NEW ORLEANS — At the American Financial Services Association's auto finance conference and expo last week, RouteOne and Bankers Integration Group (BIG) both announced plans to offer eContracting through individual partnerships with eOriginal, an eContracting technology provider.

RouteOne is currently developing an eContracting solution and expects to pilot it with dealers by late 2005, according to RouteOne CIO Joel Gruber. The company has entered into a software licensing and services agreement with eOriginal to enable the creation, execution and management of electronic retail installment agreements and leases. RouteOne's new eContracting capabilities are based on the eOriginal eCore Business Suite and eOriginal SmartSign enterprise software products.

BIG will implement eOriginal's eContracting technology as part of the BIGFNI automotive finance portal (www.bigfni.com). A consumer can apply for a loan at the local dealership and receive a real-time, automated decision from a participating financing source. The consumer and F&I manager at the dealership can then electronically sign the loan, which will be sold and transmitted to the lender via eOriginal's secure vault-to-vault transfer capabilities. The electronic signature and transfer of custody and control require specific security and audit procedures that enable the consumer, dealer, lender, subsequent investors and the legal system to treat eContracts the same as traditional paper. Finance sources will use the eOriginal Vault-in-a-Box software to securely receive, store and manage eContracts in their data centers.

eOriginal has actively supported development of the legal and technical underpinnings for electronic contracts in the auto finance industry and continues to participate in the American Financial Services Association's standards initiatives.