To make researching and purchasing a vehicle more interactive and seamless, TransUnion recently announced it has partnered with CarNow to equip financial institutions with digital lending solution Auto Payment Shopper.
See: Used Car Prices Finally Dip in February
Find: 30 Biggest Do’s and Don’ts When Buying a Car
As consumers have increasingly digitized the shopping aspect of their lives, including buying large ticket items such as cars online, this will enable buyers to benefit from a more user-friendly and personalized car shopping experience. This new shopping option addresses current industry challenges such as auto affordability and availability, a TransUnion representative said.
Satyan Merchant, senior vice president and automotive business leader at TransUnion, told GOBankingRates that Auto Payment Shopper combines affordability with inventory in real time, allowing consumers to shop for a vehicle based on the monthly payment they desire.
“The solution integrates consumer credit data as part of the prequalification capabilities to provide consumers with more tailored financing offers,” Merchant said. “Consumers are then able to self-select offers that best fit their budget and find available vehicles through real-time dealer inventory.”
Merchant added that vehicle availability is facing inventory challenges due to supply chain issues, chip shortages and increased vehicle prices — and that Auto Payment Shopper is addressing those issues by providing consumers with real-time access to dealer inventory in key markets. Via this new tool, buyers know what vehicles are available at the price-point they can afford.
“Auto Payment Shopper allows lenders to display inventory from their selected/partner dealers and combine that into a web experience that allows consumers to know what they likely qualify for with that lender and incorporate that into their vehicle search,” Merchant said.
The traditional way of buying vehicles typically resulted in a consumer going to a car dealership and then having to secure financing on the back-end, which in turn translated into a “disjointed endeavor which often resulted in a lack of clarity from sticker price to determining the monthly payment amount or overall end cost,” Merchant offered.
“Auto Payment Shopper bridges the gap between the lender and dealer networks to make the car buying process more seamless and provide consumers with better clarity around the monthly payment of their vehicle,” he added.
Learn: How To Find the Best Deals on New Cars, Used Cars and Leases
Explore: Used Car Prices Exceed $28K For the First Time Ever
In addition, the interactive shopping tool also offers consumers more insight into the costs that come with a car by enabling them to select various loan terms — to better personalize payments — as well as toggling additional options such as calculating trade-in value, Merchant concluded.
More From GOBankingRates
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: TransUnion Partners With Auto Payment Shopper to Address Affordability and Availability in Vehicle Market