BOULDER, Colo. and SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Confident Financial Solutions (CFS) has partnered with alternative payment products provider WebBank to offer car buyers a new way to pay for unplanned auto repair expenses, the companies announced.
Instead of using credit cards or other costly sources of financing to cover auto repair expenses, the platform that CFS and WebBank have introduced lets a service advisor at a dealership or repair center offer customers an “affordable and trustworthy” way to pay for expensive car repairs. A consumer completes a simple, four-step loan application process — from a smartphone — and receives a credit decision within minutes for up to $7,500. The loan is made by WebBank, a nationally-licensed, FDIC-insured, state-chartered bank, all according to the announcement.
“CFS, over the past four years, has grown to be one of the nation’s largest providers of installment loans to consumers made through auto repair service centers and car dealerships. As such, we understand how hectic things can get in a service department,” said Richard Counihan, CFS’s CEO. “This innovative solution will help improve service advisor productivity and enhance the customer experience at an often tension-filled moment. What’s more, this fueled-by WebBank solution will aid our expansion plans as it supports our drive to offer ‘auto loans you can trust’ to more people in more places.
“Most important, however, this partnership signals that CFS has fulfilled WebBank’s rigorous evaluation process and joined their select group of partners. Our relationship with WebBank allows us to offer a new, differentiated financial product that will benefit our customers and the hundreds of thousands of consumers they serve,” Counihan added.
From what CFS calls the “point of need,” the service advisor’s desk, WebBank will issue, fund, and hold the loans originated through the CFS platform on its own balance sheet. Drawing on CFS’s massive database of repair costs and its own deep insight into loan criteria, WebBank is able to evaluate all factors and then, in mere moments, provide approval status on the consumer’s smartphone, keeping the entire process private and embarrassment-free, executives said.
“WebBank is pleased to partner with CFS and bring to the automotive sector a new and better way to help their customers handle unexpected financial burdens that can occur when vehicle repairs are needed,” said Jason Lloyd, WebBank’s executive vice president. “As with all our partners, WebBank strives to offer financial products that exceed the most stringent qualification and compliance requirements in the banking industry while providing an exceptional experience between the bank and its consumers obtaining loans.”
According to a recent survey by AAA, the travel services organization, one in three motorists, or 64 million U.S. drivers, would not be able to pay for an unexpected vehicle repair without going into debt.
“As a long-time user of CFS services, we are excited by the new WebBank-fueled solution,” said Dan Johnson, vice president of fixed operations, Larry H. Miller Dealerships. “We’re committed to excellence for our customers and always looking for ways to enhance their service experience. This service offers our customers yet another way to finance their auto repair expenses.”
