Kanbay Helps MAFS Merge Used Car Financing Onto Information Superhighway

   New Manheim Automotive Financial Services Web Application Lets Used Car
   Dealers and Rental Companies Access Line of Credit, Balances, Inventory
       Information and More at the Office, at Auctions, or on the Road

    ROSEMONT, Ill., Sept. 13 For the small auto dealerships
and rental companies that specialize in used vehicles, managing finances is
often a challenge.  They have to balance the need to purchase new inventory at
an auction against the payment status of vehicles they already have, all
matched against their available line of credit.  Of course, that can be a
daunting task in an industry where many companies still keep their inventory
records on 3 x 5 cards.

    After talking with the dealers who use their services, Manheim Automotive
Financial Services (MAFS) -- the financial arm of Manheim Auctions, the
world's largest, highest volume wholesale auto auction company -- realized
there was a growing need to move from contact center-based service to 24 x 7
Web access to account and other information.  The question was, how to move
the information from the AS/400 legacy computers scattered at more than 80
auction sites around the country to the Internet.

    "Until recently, if our dealers were at an auction and needed to know
their credit limit status before making a bid, they would ask a Manheim person
to call the customer care center," says Robin McDonald, Director of Finance
for MAFS.  "Once the call was placed, they'd have to wait until the call went
through, the data was accessed, and the answer came back.  That's not a good
use of anyone's time.  We knew a Web-based system would reduce that time and
free up our representatives to provide more strategic and consultative
services.  Rather than adding that burden to our internal IT department, we
decided to outsource the project."

    After an extensive RFP process, MAFS selected Kanbay Incorporated, a
13-year-old eBusiness integrator with extensive experience in the financial
services space.  Once they heard MAFS officials describe their customers and
systems, Kanbay made a series of recommendations to help them achieve their
overriding objective -- greater customer loyalty.

    "The original scope of the project was to provide information about MAFS
and give current customers access to their account information," says Steve
Stevens, Project Manager for Kanbay.  "But we knew from experience they'd need
more than basic information to achieve their goals, so we added an 'Ask MAFS'
section, a listing of MAFS' prime lending rate, an online application form,
and other functionality.  We wanted the site to be complete, so dealers never
had to go anywhere else for the data they needed."

    One particular feature that dealers emphasized during beta testing was the
ability to print out a complete inventory list. Many dealers and small rental
companies don't have a dealer management system, making it difficult to gain
an overall picture of the status of the business.  Having complete, up-to-the-
minute information on every vehicle, including whether they have a title, how
many days into the financing they are, and what the total amount owed to MAFS
will be at the press of a button saves dealers the need to install an
expensive, tough-to-maintain system of their own.  Yet this simple request
wasn't without its challenges.

    "Normally, adding this capability is a lengthy and expensive process,"
Stevens says.  "I've seen it add as much as $100,000 to the cost.  We were
able to write a Java application to accomplish the same thing in just five
days, at a cost of $2,500.  MAFS liked that a lot."

    There are actually two sites within the MAFS application.  The first is a
public site that provides links to auctions, information about financing rates
and policies, and other helpful information.  The second is a password-
protected site that gives MAFS' customers online access to their individual
accounts.

    Although the site has only been live for a short time, and has not been
extensively promoted, MAFS is already seeing results.  McDonald says that 20
percent of their 4,500-customer dealer base currently has accounts, and that
number is growing every week.  Many of the dealers are leaving the site up all
the time and using it as their accounting system.  MAFS is also seeing
internal benefits.

    "Our employees in the field are seeing a significant reduction in their
call rates," she says.  "They like that, because it lets them devote more time
to selling instead of to what is essentially a clerical function.  We're also
finding this is a very effective way to market to new dealers, because it's
the only online system of its kind out there.  As more and more people hear
about it, we expect to capture a much larger share of the 15,000 plus dealer
universe."

    To help attract new customers, Kanbay will be adding a celebrity element
to the site.  First up is an "Ask Harry Gant" feature that allows dealers to
e-mail questions to the NASCAR legend and have them answered on a public
forum. Other celebrities are signed up to participate as well.

    "Our customers are entrepreneurs, so they understand the value of customer
service," McDonald says.  "Kanbay has helped us give them a better overall
experience while making MAFS a more important supplier to them.  They've given
those customers one more reason to bring and keep their business at MAFS."