fixed rate (if interest rates rises, the loans will be worthless)
Moreover, our customers are primarily non-prime borrowers, who have historically been more likely to be affected, or more severely affected, by adverse macroeconomic conditions than prime borrowers.
We are exposed to geographic customer concentration risk. An economic downturn or catastrophic event that disproportionately affects certain geographic regions could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, including the performance of our finance receivables portfolio. See Note 5 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report for quantification of our largest concentrations of net finance receivables.
We cannot assure you that our policies and procedures for underwriting, processing and servicing loans will adequately adapt to adverse economic or other changes. If we fail to adapt to changing economic conditions or other factors, or if such changes adversely affect our borrowers’ willingness or capacity to repay their loans, our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity would be materially adversely affected.
We maintain an allowance for finance receivable losses. To estimate the appropriate level of allowance for finance receivable losses, we consider known and relevant internal and external factors that affect finance receivable collectability, including the total amount of finance receivables outstanding, historical finance receivable charge-offs, our current collection patterns, and economic trends. Our methodology for establishing our allowance for finance receivable losses is based on the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 450, Contingencies, and, in part, on our historic loss experience. If customer behavior changes as a result of economic conditions and if we are unable to predict how the unemployment rate, housing price index, and general economic uncertainty may affect our allowance for finance receivable losses, our allowance for finance receivable losses may be inadequate. Our allowance for finance receivable losses is an estimate, and if actual finance receivable losses are materially greater than our allowance for finance receivable losses, our results of operations could be adversely affected. Neither state regulators nor federal regulators regulate our allowance for finance receivable losses.
Moreover, the vast majority of our finance receivables are fixed-rate finance receivables, which generally decline in value if interest rates increase. As such, if changing market conditions cause interest rates to increase substantially, the value of our fixed-rate finance receivables could decline. Increases in market interest rates could negatively impact our net interest income, as well as our cash flow from operations and results of operations. Because we are subject to applicable legal and regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions that limit the maximum interest rate that we may charge on a certain population of our loans, we are limited in our ability to increase the interest rate on our loans to offset any increases in our cost of funds as market interest rates increase. Our yield, as well as our cash flows from operations and results of operations, could be materially and adversely affected if we are unable to increase the interest rates charged on newly originated loans to offset any increases in our cost of funds as market interest rates increase. Accordingly, any increase in interest rates could negatively affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
Credit Risk. Credit quality is driven by our long-standing underwriting philosophy, which considers each prospective customer’s budget, and his or her willingness and capacity to repay the loan. We use credit risk scoring models at the time of the credit application to assess the applicant’s expected willingness and capacity to repay. We develop these models using numerous factors, including past customer credit repayment experience and application data, and periodically revalidate these models based on recent portfolio performance. Our underwriting process in the branches and for loan applications received through our website that are not automatically declined includes the development of a budget (net of taxes and monthly expenses) for the applicant. We obtain a security interest in titled property for our secured personal loans.
Our customers are primarily considered non-prime and often require significantly higher levels of servicing than prime customers. As a result, we tend to charge these customers higher interest rates to compensate us for the related credit risks and servicing costs.
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