Ally Lending, the business-to-business-to-consumer lending arm of Ally Bank, today announced a partnership with Authority Brands to provide financing for customers for home improvements such as new roofing and plumbing. 

 “Customers can get financing through their home improvement services dealer,” said Hans Zandhuis, head of Ally Lending. “We also offer ‘Consumer Direct Apply’ where people can apply and review options on their own.” 

 Consumer Direct Apply is a paperless application platform with a 60-second pre-qualification that streamlines the financing process. Customers can apply directly and finalize financing through an Authority Brands franchisee dealer. 

 “Our application process is all online and customers can get all financing options on their phone or iPad, while sitting in their kitchen,” Zandhuis said. “We ask for under 10 pieces of information from a customer to get them pre-qualified for financing in 60 seconds.” 

 New home improvement services customers apply with their name, address and Social Security number, although existing Ally Lending customers can skip the application process altogether, said Greg Cicatelli, head of enterprise home improvement sales at Ally Lending. 

The Detroit-based Ally Financial, which has $182.5 billion in assets, offers financial services in personal, auto and health. Ally Financial acquired Health Credit Services last year to gain that company’s technology and move into health care financing.

“The initial cost of borrowing, processing fee or dealer-contractor fee is negligible with our online application process,” Cicatelli said. The lender is providing plans where “dealer pay zero fee and the consumers still get low monthly payments,”  he added.

Ally has been looking to expand into the home improvement market for the past 12 months, well before the COVID-19 pandemic altered modern life. “The release just coincided with the pandemic,” Zandhuis said. “We saw a huge market opportunity 12 months ago and now the home improvement market has grown significantly.” 

 Ally Lending explored other service providing partners before striking a deal with Authority Brands, whose subsidiaries include Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Mister Sparky Electric and One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning. 

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 “Our partner wanted a lender with a strong balance sheet to provide strategic financing,” Zandhuis said. “We were looking for a partner with nationwide outreach, and I think the partnership worked out really well.” 

 Ally Lending plans to add new products to its platform by next year, including customer access to a “personal credit line that has more functionality around it,” Zandhuis said.