STAR - The Standard in Automotive E-Credit Applications & Contracting

MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 28 -- Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR), a global information technology standards body for retail automotive and related industries, has released its second set of draft repositories for the 2009-2010 publication cycle.

STAR continues to expand its e-credit standards both in the areas of credit application and decision as well as e-contracting making enhancements for its members including long standing member, ADP. In the case of ADP, it is enhancing its credit application functionality in the DMS. According to Barbara Blizzard of ADP, "ADP's lender customers have requested additional credit decision fields so that ADP can display all of the data that would have historically been sent in a credit decision to the dealer."

Since its initial 2002 publication of the STAR Credit Application and Decision standards that supported only retail financing and predominately U.S. requirements, the STAR credit standards have developed into a robust set of XML messaging standards that now supports both retail financing and leasing as well as e-contracting. One of the most significant enhancements made to the standards was the change to support UN/CEFACT Core Components which effectively enabled STAR to easily support international requirements including multiple languages, standard ISO country and language codes, and other requirements unique to international implementations.

With the ability to support international requirements, STAR now sees implementations in Canada, Europe and Asia Pacific. Ford Motor Credit is one example of STAR's credit standards being implemented at a global level. Ford Motor Credit is using STAR Credit Application and Decision standards in its Global Dealer Interface. According to its 2009 STAR Testimonial, "The existence of an international standard for automotive credit data that supports web services allowed Ford Motor Credit's GDI to provide a single, consistent interface across multiple markets. As GDI expands to additional dealer systems and markets, we have a proven, widely accepted message structure to offer our partners."

About STAR

The Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR) organization is the information technology (IT) standards organization for retail automotive and related industries. STAR is leading the effort to implement voluntary IT standards throughout the automotive industry. These standards are designed to support business information needs and provide secure and reliable means for dealers, manufacturers, and retail system providers to communicate. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, STAR is a not-for-profit volunteer organization and its members include dealers, manufacturers and retail system providers. As members, these companies are interested in developing, promoting, and administering voluntary IT standards in the retail automotive industry and improving the effectiveness, timeliness and competitiveness of the IT solutions needed within the retail automotive industry.

For more information about STAR and a list of current members, please visit www.starstandard.org.

For further information, contact Ghezal Khalili at 703-556-8584.