By Marci Bacarisse, Project Manager, CUAC

Baton Rouge Telco FCU has a rich tradition of operating a successful indirect lending program. For over 16 years now, BR Telco CU has utilized CUAC’s indirect platform to bring technology and convenience to their members when shopping for a car, power sport, or boat loan. One of the latest advances in this technology is eContracting through RouteOne.

The RouteOne eContracting process allows a member to sign in person or remotely for their new vehicle immediately upon approval. This allows for a much smoother transaction for the consumer; and, creates a much more efficient document handling process for the dealer. “Our dealers are looking for speed and convenience – for them and our members. The RouteOne eContracting platform has made it more efficient for both parties and allowed us to be more competitive in the indirect lending space,” explained Larry Lemoine, VP of Lending at BR Telco CU. “In order to compete with the captives, national and regional banks, we need to offer the same technology and flexibility allowed for with eContracting.”

Through its partnership with CUAC, the credit union was able to take advantage of this technology without needing to integrate it on its own. “CUAC made this process very simple for us. We did not have to manage this project, integrate any of the technology with our core system or incur any costs to set up. To take advantage of this level of technology and do it at no cost, was a no‐brainer for us,” said Mr. Lemoine. “We have already seen a significant impact in our volume and the image quality of
loan docs are so much better than our paper contacts which were typically scanned in by the dealer.” Cody Lankford, VP of CUAC, explained this enhancement and its impact on the credit union’s lending goals. “The eContracting process really revolutionizes the way we do business. For so many years, we have relied upon the dealers to scan documents into our system; or, to mail in physical copies of contracts for processing. With the eContracting process, member signatures are never missed and the digitized PDF documents make our job so much easier. The increase in business is great; however, the enhanced quality of documents we can provide our credit union partners make it that much sweeter.”

“RouteOne is dedicated to continually innovating the experience we provide dealers, finance sources, and consumers. We want to make it as easy and streamlined as possible for all parties,” stated Jeff Belanger, Senior Vice President, Business Development at RouteOne. “eContracting, eSigning, and the digitization of all deal documents are among the many of our technologies in high demand given the current conditions. For credit unions, in particular, technology such as our Electronic Stipulation Capture is the ideal way to support a unique required document list and allows dealers to upload items such as credit union membership forms.”

CUAC has used the RouteOne platform for 15 years now to deliver quality indirect loans to its credit union partners. The eContracting process is the next step in the evolution of increasing member satisfaction through the auto buying experience. “The RouteOne eContracting process has made a significant impact on the loan volume we have seen this year,” explained Kurt Howard, Executive Vice President, CUAC. “For credit unions to compete with the dealer’s tier one lenders, they must be front and center on the primary dealer portals and be an eContract eligible lender. As the industry shifts more and more to consumer-driven technology, this will be paramount. Consumers are becoming more and more demanding of an Amazon-type experience when buying a car. The RouteOne eContract experience allows our members to spend less time in the dealership and more time in their new vehicle.”

CUAC is very proud to have Baton Rouge Telco CU as an owner of its CUSO and looks forward to helping them continue to improve upon their indirect program.

If you are interested in taking your credit union’s indirect program to the next level, please reach out at khoward@cuac.com or online at https://www.cuac.com/contact.