U.S. Bank’s Kristina Bolte talks omnichannel in powersports

U.S. Bank is bringing lessons learned from auto into powersports finance. The Minneapolis-based bank is doubling down on its consumer and dealer-facing omnichannel financing strategy with the July 11 launch of its RV and marine financing platform as the industry looks to speed transactions and lower friction for dealers and customers. U.S. Bank introduced its digitally integrated purchasing experience on the automotive side in June 2022. The ability to shop, finance and purchase an automobile resonated with customers and dealers, and U.S. Bank wanted to bring that sense of empowerment to RV and marine customers, Kristina Bolte , vice president of dealer services digital, direct and alliance programs, told Auto Finance News . [caption id="attachment_57330322" align="alignright" width="300"] Kristina Bolte, VP of Dealer Services Digital, Direct & Alliance Programs at U.S. Bank, U.S. Bank[/caption] “We want to empower our customers and our dealers to have digital, seamless, frictionless experiences, but we also recognize that making a purchase of this size is a big deal in people's lives,” Bolte said. “We’re excited to be offering this type of capability to clients as lending in the RV and boat space continues to be an area of focus for us.” In powersports, omnichannel offerings have just started taking hold, with Polaris launching its online marketplace March 28 and Octane offering full spectrum financing and extending into omnichannel lending for powersports, trailers, tractors and RVs. Bolte spoke with Auto Finance News about the bank’s new powersports platform, how it fits in with the lender’s wider digital strategy and the importance of responding to client feedback. What follows is an edited version of the conversation. Auto Finance News : How did the experience rolling out the product on the automotive side inform U.S. Bank’s omnichannel expansion into the RV and marine space? Kristina Bolte : What we've learned in the auto space is they have a little more experience in this type of model. From an industry perspective, consumers love the empowerment component. They want digital experiences. They also value omnichannel experiences. Then on the dealer side, we can send our dealers fully credit-approved customers directly to their door. In this new experience, our customers and non-customers to the bank will have the ability to shop the boat or RV marketplaces on U.S. Bank’s website and narrow their search using a variety of filters such as distance, dealership, condition, brand and model. If a customer identifies a unit that they'd like to finance in that space, they have the option to apply within that unit’s digital product page and that experience will then pre-fill directly with the collateral information into the bank’s digital application. Then upon approval of the application, the customer receives a digital approval letter with any relevant information and accepted instructions that will allow them to proceed to the purchasing experience with their selected dealer. Simultaneously, our participating dealers receive access to the approval information and their dealer portal. For customers that don't want to select a specific unit within the platform, they have the ability to submit an application for a generic pre-approval with no collateral selected, and then they can go shop at any of our participating dealers to find the unit of their choice with the empowerment of having selected their lender and that confidence of a firm offer of credit. In either the shopping marketplace experience or the generic pre-approval experience, the customer still has flexibility. If they want to make subsequent changes prior to finalizing the contract, including adding on additional service packages, adjusting terms or changing units, ... the dealer will work with our seasoned underwriters to adjust the application as appropriate through the dealer portal system with the bank and within the credit parameters. Customers and dealers want and need that flexibility. AFN: How is U.S. Bank differentiating the customer and dealer experiences from other programs? KB : An additional component that we think makes our program another step above and beyond is our Vehicle Concierge Team, which is similar to what we did in the auto space with the new digital product that we launched last year. When a client submits an application for either a boat or RV experience, they have full access to our U.S. Bank vehicle concierge team, which is a white-glove service team that helps both our consumer clients and our dealer customers with any component of the process to make sure it's a best-in-class experience. If they have questions or concerns or if there's anything that either party needs throughout the process, they're there to assist. AFN: What role has client feedback — whether from consumers or your dealer partners — played in terms of adjusting the platform and how important has the feedback been in the platform’s development? KB : We are big believers in listening to what our customers have to say, and what they tell us. We're going to be proactively working to obtain and evaluate feedback from those engaging with the platform — both our consumer clients and our dealer partners — so that we can make sure that in any areas that we continue to evolve and enhance, that we're doing so strategically based on that feedback. Most of the feedback that we've gotten so far has come directly through that white-glove vehicle concierge team. In addition to it being a resource that either the consumer or dealer customers can reach out to, they're also working to make sure that there are no questions, especially because it is a new product and model in its space. On the consumer side, customers have just said, “I didn't realize how quickly I got the approval” or “This was so easy. I picked my unit and, now I can see my next step, and I'm excited to go shopping with this approval.” If the consumer who submits an application is a U.S. Bank customer, we can authenticate them with their U.S. Bank credentials and pre-fill a lot of components within the application. If they pick a unit, it’s pre-filled back with the information, helping save time. On the dealer side, we're getting feedback through the regional account managers. For our dealer services, the feedback that sales reps are getting is that this is a fully credit-approved customer. Whenever you can get a fully credit-approved customer who has already shopped inventory … they're more ready to buy. Auto Finance Summit, the premier industry event for auto lending and leasing, returns October 29-31 at the Bellagio Las Vegas. To learn more about the 2023 event and register, visit autofinance.live / afs / .

U.S. Bank’s Kristina Bolte talks omnichannel in powersports

Bank launched omnichannel RV, marine financing July 11

Citizens Financial auto book runs off 25%

Ally Financial originations down 22% YoY amid tight credit requirements

Related Posts

RV dealers say rate cuts needed as cash flow tightens

MarineMax F&I revenue up 8.6%

RV dealers, lenders skeptical about AI

Ally Financial originations down 22% YoY amid tight credit requirements

Stay Informed with Our Newsletters

The Roadmap Podcast

SPONSORED

Driving Innovation in Automotive Refunds: How Onbe and Allied Solutions Are Modernizing the Payment Experience

Navigating the Margin Squeeze: EVs, Tariffs & Pricing — A Q&A with Earnix

Enhancing credit approaches to boost conversion and dealer loyalty

Welcome Back!

Retrieve your password