NORTH HILLS, N.Y. -

Regional Acceptance Corp. (RAC) and Dealertrack Accelerated Title this week spelled out a pair of reasons why they’re now working together to create efficiencies in their payoff and title release process with dealers accepting vehicle in on trade.

RAC, a finance company and a subsidiary of BB&T Corp. specializing in sub-prime automotive financing and prime-to-near-prime portfolio acquisitions, supports dealers and customers in more than 40 states with 30 regional business centers and four customer service centers.

With Dealertrack Accelerated Title, RAC can expedite the vehicle payoff process electronically in two important ways:

— Accurate payoff quotes are provided to dealers via Dealertrack based on their preferred payment date.

— Accurate payment is made via a three-day ACH process that when cleared triggers title release to the dealer.

The companies explained this solution can create significant cost savings by releasing titles to dealers up to 70 percent faster than the traditional method of calling for quotes, handwriting checks, mailing overnight and then waiting on title delivery.

By reducing the number of days a dealer waits for a title from 12 to 18 days or more to as fast as four to six days, Accelerated Title and RAC save the dealer money.  On average, dealers pay a holding cost of $32 per day, per vehicle that sits idle on their lot.

In addition, long-standing proprietary research found that vehicles are nearly two times more likely to sell on the first pass through an auction lane when they have titles. The companies pointed out that cutting costs and turning inventory faster are critical to dealer profitability given today’s razor-slim profit margins.

“Dealertrack’s Accelerated Title brings us the most advanced lender solutions in market today,” said Fred Reherman, chief operating officer of BB&T Dealer Retail Services, Regional Acceptance Corp., and BB&T Dealer Finance.

“Entrusting Dealertrack to deliver speed, accuracy and consistency to our vehicle payoffs was a clear choice, because the company exudes the same characteristics of honesty, integrity and mutual respect that are core to RAC,” Reherman continued.

Dealertrack went on to stress that Accelerated Title can provide dealers with title visibility to ensure validity of the trade before the deal is finalized, as well as providing 24/7 title tracking, reporting and statements so clients know exactly what’s happening with every transaction.

“It is great to see RAC succeed with Accelerated Title,” said Todd Hutto, vice president and general manager of Dealertrack Lender Solutions.

“Our goal is for Accelerated Title to expedite the titling process for dealers and lenders, creating efficiencies on both sides that help everyone work smarter and more profitably,” Hutto said. “RAC is already seeing positive results and we’re confident their efficiencies will get even better.”