Auto and floorplan fraud is spiking
Dealers and lenders face growing fraud and theft pressures — auto theft jumped 35% in Minneapolis and industry estimates show fraud heading toward a multibillion‑dollar problem — boosting demand for real‑time verification and reconciliation tools. That trend is squeezing underwriting, inflating loss risk and making floorplan controls a frontline issue. (townhall.com) (autonews.com)
Experian’s February 2026 dealer survey found nearly nine in 10 dealers rate fraud as a top concern and 70% say they’ve seen fraudulent applications or identity misuse in their channels. (experianplc.com) Industry trackers put vehicle‑finance fraud at roughly $9.2 billion in 2024 and Capital One has warned auto lending fraud could top $10 billion by 2026, prompting lenders to invest in upstream detection. (afsaonline.org) Capital One rolled out ProtectID in July 2025 — an embedded, real‑time fraud detection module inside Dealer Navigator that delivers alerts before funding — signaling banks’ shift toward pre‑funding controls. (capitalone.com) Floorplan financiers are reporting a measurable rise in dealer‑side fraud and inventory anomalies, with firms such as Westlake Flooring Services and other lenders flagging fraud patterns in wholesale lines during 2025. (autofinancenews.net) Regulators and examiners continue to emphasize custodian controls: the OCC’s floor‑plan handbook and FDIC guidance highlight weak underwriting, collateral monitoring failures, and audit gaps as principal sources of elevated floorplan credit risk. (occ.treas.gov) Solifi has moved to address those exact pressures — acquiring DataScan in September 2025 to add inventory risk and audit capabilities, migrating clients such as Kawasaki Motors Finance (1,700 dealers, ~53,000 loans moved off a legacy mainframe), and launching Solifi Document Intelligence in March 2026 to cut document‑verification time by as much as 70%. (autonews.com) Market responses extend beyond incumbents: specialist risk‑tech vendors are pitching cryptographic proof‑of‑presence and NFC verification to harden physical inventory audits, reflecting demand for immutable, real‑time reconciliation layers across floorplan programs. (anvllabs.io)
