CarSmart.com Launches Auto Financing Resource Powered by LendingTree and CMSI; CarSmart Loan to Offer Consumers Fast, Direct Auto Financing
SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 1999--CarSmart.com today announced an agreement with LendingTree, the online loan marketplace, to provide the exclusive auto financing service for consumers on CarSmart.com. The strategic partnership will provide CarSmart.com's customer base with immediate access to a network of lenders who compete for their business. The service will be branded as the CarSmart.com Loan Center at www.carsmart.com, and will be available starting August 1, 1999.
The new auto financing service will allow CarSmart.com customers to request auto financing without having to leave the CarSmart.com site. Consumers will go to the CarSmart.com Loan Center, fill out one simple qualification form and then receive up to four offers in a matter of hours. Consumers then have the opportunity to compare the offers and choose the best one for them.
"The entire car purchasing process for CarSmart.com customers will now be easier and faster with the addition of the CarSmart.com Loan Center. The transactional impact of this alliance is that CarSmart.com auto buyers can be at the dealership with a check in-hand," said Jim Dittemore, CarSmart.com's Director of Strategic Business Development.
"LendingTree's relationship with CarSmart.com further enhances our strong presence in the online auto lending space," said Doug Lebda, founder and CEO of LendingTree. "Through the CarSmart.com Loan Center, LendingTree increases its exposure to the growing number of consumers buying cars online."
LendingTree, through a relationship with Credit Management Solutions Inc. (CMSI) (NASDAQ: CMSS), provides the only end-to-end auto financing on the Web. The alliance interfaces LendingTree's online loan center and proprietary filtering technology with CMSI's CreditConnection(R) through CMSI's CreditOnline(R) Internet gateway. LendingTree's filtering technology matches a car buyer's credit request with appropriate lenders and allows these lenders to compete for a consumer's business. The CreditConnection network, which electronically transmits credit applications directly into a lender's loan origination system, and allow lenders to return decisions to the consumer in a matter of minutes.
"CarSmart's growing customer base represents incremental prequalified business for lenders on the CreditConnection network," said Peter M. Leger, president and CEO of CMSI. "This relationship is another step in our mission to provide lenders with best-of-breed electronic commerce services that help them meet their strategic goals." |
