Quotepro, a provider of sales and payment technology for buy-here, pay-here dealers across the country, unveiled a payment kiosk that can accept cash, check, money order, debit card and credit card transactions.

The company highlighted the kiosk can be used for loan payments, down payments and insurance premium payments — with more enhancements in the works. It also can function as an ATM and is the first kiosk to be fully customized around each dealer’s accounting needs, weaving seamlessly into back-end book keeping.

 “These kiosks save dealers thousands of dollars each month by eliminating the overhead and risks normally associated with handling cash payments,” Quotepro president Marco Freudman said.

“In addition, each kiosk is equipped with the same comparative rating technology Quotepro provides in the F&I office through its DMS integrations,” Freudman continued.

“The Quotepro software offers up to six insurance quotes from trusted local agencies who personally serve buy-here, pay-here customers, rather than selling the leads to a third party,” he went on to say. “Whether in the F&I office or at the kiosk, buyers can sign up for quality car insurance within minutes.”

Quotepro went on to mention BHPH dealers will benefit from:

— Increased traffic to storefront: Because the kiosk can double as an ATM, it can provide extra functionality that encourages customers to pay in person. In addition, by accepting all forms of payment in an automated process, the kiosk can attract customers who would otherwise pay off site at one of the popular money transfer franchises.

— Continual service from open to close: The machine never takes a break, gets distracted, has a personal emergency, or calls in sick.

— Greater accountability for vehicle buyers: The customer keys in all payment information themselves, eliminating the possibility of cashier mistakes — both actual and perceived — when recording payments or counting out change.

— Stronger long-term relationships with customers: Quotepro dealers don’t just replace a cashier with a kiosk. Operators can use that change to empower sales staff to interact more with customers every time they enter the store.

— Time savings for employees: Managers no longer need to spend time counting money or making multiple bank deposits on busy days.

— Eliminated risk of fraudulent bills: The kiosk automatically can detect and kick back any counterfeit bills.

— Improved safety: Handling large amounts of cash is a tremendous safety risk for employees, both in the store and during the transfer to the bank. Plus, if the dollar amount counted at the bank differs from the total confirmed when the cash left the dealership, there’s no easy way to locate the discrepancy.

Neighborhood Autos general manager Eddie Hale implemented at least one kiosk at each of his eight Texas locations.

“Cash is extremely difficult to control. Even with the strong systems we had in place, it was a consistent frustration,” Hale said. “Now, all the cash is counted and boxed for us. We never even touch it, and an armored vehicle picks it up at the end of each day.

“We receive a report to reconcile with our statements, so our role is just bookkeeping now,” he continued. “Thanks to these kiosks, 100 percent of our cash management issues have been eliminated.”

Hale explained the deciding factor to implement the kiosks was Quotepro’s ability to customize the supporting software for his dealership’s accounting needs.

“There are a lot of ‘boxes’ you can stick your money in, but this kiosk was completely tailored to how we do business,” he said. The product adapts to our processes rather than the other way around.”

Hale chose to reinvest his cost savings from the kiosk into an additional salesperson, furthering his plan to reconnect sales staff with their customers.

“Before installing the kiosks, our sales team rarely interacted with customers after they purchased a vehicle. All future discussions happened with the cashier,” Hale said.

“Now, my sales team members have so many more opportunities to talk with their customers,” he continued. “They’re having the important conversations about referrals, the customer’s next trade, or their teenager’s upcoming car purchase.”

Quotepro’s kiosks are now available in all 50 states. The company plans several enhancements in 2016, including the ability to accept payments for more than 9,000 billers such as municipalities, utilities, cell phone companies and cable companies.