LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. — The number of active lenders connected to Dealertrack Technologies’ Dealertrack Credit Application Network now exceeds 1,400 lenders, including more than 700 credit unions nationwide.

The Dealertrack Credit Application Network, which has grown from five lenders in 2001 to more than 1,400 lenders today, allows dealers to electronically submit application data to a diverse network of banks, independent finance companies, captives and credit unions. 

“The number of financial institutions, especially credit unions, and regional and state banks, that are embracing automated loan processing has grown substantially,” said Michael Collins, vice president Lender Finance Solutions. “Dealertrack’s overall Dealflow Advantage, which includes our industry leading Credit Application Network, is designed to create greater efficiencies in financing and selling vehicles for lenders and dealers through advanced automated processing.”

Over the past several years, credit unions and regional banks have benefitted from the move to an automated sales and F&I process, official said. For example, the pointed out, several credit unions, including the Greater Iowa Credit Union, STJ Federal Credit Union and Truity Federal Credit Union, have experienced indirect automotive loan volume growth of between 60 percent and more than 300 percent since introducing Dealertrack’s sales and F&I tools into their automotive financing workflow.

“Integrating Dealertrack into our indirect loan process has helped us add 17,000 members and increase our loan volume by 340 percent over five years,” said Steven Meyer, vice president of consumer lending for Truity Federal Credit Union, with locations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Arkansas.

“As automotive retail and credit markets continue to improve and better processes are put in place, we anticipate lenders will deploy more capital into automotive lending and concentrate on building more active relationships with dealers going into 2014,” Collins added. Currently, the average number of lenders per dealer has risen to 9.5, compared to a low of 6.9 lender-to-dealer relationships (LDR) in 2009.

In addition to the use of Dealertrack’s Credit Application Network by lenders, more than 6,300 automotive lenders use Dealertrack’s electronic lien and titling (ELT) and collateral management services.