While lease providers are experimenting with month-to-month terms, leasing app Honcker aims to bring some flexibility to traditional leases by making the turn-in process less cumbersome, Founder and Chief Executive Nathan Hecht told Auto Finance News.
In February, the startup updated its app to become the facilitator between the lessor and dealer in order for borrowers to turn in a lease six months early.
“It’s us trying to use the existing lease infrastructure that lenders and dealers have and turn it into something that is more flexible, easier to navigate, and to give the consumer the sense that they aren’t locked in forever,” Hecht said. “If you didn’t have the app and you want to turn in your lease, you have to go to a dealer that’s willing to take it over, you have to find a bank that’s willing to find you the extra $1,500 to $2,000 to take the existing lease payments and roll it in — we’re sort of doing all that in the background automatically.”
The feature is being offered at a time when off-lease volume is expected to reach a high of 4 million vehicles in 2018, up from the record 3.6 million vehicles last year, according to Edmunds.
“There’s no automation in [the lease turn-in] process now,” he said. “We’re making it convenient for you to get out of those extra six months.”
Last week, Honcker secured $23 million in series A funding from media investor InterActive Corp. (IAC) and is planning nationwide rollout.
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