With 61.2 million smartphone users in the U.S. — up 50% from mid-2009 — it’s no wonder that auto financiers are increasingly tailoring their services toward mobile devices.
In the past week, two auto finance companies have debuted mobile offerings. For one, Santander Consumer USA released its first free iPhone app for car shoppers. The iPhone Car Loan Calculator combines a monthly payment estimator with an online auto loan application.
Users can apply for new or used car loans, refinance existing loans, or calculate monthly payments based on any combination of loan amount, APR, term, and down payment.
Meanwhile, MINI Financial Services developed a web-based application that enables customers to access the six most common features of the regular site: make a payment, recent activity, statements, payoff quote, payment history, and account summary.
MINI Mobile, which took nearly a year from concept to nationwide launch, runs in a browser on multiple platforms, including Android, Blackberry, and iPhone.
