Toyota Financial Services recently celebrated its 1 millionth eContract, an accomplishment that company officials believe to have demonstrated the success of this pioneering auto financing process.

In January of last year, TFS introduced an electronic contract (eContracting) system for its dealerships. Through this process, dealers are able to transmit contract package information electronically — phasing out tedious paper contracts, increasing accuracy and improving efficiency.

“We saw an opportunity,” TFS president and chief executive officer Mike Groff said. “The benefits of implementing an eContracting program were very clear from the start. With deal validation occurring immediately, the auto financing experience is simplified and significantly enhanced for both the customer and the dealer.

“Customers have no need to return to the dealership for follow-up items, and funding is handled immediately, improving dealership cash flow,” Groff continued.

Groff went on to highlight the TFS eContracting process can reduce contract errors and significantly improves funding times, which, in turn, improves both dealer and customer satisfaction.

The company insisted TFS’ comprehensive approach ensures that all auto financing products and required documents are available. Dealers are able to lead customers, step by step, through the financing process, eliminating most administrative or contract completion errors, saving time and overall operational costs.

The process is seamless and accelerates the loan review process while maintaining compliance with current legislation and guidelines, according to TFS.

 As a result of these design elements, eContracting was rapidly adopted by more than 1,300 authorized Toyota, Lexus, and Scion dealers across the nation.

“It happened much faster than we anticipated,” said Mike Wells, TFS group vice president of sales, product and marketing.

“Our original goal of 30 percent utilization by the end of the program’s first year quickly increased to a 50 percent goal, as our field embraced the process,” Wells continued. “And by the end of that first year, we’d reached an astonishing 56 percent eContracting utilization throughout our dealerships.”

As of September, 65 percent of TFS contracts are electronic, with nearly 90 percent of its dealers actively using the process.

Wells contends TFS’ eContracting platform, and its success, is unparalleled in the industry. He added its implementation has enabled TFS to stay abreast of the industry’s changing landscape.

“Moving forward, we now anticipate completing over 1 million eContracts each year,” Wells said. “eContracting has really taken off, and the feedback from dealers and customers is very positive. We look forward to continued growth, improved dealership efficiencies, and increased customer satisfaction.”