DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A March story in The Daytona Beach Journal revealed that AAA, the automobile service company, provides car loans through credit unions, but AAA declined to elaborate on its CU program for Credit Union Times.
The newspaper quoted Peggy Lambeth, Auto Club South spokeswoman as saying that AAA generally aims to offer rates about two percentage points below the deals offered by banks but shuns high-risk borrowers, defining them as buyers with credit scores below 550.
Lambeth was unavailable to comment, but spokeswoman Angie LaPlant confirmed that AAA Financial Services (www.aaasouth.com) has various clubs throughout the country and each can develop its own programs independently. AAA Auto Club South covers Florida, Georgia, western Tennessee and Puerto Rico.
"AAA and credit unions do have great similarities, both in the competitive areas and in service levels compared to other organizations. We want to partner those values of superior service and treat our members as family," said LaPlant.
LaPlant allowed that AAA works with a number of credit unions in Florida but declined to name any of the CUs in its program or any details of how the program works. "We are now working on expanding our program and regret that we cannot provide any further information. We are making additional enhancements and as soon as information becomes available we will provide it."
--cburger@cutimes.com
