More than half of the direct auto loan applications Bank of America received in February were submitted via the bank’s online lending portal, Senior Vice President of Centralized and Online Sales John Schleck told Auto Finance News.
“Last month, our direct-to-consumer platform was roughly 54% to 55% of applications sent digitally, either on a [smart]phone or desktop,” Schleck said. So far, about 2,500 of Bank of America’s 10,000 dealers have elected to sign up and load their inventory onto the site, he said.
The direct-to-consumer platform, which launched in 2017, has enhanced the bank’s dealer relationships. “We don’t want to be a car dealer — we want to finance cars,” he said. “We can do that by partnering with dealers out there.” In addition to brick-and-mortar dealerships, the bank is looking to partner with online marketplaces like Carvana.
Also Read: Bank of America Adds 15,000 Carvana Vehicles to Its Buying Site
Looking forward, Schleck is also focusing on innovation with AI-driven digital banking assistant “Erica,” which surpassed 6 million users last week, the bank noted in a press release.
“We’ll continue to innovate by incorporating Erica, expanding the dealer network, adding Carvana, and continuing to look for partners like Carvana,” he said. Carvana competitors include Vroom and Shift.
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