Putting Big Data to Good Use

Wouldn’t it be cool to send a consumer who has only ever purchased Hondas a special offer on an auto loan as that person is driving by a Honda dealership?

There is a new startup in Europe called Ern that is building a platform for just such kinds of offers for the credit card industry. Ern recently announced that it has raised $1.6 million in seed funding, which followed an initial $2 million funding round last December.

The platform, called Looop, will push special offers to consumers based on analytics of their buying habits as well as their geographic location. Looop offers enhanced analysis of consumers’ spending habits, to help card issuers develop loyalty programs and target special offers based on that analysis. A full demo of the platform is available here.

There could be tremendous applicability in adapting the technology in the auto finance space. By analyzing customers’ purchase histories, of cars and other products, auto lenders would be able to offer highly targeted deals to customers — especially when those people are likely to be car shopping again. 

What makes the Looop system even cooler is that it is designed to learn from consumers, as it sees which offers consumers take advantage of. 

Big Data is a term that has excited and scared a lot of banking executives, including those in the auto finance industry, because of its potential — and its potential for overuse. But any executive can see the value in having a greater understanding of their customers’ buying habits and shopping patterns. Learning more about how customers shop, and what offers they respond to, has great potential to create longer and deeper customer relationships. 

For this kind of platform to really work for auto lenders, they will need to look outside the car-buying history of their customers, but even starting there could create more opportunities for lenders to originate new loans.

Wouldn’t it be cool to send a consumer who has only ever purchased Hondas a special offer on an auto loan as that person is driving by a Honda dealership?

There is a new startup in Europe called Ern that is building a platform for just such kinds of offers for the credit card industry. Ern recently announced that it has raised $1.6 million in seed funding, which followed an initial $2 million funding round last December.

The platform, called Looop, will push special offers to consumers based on analytics of their buying habits as well as their geographic location. Looop offers enhanced analysis of consumers’ spending habits, to help card issuers develop loyalty programs and target special offers based on that analysis. A full demo of the platform is available here.

There could be tremendous applicability in adapting the technology in the auto finance space. By analyzing customers’ purchase histories, of cars and other products, auto lenders would be able to offer highly targeted deals to customers — especially when those people are likely to be car shopping again. 

What makes the Looop system even cooler is that it is designed to learn from consumers, as it sees which offers consumers take advantage of. 

Big Data is a term that has excited and scared a lot of banking executives, including those in the auto finance industry, because of its potential — and its potential for overuse. But any executive can see the value in having a greater understanding of their customers’ buying habits and shopping patterns. Learning more about how customers shop, and what offers they respond to, has great potential to create longer and deeper customer relationships. 

For this kind of platform to really work for auto lenders, they will need to look outside the car-buying history of their customers, but even starting there could create more opportunities for lenders to originate new loans.