Carvana Turns to AI For Customer Support

SAN DIEGO — Carvana is integrating a conversational artificial intelligence platform into its customer support channels, Christina Keiser, vice president of strategy, said at the Auto Finance Sales and Marketing Summit last week. Propel.AI, which Carvana bought last year, is in the early stages of testing. “We think the human touch is important,” Keiser said. […]

• Joey Pizzolato
• May 21, 2019
• Auto Finance Accelerate 2019, Innovation & Mobility, Strategy, Technology

Carvana’s VP of Strategy Talks Customer-Focused Financing at the Auto Finance Sales and Marketing Summit

Carvana’s Vice President of Strategy, Christina Keiser, will join the Auto Finance Sales and Marketing Summit at the Omni San Diego for a dynamic presentation entitled, “Customer First, Facilitating a Seamless Buying and Lending Experience.” The presentation — which takes place on Monday, May 13, at 3:00 p.m. PT — will explore how lenders can […]

• Joey Pizzolato
• April 30, 2019
• Sales & Marketing, Strategy

Carvana to Buy Used Vehicles Through Honcker Leasing App

Leasing startup Honcker added used-car trade-in capabilities to its mobile app via a partnership established with Carvana in November 2018, Honcker Founder and Chief Executive Nathan Hecht told AFN. Technology integration was completed in February, and the companies officially launched the tool to users last week. With the partnership, consumers can sell their used car […]

• Nicole Casperson
• April 29, 2019
• Operations, Sales & Marketing, Technology, Update

Jumping In: Online Lenders Join the ABS Market

From the April issue: The auto securitization market is being injected with new blood. It’s been about 15 years since an auto financier securitized a new asset class, but Fair is gearing up to do just that. Fair, a used-car leasing platform with a subscription-based model, has started the process of getting a rating and […]

• Bianca Chan
• April 11, 2019
• Capital Markets, Credit Performance, Features, Operations, Strategy

Carvana Prices Inaugural Securitization

Online used-car retailer Carvana priced its inaugural asset-backed securitization on March 27, 2019. “The transaction was squarely in line with our expectations for an inaugural deal, yielding strong proceeds and leaving a clear path toward achieving our long-term goals,” Chief Executive Ernie Garcia said in a press release. The $338.8 million securitization consists of notes backed by […]

• Bianca Chan
• April 2, 2019
• Capital Markets, Strategy

Online Portal Drives Half of Bank of America’s Direct Loan Volume in February

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 […]

• Nicole Casperson
• April 1, 2019
• Operations, Sales & Marketing, Technology, Update

Dealership Financing Slips as Customers Prefer Online Options, Survey Shows

Consumers are increasingly opting to skip the dealership when it comes to getting their next auto loan, according to fresh data from Fico. Published last week, Fico’s 2019 U.S. Consumer Survey of Vehicle Finance Perceptions examined how consumers looked at the financing of their vehicle purchases and how auto finance companies are currently meeting their […]

• Bianca Chan
• March 20, 2019
• Operations, Sales & Marketing, Strategy, Technology

Bank of America Adds 15,000 Carvana Vehicles to Its Buying Site

Bank of America added 15,000 vehicles to its digital car shopping and financing platform through an expanded partnership with Carvana, the companies announced last week. The partnership comes on the heels of a limited pilot with Carvana. In 2018, Carvana was added to Bank of America’s direct-to-consumer mobile car shopping service "in a couple of […]

• Nicole Casperson
• February 11, 2019
• Operations, Sales & Marketing