LAS VEGAS — Online direct loan originator SpringboardAuto is opening up its direct lending technology through a white label solution and is onboarding 10 credit unions and banks this year, Chief Executive Jim Landy told Auto Finance News.
SpringboardAuto originates its own loans primarily in nonprime segments and has been building the technology so that other yet-to-be-named auto lenders can use the service natively on their own branded websites.
“In auto, you’re competing with the dealer, the OEMs, other banks, finance companies, lead generators, the marketplaces, so it’s really expensive to jump in and try and make it all,” Landy said during a meeting at the National Automobile Dealers Association Expo. “So part of our [strategy] has been to partner with the incumbents who have the customers and Springboard can provide the technology.”
Credit unions do the majority of direct lending today and have a built-in consumer base at the prime tier that aligns with Springboard’s approach, he added.
“Someone applying online might not have a good sense of their credit situation or there is an embarrassment factor of getting declined [at the dealership],” Landy said. “It’s a better experience and more empowering of the subprime consumer because typically prime consumers have that power to buy whatever they want whenever they want, so [direct lending] levels the playing field.”
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