Here’s another example of technology making the situation better for dealership operations, especially in connection with processes that can put grit in the gears of financing, delivery and back-office chores.

The National Loan Payoff Clearinghouse (NLPC), powered by EPIC, released a new financial impact analysis based on average NLPC participant performance and broader industry benchmarks.

The analysis determined that dealerships leveraging modernized loan payoff and lien release workflows can realize “significant” annual value through operational efficiencies, reduced friction, and improved capital velocity.

EPIC explained that NLPC is designed to operate as secure and trusted financial infrastructure for loan payoff, lien release, and title transparency. The network can enable dealers, lenders, and insurers to exchange and settle vehicle loan payoff transactions through a more efficient, reliable, and transparent framework.

The NLPC analysis found that dealerships processing approximately 1,000 loan payoffs per month can realize an estimated $1.07 million in annual impact driven by improvements across the loan payoff, funding, and lien release lifecycle.

Other key findings included:

—Expedited lien release, improving capital efficiency and vehicle liquidity

—Lower reliance on expensive third-party alternatives

—Elimination of paper checks and costly shipping expenses

—Fewer manual touchpoints and less time-consuming processing

—Reduced exceptions, rework, and operational friction

EPIC chief executive officer Brandon Hall explained the findings reflect a broader industry shift toward more connected and infrastructure-driven loan payoff workflows.

As trade-ins, refinance activity, vehicle acquisition, and total-loss settlements continue to grow in complexity, Hall pointed out that dealers, lenders, and insurers are increasingly moving away from fragmented manual processes in favor of modern financial infrastructure designed to improve efficiency, reduce errors, and strengthen title release processes.

“The cost of friction in loan payoff and lien release is easy to underestimate until you see how frequently it impacts margin, working capital, and vehicle turn time,” Hall said in a news release. “The NLPC helps transform those workflows into a more efficient, reliable, and scalable financial process.”

For many dealerships, EPIC acknowledged loan payoff and lien release remain among the most fragmented and time-consuming parts of the vehicle transaction lifecycle. Manual checks, overnight shipping, varied lender processes, and limited visibility into lien and title status can increase operational expense, delay vehicle turns, and tie up working capital.

“Across our stores, even small delays in the payoff process can tie up millions in working capital,” Pohanka Automotive Group president Scott Crabtree said in the news release. “Before EPIC, we regularly had deals stuck in payoff and lien release workflows for weeks at a time.

“Since standardizing on EPIC’s National Loan Payoff Clearinghouse, we’ve reduced our payoff-to-release cycle times by more than half, improving inventory flow, floorplan efficiency, and overall operational speed across the group. The bottlenecks we used to experience have largely disappeared,” Crabtree continued.

“For a high-volume dealer group, time, efficiency, and cost control are critical, and EPIC has delivered meaningful improvements across all three,” Crabtree went on to say.

To learn more details about NLPC powered by EPIC, go to www.withepic.com.