SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - OCBC customers can now apply and get approval for car loans within 60 seconds, thanks to a new digital process that leverages the national data repository, MyInfo, and the bank's real-time KYC (know your customer) and credit assessment system.
In a statement on Tuesday (March 3), the lender said its latest digital solution will eliminate the "tedious" filling of hard-copy forms, simplifying a process that traditionally take a few working days.
In the automotive industry, some 95 per cent of car purchases and car loans are completed with the help of car sales representatives, and these representatives along with their customers typically need to complete a considerable amount of paperwork.
OCBC's new car loan approval process also removes the need to share sensitive details with a third party. Customers will instead input their personal details online using their own devices.
"Not only is the (conventional) car loan application process time-consuming, but customers also have to share sensitive personal information such as income details with the sales representative. On top of that, approval by the financier may take a day or even a few days on a case-to-case basis," the bank said.
A total of 11 authorised car distributors - which together account for the majority of car purchases in Singapore - will use OCBC's car loan approval process by this month.
These distributors offering the instant car loans are: EuroSports Auto, EuroAutomobile, Inchcape Group (Borneo Motors & Champion Motors), Kah Motor, Premium Automobile, Tan Chong Motors & MotorImage, TransEurokar Group, Vantage Automotive, Vertex Euro Motors and Wearnes Automotive.
DBS launched its car marketplace connecting buyers and sellers in August 2017. It also offers online car loan applications which leverage on MyInfo.
United Overseas Bank (UOB) launched its digital car loans in July 2018. UOB said on Tuesday that more than 80 per cent of all its car loan applications are digital, up from 15 per cent in August 2018. The bank targets to finance one in four new car sales, from one in five currently in the next 18 months, said Ms Jacquelyn Tan, UOB's head of personal financial services in Singapore.
Sunny Quek, OCBC head of consumer financial services in Singapore, said the new car loan initiative is in line with the digital application and instant approval processes that bank now offers for a wide range of banking products.
"We will continue to deepen our customers' relationships with us as we aggressively drive fresh digital initiatives that ensure frictionless access to all our products and services," Mr Quek said.
"By the end of this year, one in every two OCBC Bank customers will have been on-boarded digitally."
