CMSI Receives Patent on CreditConnection(R) Network and Service
Service Connects Credit Originators With Lenders for
Forwarding of Applications and Return of Decisions
ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, Md., March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Credit Management Solutions, Inc. (CMSI) (Nasdaq: CMSS) today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued the company U.S. Patent 5,878,403 on its CreditConnection(R) service, an electronic commerce service for online lending. The CreditConnection service links credit originators with funding sources nationwide and in Canada to allow the originators to transmit credit applications and receive decisions.
Currently in use for automobile and recreational vehicle lending and leasing, CreditConnection incorporates a standard methodology that allows the transmission of an individual application to multiple funding sources. "This underlying methodology will support our expansion of the CreditConnection service to a wide range of consumer and business credit types," said Peter M. Leger, president and COO of CMSI. Leger further stated that, "While there is at present no standard for this type of lending, we believe that this methodology, along with the strength of our technology, supports CreditConnection becoming the standard. We are delighted that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has recognized the unique nature of the service by granting us this patent."
The CreditConnection patent covers interactive credit application and routing systems and methods that allow credit applications to be received electronically from credit originators and forwarded to lenders, either simultaneously or sequentially, and allow the lenders' credit decisions to be returned electronically to the credit originator. If an application is sent sequentially, the credit originator can instruct the system whether to automatically send to the next lender based on the credit decision received from the previous lender or a predetermined time delay, until a credit approval is received from a lender. The connections between credit originators, lenders, and the CreditConnection host computer are either through private telecommunications lines or the Internet.
The patented technology may also be used in connection with web-based technologies like CMSI's CreditOnline(R) as the method of transmitting credit applications to lenders and receiving decisions made by the lenders using their own decisioning systems. "Another good example of this leverage," Leger said, "is the Internet online financing technology that CMSI is rolling out in its strategic alliance with LendingTree, Inc. which was announced on March 1, 1999. LendingTree is one of the fastest growing online loan centers available to consumers on the Internet."
Vehicle dealers nationwide are using the CreditConnection service to improve productivity, profitability, and customer service in their Finance and Insurance (F & I) department, a key source of dealership profits. Using the Internet or another network, applications can be delivered electronically directly into a lender's credit decisioning system and decisions returned to the dealer within minutes. In addition, CreditConnection manages the department workflow electronically, tracking the status of each application and eliminating the need for time-consuming logs and follow-up calls. This allows the F & I manager to concentrate on more profitable tasks and improve service to the dealership's customers at the same time. The system also delivers a variety of strategic reports that allow the dealership to better manage all of its financing relationships.
Today, CreditConnection dealers can communicate electronically with some of the largest financial institutions, finance companies and captive finance companies that provide automobile credit, including AmeriCredit; BancOne; Bank of America; Bank of Montreal; Key Bank; NationsBank; PNC; Wachovia; WFS Financial; GMAC, the captive finance company of General Motors; and NMAC, the captive finance company of Nissan Motors. "Lenders and credit originators are acutely aware that the future of lending lies in the Internet," said CMSI's Leger. "The CreditConnection patent is another step in CMSI's strategy to maintain leadership in the area of credit management technology."
About CMSI
Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Annapolis Junction, Md., Credit Management Solutions, Inc. provides consumer credit automation and loan marketing software and services to major financial institutions and non-bank financial companies. Its flagship product, CreditRevue(R), is a credit origination and processing system used by financial institutions to automate and speed the processing and decisioning of all types of consumer loan products. CreditRevue clients include NationsBank, Banc One, Wells Fargo, The Associates, Wachovia, WFS Financial, and Nellie Mae. The CreditConnection service is a combined electronic network and service which electronically connects credit originators with multiple financing sources for the submission and decisioning of loans and leases. In the automotive sector, CMSI has entered into strategic alliances with Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Dealer Services Group, and Universal Computer Systems, Inc. (UCS), the nation's leading providers of products and services to auto dealers and manufacturers' captive finance companies. In the small business credit sector, the company has entered into a strategic alliance with Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., the world's leading provider of business-to-business credit, marketing information, and receivables management services.
Press releases and other CMSI information can be found on its Web site: cmsinc.com. |
