New functionality within a consumer-facing TD Wheels app will allow shoppers looking for vehicles to get pre-qualified for financing within the app, up to a specific amount and for a specific rate and term. The app also helps buyers locate and connect with local dealers. The changes to the functionality of the app were announced in a news release issued last week.
“This is a huge win for the customers, and the dealers,” said Howard Thompson, Vice President – Product, Strategy and Customer Service, TD Auto Finance in an interview with Canadian auto dealer. “When we get to the pre-qualification stage, we just make the experience that much richer. For us it’s an opportunity to engage the customers right through the car buying journey, through the financing journey.”
Thompson said the company wanted to make the car buying journey, faster and more seamless for Canadians, and help connect them to dealers. “What occurred to us is that people really trust their bank,” said Thompson. “We are part of their car buying experience already. We want to put what they were telling us in their hands in terms of convenience and that comfortable model for them… That will benefit dealers as well because they have happy customers coming in.”
The TD Wheels mobile app allows users to:
- Search for their preferred vehicle and manufacturer;
- Select different makes, models and trim options;
- Obtain information about special rates from certain manufacturers;
- Estimate what their expected car payment might be;
- Send their preferred vehicle and contact information to a dealer of their choice for future contact.
Blair Buxton, Associate Vice President – Product & Strategy, TD Auto Finance, was involved in developing the app and its enhanced functionality. Buxton said the company started journey-mapping the car-buying process, and was looking at ways to reduce friction in the buying and financing journey. “For us it was really just focusing on that journey, on that north star where we wanted to be, and getting all those pieces in place,” said Buxton.
App users who locate a vehicle and calculate their payments and terms can then choose to send their information to a dealer of their choice for a more streamlined conversation. These are leads that dealers don’t pay for. “At TD, we are seeking to redefine how customers see their bank in the digital age,” said Imran Khan, Vice President, Digital Customer Experience, TD in the news release.
