-prime or high credit risks.

– SEKURIT: The car industry’s most user-friendly anti-theft security device, SEKURIT arms and disarms itself with an automatic, hands-free system. It not only provides consumers with the most sophisticated anti-theft technology available, but also offers new car franchises a product that has no charge back, no drive away costs, and an installation process that is quick and easy.

Sekurus, Inc. is an international company focusing on automobile asset protection, management and tracking. The company’s proprietary systems and solutions are used to secure and manage the sub‑prime auto loan portfolios of both buy-here-pay-here auto dealerships and financial institutions. The company’s asset protection systems secure the multi-million dollar inventories of automotive dealerships for dealers, their insurance companies and their floor planning financial institutions.

Article:

LIMERICK, Pa. -- Rashida Redd punched in a six-digit code in her Pontiac Grand Prix and got a new lease on life.

The 34-year-old Pottstown mother of five had to file for personal bankruptcy about a year ago in the face of mounting medical bills from her husband's open heart surgery. Despite her poor credit history, Redd was able to lease the 3-year-old car from Williams Pre-Owned of Limerick on the condition that it have a starter-interrupt device.

"At least I was able to save the house," Redd said.

The device, the size of a cigarette pack and mounted under the dashboard, flashes green if she has made a car payment on time. If she misses her $94 weekly payment, it won't let her car start.

Starter-interrupt devices are becoming a popular way for lenders to ensure that they get paid, and consumers seem willing to accept them to get into nicer cars, use a smaller down payment and qualify for a lower interest rate, according to device manufacturers.

Ken Shilson, managing partner at Shilson Goldberg Cheung & Associates in Houston, an accounting firm that works with auto dealers who make use of the device, said the market for them is growing.

The major manufacturers of the device report double-digit increases in sales so far this year, compared with the same period a year ago. An estimated 1 million are in use today, he said.

Consumers with poor credit often are faced with interest rates of more than 20 percent -- nearly triple the rate drivers with good credit can get, Shilson said. They also have to pay a down payment equal to 10 percent to 20 percent of the car's purchase price, while buyers with good credit can buy a vehicle with little or no money down.

Redd's car is equipped with a device made by Payment Protection Systems Inc. of Temecula, Calif. It's one of three manufacturers that dominate the market -- the others are PassTime in Littleton, Colo., and Pay Technologies of Cleveland.

The companies make a variation of the same device: The units are connected to the starter and emit a brief series of sounds or flashes of light, days before the payment deadline. If the customer then makes a timely payment, he or she can contact the dealer for a new code that will allow them to operate the vehicle. Some devices are remotely controlled by dealers.

Devices typically are mounted under the dash or hidden in places such as a glove box.

Manufacturers say the device won't kill the engine while the car is being used; it will only stop the vehicle from starting. Also, consumers late on payments are allowed emergency starts, the companies say.

Shilson said the devices are mainly geared for the "buy here, pay here" market -- consumers with the lowest credit scores. Typically, these buyers have filed for bankruptcy or had a repossession.

"Buy here, pay here" customers also are limited to how expensive a car they can buy, typically $5,000.

Jack Gillis, a spokesman for the Consumer Federation of America and author of "The Car Book," doesn't like the idea of having a third party have control over a driver's vehicle.

"It's a rather draconian measure to take," he said. "What these companies are able to do is sell cars at virtually no risk to themselves, with all the risk to consumers."

But Auto Trakk LLC of Montoursville, Pa., Redd's lender, said the device lets the company consider serving even the riskiest customers. "It enables us to look at lower credit scores," said Denny Sullivan, marketing manager.