New car loan application technology launches

Ausloans Finance Group managing director Rodney Michail said the company took two years to develop the technology, which is set to roll out at its 1,100 dealerships across Australia in the coming months.

According to Mr Michail, Zink increases broker productivity as it involves no physical paperwork, doesn’t touch a consumer’s credit file and simultaneously ensures compliance as per the requirements of the royal commission and upcoming legislative changes.

After taking a photo of the customer’s licence and submitting it through the software, brokers are provided a “traffic light assessment” of the customer within two minutes; green means the deal can proceed, orange may require further investigation, and red means the customer is not eligible.

Once a customer is labelled as eligible, they have access to finance options from Ausloans’ panel of 40 lenders.

“We have already experienced a three-time increase in productivity with our in-house team and believe Zink will have even greater efficiencies for dealerships. I am confident that in that setting, we will be able to double that number again,” Mr Michail said.

Having an assessment completed within two minutes was a “game changer” that will save both the dealership and the customer considerable time, cutting the assessment period down from its current average of 30 minutes, Mr Michail said. 

“To be able to do this with no paperwork, in two minutes, and then be able to focus on what cars are available to the customer in their budget has the ability to change the way the industry operates,” he said.

“It puts the focus squarely on the customer experience, which is a win-win all around.” 

The development team for Zink is now reportedly working on final testing for stage two, which consists of a customer application that aims to “simplify” the loan application process for the customer.

“While the broker application allows for early assessment efficiencies and in-field capture, the customer application is all about simplifying the process of document collection to improve their experience,” he said.

“Most Millennials are beginning their car search on their smartphones, so this technology allows them to make their own pre-assessment of their financial situation and cars that suit, increasing their experience when they arrive at the dealership.”

[Related: Major bank launches new pre-qualification tool]