Cultivating customer journeys with consumer direct lending

The majority of car buyers use third-party websites to find information about new and used cars for sale. Further, 83% of car buyers want to do some or all of the car buying process online.

As digital retail channels continue to grow in popularity, borrowers are now expecting the option of a 100% digital auto loan origination experience. To avoid the dreaded “come-back-next-week” and paperwork frustrations, you’ll want to look at technologies that can accelerate both the branch-based and digital channel of your sales process.

The drive toward digitization and prioritizing the “from home” experience is one of the critical auto finance challenges during the pandemic as it helps to attract a new generation of customers. With this new mindset, lenders are looking to software providers for Customer Direct solutions specifically developed to digitize their services.

Lenders have been working to simplify the end-to-end finance application journey, from the initial application capture, finance calculations, and credit decisioning through to document collection, verification, and loan boarding. With a focus on an enhanced user experience, customer direct lending needs to empower customers to complete a finance application digitally, at their own pace, from any device.

The software must include built-in solutions for eSignature and digital verifications, providing businesses with a faster and more secure digital alternative to in-person contract signing. An AI chatbot feature powered by machine learning and natural language processing, which will allow lenders to intelligently respond to customers and guide them toward the most suitable finance options.

“With the increased emphasis towards digitization, our customers have requested an expanded feature set for the direct lending space. With our latest update, we’re able to offer a suite of services that allow lenders to support the full loan origination lifecycle as they focus on digital sales channels and broadening customer reach,” said Jonathan Dodds, chief executive, Americas at White Clarke Group.

Read more about how CALMS Customer Direct helps you to empower customers towards an effortless digital experience.

Shim Mannan is the executive vice president of product and business development in the Americas for White Clarke Group.