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AUSTRALIAN dealers and brokers are winners as automotive finance business Autopay has received a boost in its lending ability thanks to an upgrade of its funding facility by its parent company, listed finance group MoneyMe.

MoneyMe recently restructured its facility which now allows it to support increased customer originations growth with much of that expected through the Autopay business.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on July 20, MoneyMe noted how its Horizon 2020 Trust (HW20) external funding capacity is to increase by $108 million – or 47 per cent – to $338 million.

It also noted that it has increased its corporate bond by $7 million from the initial $15 million issue that completed in April.

MoneyMe’s first-half 2021 financial report also notes access to a $48 million Horizon 2018 Trust funding facility.

MoneyMe managing director and CEO Clayton Howes said the recently announced changes gave the company “greater strength to grow the business at the pace we’ve seen in the past six months.”

“The ability to now fund Autopay receivables with our major bank warehouse facility means we can continue to exploit the exceptional traction we have seen to date with this new innovation, giving us more opportunity to service more dealerships and brokers signing up to use Autopay.”

Mr Howes said he now expected Autopay to be a key driver of the growth of MoneyMe.

“We believe dealers who have access to finance that is settled in minutes and is a same-day drive away product will have a distinct sales advantage,” he said.

“In the same way that people look to Afterpay for where they shop, we expect consumers will look to Autopay when they purchase their vehicles.”

Autopay is MoneyMe’s same-day, drive-away lending solution for secured vehicle finance that is increasingly becoming available directly at dealerships.

Clayton Howes

Autopay uses MoneyMe’s Horizon technology platform that boasts high automation, dynamic pricing and best-in-class speed that claims to give dealers and customers “an unparalleled experience.”

The interest in Autopay is generated as major finance companies, including banks, step back from the automotive finance market that in Australia is estimated to be worth $12 billion.

It is estimated that more than three-million vehicles are financed each year in Australia, with about 30 per cent of loans for new cars and 70 per cent for used cars sales, with the average value of the vehicle of $32,000.

Autopay launched in late April this year and by May had exceeded $1.2 million in cars financed.

Autopay originations increased to more than $6 million by June 30 and the business expects to welcome a substantial amount more dealers and brokers to the platform.

Meanwhile, the company has reported that dealerships Scuderia Graziani, Nick Theodossi Prestige Vehicles, Dutton Group, and Lorbeck Luxury Cars, have signed on as partners with Autopay.

Referring to the partnership, Tony Graziani, executive director at the family owned and operated Scuderia Graziani in Sydney, said: “Autopay has been a breath of fresh air for Team Graziani. Our clients used to wait days for their loans to be approved. Recently we put through a deal which settled within 37 minutes of our client applying for Autopay. That’s something that’s never been done before.”

Nick Theodossi, managing director at Nick Theodossi Prestige Cars, said in a statement that the MoneyMe team “worked really hard to understand the problems we encounter when getting finance approvals for our clients”.

“The team at Autopay took the time to understand all the friction points for dealers. These are things like slow approvals and delayed settlement, which really turns customers off.

“With Autopay, finance is no longer a friction point in the sales process. The fact that we can now allow customers to drive away same-day is an unbelievable customer experience that previously was not possible.”

Alan Lishman, general manager at Dutton Financial Services at The Dutton Group, said in a statement: “Autopay has been a real success story with our clients. In just two weeks of using Autopay, we’ve already processed over $1.7 million in used car loans. The speed at which these loans get approved and settled same-day, even on weekends, is remarkable.”

The maximum Autopay application amount is $100,000. The average car purchase price in used car dealerships is around $30,000.

By Neil Dowling

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