“The direct auto lending market is ripe for innovation,” LendingTree Chief Executive Doug Lebda told the audience at Bank Innovation 2015 last week. The process for consumers is confusing, Lebda said, because it is “too complex.”
LendingTree is the online loan comparison venture launched in the mid-1990s.
Lebda, who founded the company, also noted that, though LendingTree and auto lenders try to simplify the process for consumers, all too often, “the F&I office screws us over.”
“Anytime we have a local provider in the mix,” Lebda said, “it gets harder than it needs to be.”
Rick Finch, general manager of automotive at LendingTree, echoed this sentiment.
“Our biggest challenge is that the consumer is captive to the F&I office immediately prior to the purchase of the vehicle,” Finch said.
In 2014, LendingTree’s comparison-shopping site received 70,000 auto finance requests per month; this year, LendingTree expects higher monthly volume.
“Although we are not in the indirect space,” Finch said, “we are working to build solutions that bridge the direct-indirect gap,” which will be announced in the second quarter.
