BROOKFIELD, Wis. — Fiserv Inc., a provider of financial services technology solutions, announced that Toyota Financial Services (TFS) has successfully used its Automotive Loan Origination System (LOS) to implement electronic contracting (econtracting), allowing the captive’s more than 1,300 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships to begin to phase out paper contracts, increase accuracy and improve efficiency during the loan credit and funding process.

Electronic contracting provides for the electronic transfer and control of contract ownership. At each participating Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealership, Auto LOS from Fiserv executes lender-configured business rules against the specific contract data, processes the data and automatically sends the validated contract back to the dealer for the customer’s electronic signature.

“The benefits of an eContracting program were immediately apparent,” said Pete Carey, vice president of sales at TFS. “Originally, TFS had a goal of 30 percent econtracting utilization by end of 2013. As our field embraced the practice, we increased the goal to 50 percent. We finished the year at a remarkable 56 percent utilization.”

Using Auto LOS, dealers are able to realize next-day funding with econtracts. With auto-population of contract data, automated contract validation, integrated status messaging and expedited dealer plan disbursements, the captive is able to process contracts with fewer errors, allowing existing staff to book a greater number of new-car deals.

“Auto lenders have realized the importance of transitioning to paper-free processes, and Toyota Financial Services has taken a prominent role in the adoption of econtracting,” said Kevin Collins, president of Lending Solutions at Fiserv. “[Electronic contracting] can greatly reduce the time needed to approve and fund loans, which in turn improves dealer satisfaction. The capabilities of Auto LOS provide Toyota with a strong competitive advantage and financial edge.”

The Automotive Loan Origination System from Fiserv is a comprehensive end-to-end solution for automotive loan origination, from electronic application capture and funding verification, validation to booking of new loans and leases. The system assures a fast and efficient origination process, enforces compliance, mitigates risk and promotes profitable growth by lowering processing costs without sacrificing quality for quantity.