TD Auto Finance plans to launch an integrated digital experience in the third quarter that allows customers to manage their auto loan using the bank’s mobile app.  

“The folks who take out an auto loan through our dealer network, once they’re in our book, [we’re] making sure that they have a fully integrated mobile or online experience. If you happen to bank with TD Bank, you could use your mobile app to manage your auto loan,” President and Chief Executive Andrew Stuart told Auto Finance News, a sister publication to Bank Automation News, adding that the project is in the testing phase.

TD Auto’s current online process isn’t linked to the bank’s digital experience, Stuart said. 

“We’re upgrading [our digital operations], adding functionality and integrating it with our day-to-day banking or wealth management applications that many of our customers are using,” he said. “If you’re a TD customer coming in through the auto space but you happen to bank with us, it’ll be a seamless experience.” 

The project is part of the financier’s focus on the “connected customer journey,” which aims to improve the digital experience for customers, Stuart said. 

TD Auto also is working to implement back-office tools to help the lender “price more competitively, approve deals faster and fund quicker,” he said. “There’s a lot of activity to make our operational capabilities more seamless for our dealer customers, and ultimately better for our end-user customers as well.” 

RTPs expand amid application growth 

The lender soon will expand processing of real-time payments for dealers to Saturdays after launching the capability for dealers on its network in March 2022, Stuart said. If a dealer “sends a funding package on a Friday and we’re looking at it on a Saturday, we’re able to fund that deal.” 

Meanwhile, through its partnership with AutoFi, TD Auto has seen growth in application volume, Stuart said. The lender joined the automotive fintech’s digital platform in April 2022 to provide vehicle shoppers with instant credit approvals and firm financing offers online. 

“The dealer controls the transaction, they’re able to customize the experience to fit their strategy and can sell their own products and services through the AutoFi platform,” Stuart said. “We compensate the dealer the same way we always have.” 

AutoFi services 600 of TD Auto’s dealer partners, with 300 dealers at any given time generating about 1,400 applications per month, Stuart said. TD Auto’s approval rate on AutoFi-generated applications is about 50%, he added. 

“These are applications coming from our dealer partners that we probably were not seeing before we joined the [AutoFi] platform,” Stuart said, adding that TD Auto is booking about 70 dealers a month on the platform. 

TD Auto also is leveraging TD Bank’s available data and analytics to improve productivity, Stuart said.  

The data “helps us understand how we’re going to market and which dealers are our best partners for us in terms of business quality, volume, productivity and efficiency when you’re considering where you’re putting your efforts and where you’re leaning in,” he said. “There’s a wealth of data available to us, and the way you look at it can really help you make some good choices.” 

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on Auto Finance News, a sister publication to Bank Automation News.