eLEND’s CreditPlus brings F&I into the shopping process
Pete MacInnis, president/CEO of eLEND Solutions, wants to bridge the gap between sales and the business office and move the customer quickly through the latter while leaving the business manager plenty of time to sell aftermarket products.
How? With CreditPlus.
“CreditPlus is an online credit and finance solution that instantly provides shoppers with actual credit approvals and direct, upfront access to exact, near-final, approved finance terms from your preferred lender programs - all controlled by the dealer.
“With no credit application to complete in-store and no lender decision to wait on, the buyer is transitioned through F&I much quicker,” he says.
MacInnis insists that the eLEND software lets the consumer do much of the applying for credit before they set foot in the showroom.
He explains that the consumer gets “real payments matched to real lender programs.”
Applying For Credit Is in the Consumer’s Hands
This saves time and builds trust by leaving much of the credit application process to the consumer.
“It brings finance into the shopping process,” he says.
eLEND has been working on the software for some time starting with payment calculations and credit scores. But CreditPlus is much more than that.
From the consumer side, it supplies real payments matched to real lender programs controlled by the dealer. The customer can look for a car online and punch in their credit information.
The system houses full credit programs. It shows the consumer the credit programs and choices and lets them pick what terms are best for them. Then it prints a preapproval certificate they can take to the dealership or they can email it to themselves.
He says that by the time the consumer gets to the dealership, they will have a preapproval certificate.
Dealers can use it to offer prequalification and a soft cred pull. If they want to offer a traditional credit app, that is available.
Consumer Can Apply for Credit on the VDP
The credit application can be tied to a vehicle on the dealer’s VDP, so CreditPlus can qualify that consumer for that vehicle.
On the other hand, the consumer can ask for financing of a certain amount and the system comes up with the payments the customer qualifies for.
“This is not a payment calculator. It is a true full credit application that provides real lender programs,” MacInnis insists.
“eLEND Solution's rules-based loan decision engine permits the origination of loans from a limitless number of lenders and for a limitless number of credit tiers – at the front of the sales process,” he says.
“With its built-in efficiencies, it is able to underwrite, structure and fund vehicle purchase contracts on behalf of third-party lenders much more affordably and efficiently than ever before.”
The software also comes with a series of contact management tools including a text message that confirms approval and automatic email responders.
Business Managers Get More Input Upfront
Does this mean the end of the business office? He emphatically answers “no!”
“If anything, what this does is it puts sales and finance on the same page at the point of sale. No more separate processes.
“We are integrating those processes, giving finance more input into the deal structuring up front so that in the negotiating process, the finance department can electronically guide the sales department.
“It helps the finance department put the customer in the right deal structure the first time.”
He says the real impact is that CreditPlus lets the finance department have more input upfront. And that gives the business manager more time to focus on selling aftermarket products based on what the customer qualifies for.
The software is compatible with whatever DMS, CRM or desking tool the dealership is using as well as the credit reporting agencies. It is also integrated with RouteOne and DealerTrack, he says.
MacInnis asserts CreditPlus is getting attention from Canadian dealership groups, but the U.S. version needs a few modifications specific to the Canadian market before it can move on north.
