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ReprintsBMW Financial tests iPad credit applications in bid to speed the approval process
 | Bugbee: “Instead of taking people to ‘the box,' to the F&I office, we want to be doing the whole presale process out where the customer is." |
BMM Group Financial Services is looking to keep car buyers away from "the box."
The captive lender is launching a pilot program to process credit applications outside of the F&I office via iPads, with the potential for "near immediate" approvals or rejection notices for customers.
"Instead of taking people to 'the box,' to the F&I office, we want to be doing the whole presale process out where the customer is," says Shaun Bugbee, vice president of sales and marketing for BMW Group Financial Services.
"We plan on making mobile the entire process that's done in the F&I office," he said in an interview last week. The pilot is planned for BMW of Dallas and Mini of Dallas, two dealerships that belong to AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest dealership group.
"We picked Dallas because they're major franchises," Bugbee said. Nationwide, AutoNation has 13 BMW dealerships and four Mini stores, he said.
The captive finance company announced the pilot last week, starting with just the two dealerships. After about 45 days, the next step is to roll iPad credit applications out to the other AutoNation stores, Bugbee said.
According to interviews with Bugbee and with other F&I professionals, switching to mobile devices keeps customers from feeling trapped in the F&I office. It eases the potentially awkward turnover from the showroom to the finance office. It also keeps the customer where they can see the car they've chosen, which may help keep them in a buying mood.
Rival Mercedes-Benz Financial Services U.S.A. is trying a similar strategy. Besides lease returns, M-B Financial can accept customer signatures, take credit applications, present information on F&I products and look up the latest incentive programs for a specific vehicle using an iPad or similar mobile device.
Both brands are also working on e-contracting; that is, switching to electronic documents instead of paper finance contracts.
You can reach Jim Henry at autonews@crain.com.
