Westlake Financial Services is building out its direct lending platform, and VP of Services and Lending Solutions Ralph Ontiveros hopes the larger swath of customer options will attract more consumers.
“The idea is to add inventory, so consumers not only have the ability to pre-arrange their loan, but they can get to the fun part of choosing a vehicle,” Ontiveros said. “And when they walk into a dealership, hopefully, that process is shortened by a couple hours — or a couple days, if possible.”
In the project’s second phase, which is currently underway, Westlake is working to develop a “one-to-many” approach that enables car buyers to qualify for multiple vehicles at once. Currently, consumers can only be approved for a single vehicle loan at a time. “If they change their mind, that structure [for the new loan] is not totally fleshed out yet,” Ontiveros said.
Westlake is also exploring a feature called the “Garage” — a place on the site where consumers can “park” the top vehicles for which they qualify, making it easier to narrow down the options to their final choice, he said. By “phase three or four,” Westlake plans to adjust its dealer portal to allow dealers to structure the transaction from start to finish. The company will “borrow” that structured deal feature from its indirect business, Ontiveros said.
While the direct lending portal is active in five states, these new enhancements will be rolled out and piloted in California before they become available in other markets. “We want to get it fleshed out before we develop it and deploy it,” he said.
