Huntington Auto Finance is leaning on digital channels to speed funding and improve consumer experiences.  

More than half of Huntington auto loan originations are completed through e-contracting, Rich Porrello, president of auto finance and dealer services at the bank, told Auto Finance News, a sister publication to Bank Automation News. 

“We’ve made [e-contracting] a priority because it’s a better experience for both consumers and dealers,” he said, noting that e-contracting “contributes into our overall tech strategy of making the experience better for our customers and taking friction out of the process.” 

Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington utilizes the tech to provide funding quickly and strengthen its dealer relationships, Porrello said

About 70% of applications receive a decision in three seconds or less, he said. “Almost all of those approvals have multiple options for the consumer and the dealer to talk about.”  

Once a loan is approved with Huntington, the dealer and the customer can adjust the terms and how much the consumer wants to put down, Porrello said. “This saves time for the dealer and the consumer,” he said. 

Self-service grows 

Huntington has also changed its onboarding process for new consumers, allowing them to decide how to work with the bank to manage their auto loan, Porrello said. 

“We let [customers] self-select how they want to interact with us; whether they want to go paperless and have a completely digital relationship or whether they want a paper relationship,” he said.  

The bank continues to have “strong application activity,” with credit performance holding steady, Porrello said. Huntington’s 30- to 89-day delinquency rate came in at 0.78% in second quarter, up 2 basis points quarter over quarter and flat year over year, according to the bank’s Q2 earnings report.  

Meanwhile, e-contracting continues to gain traction industrywide as consumers expect a faster car buying process through digital channels. In Q2, the volume of auto loans originated through e-contracting came in at about 2.1 million contracts, an increase of 7% sequentially and 2% YoY, according to software provider Wolters Kluwer’s Q2 2023 Automotive Finance Digital Transformation Index. The index represents about 80% of digital transactions across the industry. 

Subprime lender Arivo Acceptance, too, puts an emphasis on originating loans through digital channels. The lender originates 20% to 30% of its total contract volume through e-contracting, up from 10% to 15% of volume last year, Landon Starr, chief risk and information officer at Arivo, previously told AFN. 

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