PassTime’s history in asset tracking started with a collections problem.
In the late 1990s, dealers and finance companies were relying heavily on traditional collection methods, with few technology-based tools available to help manage delinquent accounts. That began to change when a dealer approached PassTime with a simple question: Could existing technology be adapted to prevent a vehicle from starting when a customer failed to make a payment?
PassTime President and COO Chris Macheca describes how company founders Jake Frank and Stan Schwarz were already working with technology that was being used for theft protection.
Jake and Stan were really entrepreneurial. They had a product that was being sold for new car franchise, for anti-theft, for theft protection for new autos. One of those dealers had started financing his own loans and came to Stan and Jake and said, “Hey, you know, I’ve been financing these vehicles. I’m having trouble collecting those loans. Can you adapt your technology to help me collect those loans by disabling a vehicle and preventing it from starting if that individual doesn’t pay me? Stan and Jake, as innovative as they were, said, " Absolutely. Yeah, we can do that. So they were able to take the technology that we had built to that point and adapt it for the subprime world.”
PassTime CEO and founder Jake Frank describes the larger collections challenge at the time and how PassTime came up with a solution.
In the late 90s, we came up with an idea of using technology for collections. Finance companies, the whole subprime market, finance companies, buy here pay here dealers, you name it, banks, subprime banks, they hire armies of people just to collect their money.
Jake recalls the specific dealer conversation that led to their introduction of starter interrupt.
We had a large dealer in north Denver… One time he called us into his office, and he asked us if we could somehow develop our technology so that it would basically shut down a car…Basically, he sold a car to his nephew, but he was financing it. His nephew wasn’t making the car payment. He essentially was thinking, Hey, if I could incentivize this kid, if I could shut the car down if he doesn’t make his payment, I think I won’t have that problem anymore. As soon as he explained that to us, the light went on in both of our heads. We were like, hey, this is our opportunity to finally get into this industry.
What started as a very specific problem quickly pointed to a much broader need. Dealers and finance companies were already investing heavily in collections, but they had very few technology-based tools available to support that work. By adapting technology PassTime had already developed, Jake and Stan found a way to fill that gap in the market.
Chris was working in sales when PassTime first began introducing Starter Interrupt technology to dealers and lenders.
When we first introduced the product, I was actually a salesperson in the Denver area. I would go around and solicit business and talk to dealers and lenders about the technology. It was really interesting at first when you would walk into a dealership and you tell them about what you were doing and how the technology could help them. They’d just kind of get a big grin on their face and start laughing and say, “can you really do that?” Yeah, we can help you. It was phenomenal, the impact that it had on dealers back in those days. At one week delinquency, they could run 30% to 40%, and we would help them get under 10% very, very quickly.”
Jake describes the broader shift this way:
Before that, there was no technology for collections. We essentially revolutionized the industry. I think today, probably 80% of banks, subprime banks, and dealers, all use some type of technology: GPS, collection technology, whatever. One way or another, they’re using it. I think they would have a hard time running their businesses without it. So, we certainly revolutionized that whole industry. We were the first to do it.
The reaction Chris describes helps show just how unfamiliar the concept was at the time. Dealers weren’t simply evaluating a new version of an existing collections tool. They were being introduced to a different way of approaching the problem altogether. Once they began seeing measurable results, the value of bringing technology into the collections process became much easier to understand.
Chris points to the broader change in mindset that followed the release of starter interrupt technology.
I think that technology really helped collectors and dealers understand that there was something out there. There was a way to do things differently. Collections had worked the same way for dozens of years, back to the 1950s and 40s when lending really started to grow in this country. I think it really opened their eyes to the idea that there is a different way to do this. That device, back in the day, really laid the foundation for that.”
That shift in thinking is an important part of the story. Starter interrupt did more than add another step to an existing collections process. It helped show dealers and lenders that technology could take a more active role in how they managed financed vehicles, creating room for new tools and new approaches as the industry continued to evolve.
Jake says that once the market began to develop, PassTime had to keep developing to stay ahead of it.
I firmly believe we revolutionized this market because everybody else who came in to compete, they were copying our product. That’s why we always have to continue to develop a better and better product.
That early starter interrupt technology helped establish a new role for technology in automotive collections. As more companies entered the market and the technology continued to improve, the possibilities expanded beyond that original use case.
What began as a way to support collections helped establish the expectation that technology could become a more active part of how dealers and lenders managed financed vehicles. That shift helped lay the groundwork for the broader GPS and asset tracking technology used today.
Looking back, the story of starter interrupt is really the story of how PassTime entered the industry. A dealer had a problem, Jake and Stan saw an opportunity to adapt the technology they already had, and the market responded. From there, the technology kept evolving as dealers and lenders found more ways to use it.
