It’s no secret that the car buying environment has gone through major changes over the last decade. Since the auto industry crash of 2008, dealers and lenders alike have been evolving to meet consumers where they are: the online marketplace where they can compare, shop, and finance the products they want to buy. For auto lenders, keeping up with these digital trends is crucial, especially approaching the heat of the season. Consumers want an online, streamlined, and reliable experience and auto lenders want to provide loans to qualified borrowers. Embracing consumer-permissioned data technology reaches both audiences, keeping auto lenders competitive to drive more approvals and ensuring consumers get the direct and trustworthy experience they need.
Why it’s important now more than ever to stay competitive for car-buying season
Leaning on consumer-permissioned data technology allows auto lenders to qualify the right borrowers while providing an improved consumer experience; however, the car buying and financing experience is saturated with online retailers, digital lenders, credit unions, big banks, and more. Being the lender that consumers choose to borrow from and that retailers lean on for financing is more competitive than ever.
Rising prices mean more auto loans
With inflation at a 40-year high and continued supply chain issues from COVID-19, it is crucial auto lenders stay competitive in this year’s car-buying market. Rising car prices are driving consumers to take out more auto loans. Year-over-year, car prices have increased 12.2%, and, over the last ten years, consumers have taken out 81% more auto loans to keep up with the rising costs. This year won’t be any different. As consumers continue to look into financing options in their search for cars, lenders who are able to provide pre-approvals and approvals quickly and efficiently will draw more consumer interest. Plus, using consumer-permissioned data can find qualified borrowers, verifying consumer data including income, employment, and insurance, with one consistent user experience.
Consumers want a digital buying experience
Understanding car-buying competition in a high-inflation environment is just the beginning of staying competitive in the auto lending industry. On average, consumers start researching their financing options at least a month in advance of looking for their new or used car at dealerships or online, and 60% of those consumers searching online for a lender get a pre-approval to start their car-buying journey. Not only do auto lenders need to be ready for an influx of consumer leads ahead of car-buying season, they also need to be able to provide an effective and streamlined pre-approval (and ultimately final approval) experience.
Top car sellers are integrating digital lending
Similarly, for dealerships and online car retailers, leaning on auto lenders will be imperative to make more sales. As car-buying has evolved, online retailers have gained popularity with consumers. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of car buyers shopping for cars online to avoid in-person interactions jumped from 2% to over 30%. And that trend, which led the way for a streamlined, fully online car-buying experience, has stuck around since. Because of this, top online car retailers, like Carvana, are partnering with lenders to digitize their own financing experience. By providing online financing services, auto lenders can take a part of that additional 30% market share of consumers.
How consumer-permissioned data and automation can increase approvals
Seamless underwriting and (nearly) unlimited verifications of consumer data
Gone are the days of seemingly endless phone calls, emails, and faxes. Auto lenders who embrace consumer-permissioned data technology for their pre-approval and underwriting processes will improve loan approval times, increase their own ROI, and experience secure and accurate data collection. When gathering the necessary data from consumers that ensures risk-free loan approvals, time is money.
Employment and income verification and proof of auto insurance can now be secured through APIs and direct-from-consumer data technology, which are built to pull and configure consumer permissioned data to streamline the entire lender and customer experience. In effect, less time spent gathering consumer data means the ability to serve more consumers, provide more sales for auto retailers, and stay competitive amongst other lenders.
Accepting no compromises
When digitizing processes, auto lenders don’t have to compromise what’s most important to their business operations or their customers. Whether it’s saving on budgetary expenses, exceeding KPIs, and more, automation using consumer-permissioned data technology has you covered:
- Lower operational costs: Data collection technology creates stability in a world of market instability, leaning on an API rather than manpower to verify documentation and connect to third parties.
- Faster processing times: With less documentation collection, phone calls (or even faxes), and the risk for human error and correction, data collection technology streamlines processes and ultimately decreases closing timelines, saving time and money, and providing a positive customer experience.
- A trusted partner: With strengthened data-security and endless integration for all types of data-collection needs, businesses can rely on technology-based solutions time and time again.
Let MeasureOne be that partner.
It’s time to ramp up for car-buying season using consumer-permissioned data
Want a one-stop shop for real-time consumer data to verify income, employment, insurance, and more? Streamline your auto loan applications, processing, and underwriting with MeasureOne.
MeasureOne uses consumer-permissioned data to verify employment, income, and education, as well as proof of homeowners and auto insurance, for any lending business’s needs. By working directly with consumer accounts, MeasureOne’s platform bypasses costly data warehouses, the time-consuming process of a back and forth with car buyers, and the manual collection of paperwork.
From income to employment to insurance verification, MeasureOne brings secure, transparent data to the table for the benefit of auto lenders, their partners, and their consumers.
Ready to learn more about how MeasureOne can help streamline your business’s operations to drive more auto loan approvals?
