CarsDirect.com to Offer Breakthrough Multi-Lender Finance Service
16 October 2000
CarsDirect.com to Offer Breakthrough Multi-Lender Finance Service
LOS ANGELES--Oct. 16, 2000--Consortium Offers Broadest Range of Premier Lenders, Fully Integrates
Technology With Participating Financial Services Firms
New Loan and Lease Decisioning Engine Provides Customers with
Instant Pre-Approval and Choice of Online Loan/Lease Offers
CarsDirect.com, a leading direct online automotive provider, today announced the creation of a comprehensive, automated multi-lender service that gives customers unparalleled options to finance or lease vehicles online, combined with added efficiency for participating lenders.
Building on the success of CarsDirect.com's alliance with Bank One, the new service adds additional premier lenders -- AmeriCredit, Chase Manhattan, Union Bank of California and WFS Financial -- and features a breakthrough decisioning engine for instant pre-approval and choice of multiple loan or lease offers.
The consortium is unmatched by any other online car-buying service because of its broad network of lenders and deep technology integration.
"Our commitment to provide customers with the best selection of financing and leasing options online is just the latest way that CarsDirect.com is evolving the car buying experience into one that offers more options and services across the board, from a multi-brand selection of cars to this new multi-lender consortium," said Gene Schutt, CEO of CarsDirect.com's CD1 Financial.com unit. "Today's Internet savvy consumer demands choice and great value and we've developed this system in response to that need."
"The relationship Bank One has experienced with CarsDirect.com over the past year has increased our education and understanding of how consumers use the Internet to acquire and finance their automotive vehicles," said Bill Jensen, vice president, Retail Dealer Services at Bank One. "This expansion of the CarsDirect.com lending network is an exciting development because it rounds out the CarsDirect.com offerings and builds on what Bank One and CarsDirect.com have offered together."
By joining the consortium, the new lenders will be able to expand their reach to a significant base of motivated car buyers who visit the CarsDirect.com site.
"WFS is proud to provide customized financing programs through CarsDirect.com," explained Mark Marty, senior vice president for WFS Financial. "As part of the lender consortium, WFS strengthens its commitment to providing quality products and convenience for new and existing customers."
"In Union Bank of California's continued expansion of our automobile lease product, we are enthusiastic about the new relationship with CarsDirect.com," said Steven Glaser, executive vice president, Union Bank of California.
"Chase Auto Finance is pleased to be offering retail auto loans via CarsDirect.com," said Joe Scimone, senior vice president at Chase Auto Finance. "Our relationship with CarsDirect.com enhances Chase's nationwide leadership position in auto finance and in financing vehicles over the Internet, and it also furthers our strategy of using cutting-edge technology to reach a broader customer base."
Instant Pre-Approval of Best Financing Options
The new loan/lease decisioning engine, which is expected to be available by the end of the year, enables consumers to customize their loan or lease to get the lowest monthly payment, the best rate or lowest cash down payment -- whichever is most advantageous to the car buyer's financial situation.
By using the new loan/lease decisioning engine, consumers will have the ability to simultaneously evaluate lease or loan payment options that they qualify for based on credit profile, geography, requested terms and the particular car desired. They then select the most attractive financing option, and obtain final approval -- in many cases, all in a single online session.
New Loan and Lease Decisioning Engine
CarsDirect.com has teamed up with Fair, Isaac(R) , a global provider of customer analytics and decision technology, to develop the decisioning technology platform for the multi-lender system.
Based on Fair, Isaac's market-leading LiquidCredit(TM) offering, the CarsDirect.com loan/lease decisioning engine represents a genuine innovation in online auto financing because of the level of technology integration between each lender and CarsDirect.com. The LiquidCredit technology, which is powered by Fair, Isaac's "gold standard" analytics and decision technology, will allow CarsDirect.com to simplify and accelerate the loan or lease application and evaluation process.
After selecting a vehicle, CarsDirect.com's customers fill out a simple, free online credit application. Using the decisioning engine, CarsDirect.com then qualifies a customer and determines matching financing programs within seconds. Once a program is chosen, obtaining final approval can take as little as 45 seconds.
"As leaders in our respective industries, CarsDirect.com and Fair, Isaac jointly developed this platform using our LiquidCredit technology to offer fast, flexible financing and leasing options to a broad range of CarsDirect.com customers," said Tom Grudnowski, Fair, Isaac president and CEO.
This new program comes on the heels of CarsDirect.com being honored as the best Internet Auto Buying site on the Web by Gomez, an e-commerce authority for consumers and e-businesses. CarsDirect.com was also recently named a "Best of the Web" honoree by PC World Magazine and Forbes.com, an annual publication from Forbes magazine.
About CarsDirect.com
CarsDirect.com (http:www.carsdirect.com) is a leading direct online provider of new automobiles and related products and services, such as loan and lease financing and extended warranties. CarsDirect.com allows consumers to research, price, configure, order, purchase and finance a vehicle online. The company's user-friendly, intuitive Web site offers consumers product information for nearly every make, model and style of new automobile available in the United States today, as well as the ability to simultaneously compare the specifications of competing vehicles. CarsDirect.com offers an online shopping experience that features competitive, up-front, no-haggle pricing on new vehicles which, in many cases, can be delivered directly and conveniently to a consumer's home or office.
The company sources vehicles through a priority dealer network of more than 2,500 automotive dealer franchises nationwide.