This is intersting.
newswire.ca
National Bank to Offer Car Dealers Credit Approval Service via Internet
MONTREAL, April 23 /CNW/ - The National Bank today announced the launch
of a new credit approval service via Internet for car dealers that will enable
them to process sales transactions more quickly and efficiently. With this
service, dealers will be able to have the financing applications of
prospective buyers approved in a matter of seconds.
The new system to be implemented by the National Bank will also allow car
dealers to carry out simulations using various financing options. As a result,
the dealers themselves will be able to offer buyers a wider selection of
financing options, including contracts of sale by instalment or other forms of
financing offered by the National Bank such as personal loans or
Auto-Option(1) loans.
Once the consumer has decided on the type of financing that best suits
his or her needs, the credit application is electronically sent to one of the
Bank's credit centres which automatically generates a reply. Upon receiving
approval, the car dealer just has to print out the forms for the buyer to sign
and the deal is clinched! From the time the credit information is entered to
the signing of the contract, the entire process takes approximately 20
minutes.
The credit approval software developed for the National Bank was designed
to minimize the amount of data that need to be entered. For instance, car
dealers simply have to enter the make and year of a vehicle and the software
will automatically calculate its residual value. In many cases, dealers do not
even have to enter basic data in full as the information has been
preprogrammed and they can simply click on the appropriate choices.
The National Bank is the first financial institution in Canada to offer a
credit approval service via Internet. The platform used by the Bank operates
on the Software Guaranty CALMS(TM) system provided by Internet Frontier Inc.
(www.ifront.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microforum (www.mf.com). In
fact, the Software Guaranty CALMS(TM) product was the winner of the best
infrastructure product award for 1998 from Microsoft Canada.
John Bordignon, Senior Manager - Credit Product Management, announced
that the ''Autonat'' site will be pilot tested in May by a number of dealers
before being made available to all interested dealerships.
''This new initiative attests to the National Bank's leadership when it
comes to introducing new technologies that allow bank clients to settle their
payment transactions more rapidly and at a lower cost,'' noted Léon Courville,
President - Personal and Commercial Bank.
To take advantage of this new service offered by the National Bank,
interested dealers need only apply for a user code to access the Autonat web
site. National Bank representatives will provide dealership personnel with
on-site training on how to use the software.
(1) When an Auto-Option loan expires, buyers can: (1) sell the vehicle
themselves for more than the residual value, pay back their loan and
pocket the difference; (2) give the vehicle back to the insurer, which
will pay off the loan in full; or (3) keep the vehicle and finance the
balance of the loan.
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For further information: John Bordignon, Senior Manager, Credit Product
Management, (514) 394-8935 or (905) 796-3900; source : Jocelin Dumas,
Communications Manager, (514) 394-6990, jocelin.dumas@bnc.ca |
