As part of a trio of company developments, CDK Global announced its Contract Validation solution will be released later this year to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) dealerships in the U.S.

During the vehicle buying process, the CDK Contract Validation solution can check a vehicle purchase contract for accuracy and acceptability by Chrysler Capital. Contract Validation can complete this task within the sales workflow while the customer is still engaged in the buying process and prior to the contract being reviewed by the financial institution.

Santander Consumer USA through Chrysler Capital, its full-service finance provider for FCA, noted that all Chrysler/Dodge/Ram/Jeep/Fiat/Alfa Romeo dealerships utilizing a CDK Global dealer management system (DMS) in the U.S. will be eligible to use Contract Validation.

“Our technology is developed to make the car buying process more efficient for our dealership clients and their customers,” CDK Global president and chief executive officer Steve Anenen said. “We’re pleased to be the partner that brings this to FCA dealerships.”

CDK has worked with other manufacturers' captive finance organizations, including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, to launch similar versions of Contract Validation.

According to Tom Dundon, chairman and CEO of Chrysler Capital, “Finance and lease agreements can be complex. Nothing is more aggravating to a consumer or dealer than having to go back to the dealership to re-sign a contract.

“In working with CDK and their jointly-owned financial development organization, Open Dealer Exchange, we have designed a best-in-class approach to assisting our dealers with ensuring the accuracy of contracts prior to them being sent to our team for acceptance,” Dundon continued.

Dealerships using the CDK Drive or w.e.b.Suite DMS platforms can validate contracts from within their normal workflow, allowing them to streamline the vehicle-buying process and give customers a better experience.

Chrysler Capital will be assisting in the roll out by providing benefits to dealers who subscribe to the new offering, such as faster contract funding through a flash-funding process for deals that have had the Contract Validation process applied.

CDK Global, Open Dealer Exchange and e-SignLive Roll Out E-Signatures and E-Vaulting

In other company news, CDK Global, Open Dealer Exchange  and e-SignLive recently completed the successful integration of e-SignLive e-signing service into CDK’s platform, as well as the use of the e-SignLive eVault within ODE’s platform.

The companies explained the integration of these technologies is geared to solve an almost universal challenge within the buying and selling experience — the need to speed up the time it takes to prepare, review and sign loan documents on paper and close bookings, while securely storing financial documents and meeting lender program guidelines.

“The collaboration between ODE and CDK Global is an industry-first for e-signing the Retail Installment Contract, known as the RIC, and ancillary documents within the dealer management system and not exporting data to a separate system,” e-SignLive CEO and co-founder Tommy Petrogiannis said. “The dealer has a single process for every deal, customers have a better buying experience and lenders gain maximum benefit with the Retail Installment Contract completed, signed and transmitted electronically.”

While digital or e-contracting has been around for a decade, the companies acknowledged adoption has been limited because of the transaction often falling to paper when it came time to sign the documents. There was also the challenge of meeting regulatory guidelines around the transfer and storage of financial documents. Both these challenges impacted the customer and the dealer experience.

CDK, ODE and e-SignLive believe they have surmounted these challenges and brought an integrated and completely digital approach to vehicle buying, selling and financing.

Here is how the solution can works for dealers and finance companies:

— Through CDK Global’s Dealer Management System (DMS)-based “See What You Sign” technology, which includes e-SignLive e-signatures, customers can electronically sign and complete nearly every document in the funding package on an iPad or touchscreen, with CDK’s eForms library offering 8,500 documents to support the F&I process.

— From the DMS, ODE can process the signature capture sequence and the electronic vaulting of the Retail Installment Contract (RIC), using e-SignLive’s eVault technology. A key advantage of the e-SignLive eVault technology is its ability to support a unique e-vault for each lender, thereby assuring their control and possession of the RIC.

Open Dealer Exchange president Steve Luyckx emphasized that for CDK and ODE customers, e-contracting has become a reality.

“It’s taken several years to build the infrastructure to support e-contracting, and we’re very pleased that we’ve added the final component,” Luyckx said.

“With electronic vaulting complementing our existing electronic document and data transmission and contract validation, we have all of the pieces in place to transform the car buying experience and transmit the entire funding package from dealers to lenders,” he continued. “2015 is the year of the digital deal.”

To find out more about this partnership, visit www.silanis.com/partners-and-apps/partners-and-solutions/open-dealer-exchange.

CDK Global Offers Complete Paperless Payables and Receivables Workflow

In yet another development from CDK Global, the company also launched Cash Management, a completely paperless payables and receivables workflow solution.

The receivables portion of CDK's Cash Management Solution is ePayments. Building on CDK's strategic relationship with CenPOS and its cloud-based payment engine, CDK's ePayments workflow can allow dealerships using the CDK Drive DMS to have an integrated solution to accept online, mobile and alternative payment options such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and PayPal.

Integrated with CDK’s Service Edge mobile application, CDK ePayments can give a dealership customer the choice on how they want to pay. They can receive a text/email invoice notification, pay the service balance online via their secure digital wallet, and arrange their vehicle pickup time — all within one application.

Through CDK's strategic relationship with Yooz AP Automation and Nvoicepay, ePayments is coupled with account payables applications that can provide end-to-end, “no touch” invoice processing — automating tedious and error-prone tasks like general ledger coding, approval of invoices, and payment to vendors.

CDK Global vice president of product marketing Justin Sprague pointed out a single dealership may need to process thousands of invoices per month so the time savings can be significant.

With CDK's integrated solution, Sprague indicated dealerships can process payments faster and more accurately.

"With the increasing prevalence of mobile payment transactions, consumers are expecting a similar experience in all retailers, including dealerships,” Sprague said. “By transforming the traditional Receivables and Payables process, we can help dealerships increase revenue, reduce expenses, control risk and improve cash flow.”