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Note 1 - Description of Our Business

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Notes to Financial Statements

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]

1.	Description of Our Business

Our accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (the "Company") and those entities we control. We are a purpose driven financial technology company. We are primarily focused on facilitating consumer credit through the use of our financial technology and related services. Through our subsidiaries, we provide technology and other support services to lenders who offer an array of financial products and services to consumers who may have been declined by other providers of credit.

We are principally engaged in providing products and services to lenders in the U.S. and, in most cases, we invest in the receivables originated by lenders who utilize our technology platform and other related services. From time to time, we also purchase receivables portfolios from third parties. In these Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, "receivables" or "loans" typically refer to receivables we have purchased from our bank partners or from third parties.

Within our Credit as a Service ("CaaS") segment, we apply our technology solutions, in combination with the experiences gained, and infrastructure built from servicing over $39 billion in consumer loans over more than 25 years of operating history, to support lenders in offering more inclusive financial services. These products include private label credit and general purpose credit cards originated by lenders through multiple channels, including retailers and healthcare providers, direct mail solicitation, digital marketing and partnerships with third parties. The services of our bank partners are often extended to consumers who may not have access to financing options with larger financial institutions. Our flexible technology solutions allow our bank partners to integrate our paperless process and instant decisioning platform with the existing infrastructure of participating retailers, healthcare providers and other service providers. Using our technology and proprietary predictive analytics, lenders can make instant credit decisions utilizing hundreds of inputs from multiple sources and thereby offer credit to consumers overlooked by many providers of financing who focus exclusively on consumers with higher FICO scores. Atlanticus’ underwriting process is enhanced by artificial intelligence and machine learning, enabling fast, sound decision-making when it matters most.

We also report within our CaaS segment: 1) servicing income; and 2) gains or losses associated with investments previously made in consumer finance technology platforms. These include investments in companies engaged in mobile technologies, marketplace lending and other financial technologies. None of these companies are publicly-traded and the carrying values of our investments in these companies are not material.

Within our Auto Finance segment, our CAR subsidiary operations principally purchase and/or service loans secured by automobiles from or for, and also provide floor plan financing for, a pre-qualified network of independent automotive dealers and automotive finance companies in the buy-here, pay-here, used car business. We purchase auto loans at a discount and with dealer retentions or holdbacks that provide risk protection. Also within our Auto Finance segment, we are providing certain installment lending products in addition to our traditional loans secured by automobiles.