Daimler Financial Services Africa & Asia Pacific Ltd snags Financial Services Award at 6th SBR International Business Awards

With its eContracting project, the company launched the first end-to-end digital contracting process in Singapore.

This digitised contract process seamlessly runs through the car finance calculation and online credit application to the provision of documentation and back-office checks to the customer’s reception of the digital contract.

Because of this groundbreaking achievement, Daimler Financial Services attained the Financial Services Award during the recently concluded International Business Awards.

With eContracting, the customer can now apply for credit online and get real-time pre-approval.

When a customer arrives at the dealership to decide which vehicle they would like to lease or finance, dealer sales staff use tablets equipped with an efficient point-of-sales application to scan the customer’s ID card and start the process.

Rather than filling in multiple tedious forms, optical character recognition (OCR) automatically reads the information from the customer’s ID card and automatically updates the app with his or her information. The salesperson then electronically retrieves the customer’s approved credit application and completes any missing information, thereby providing a fast and flexible digital experience for customers.

Once all information has been provided and the customer decides to finance the car, the dealer uploads the required documentation, thereby triggering the eContract’s creation.

Within seconds, the customer will receive a message on his or her smartphone to verify using a one-time password. Afterward, they can electronically sign the contract with click-to-sign technology.

Upon signing, they can now make any required payments and set up a regular monthly deduction from their bank account for the finance payments.

The eContract is then archived into the document management system, and data validation is done using OCR technology, which compares documents provided in the approval process with the data captured in the contract management system (CMS) to ensure complete accuracy.

When the data validation is complete, the contract is activated and funds are disbursed to the dealer. As the final step, the customer will receive a message stating that their welcome package is now available in his or her personalised portal.

eContracting has transformed the customer experience from a manual, paper-based process to a fast and convenient digital method. It has enabled real-time credit approvals, allows dealers to work more flexibly and eliminates manual paper processing.

"The Digital Contracting process is a win-win for us - it not only brings about added customer value, but also greater operational efficiencies at the showroom," noted Daimler client, Eric Chan, managing director of Cycle & Carriage Singapore.

Daimler Financial Services provides innovative financing, leasing and insurance for passenger cars and commercial vehicles for the Daimler Group. The company also offers dealer financial services, commercial fleet management and mobility services.

The International Business Awards, presented by Singapore Business Review, was held last 11 July 2019 at Conrad Centennial Singapore.

This year’s nominations were judged by a panel consisting of Henry Tan, Managing Director, NEXIA TS; Choo Eng Chuan, EY Asean Markets Leader and Partner, International and Corporate Tax Services, Ernst & Young Solutions LLP; Ng Jiak See, Executive Director, Head of Corporate Finance Advisory, Deloitte Singapore & Southeast Asia; and Toh Kim Teck, Assurance Partner, Foo Kon Tan LLP.

Check out the event photos during the awards night here.

If you would like to join the 2020 awards and be acclaimed for your company’s exceptional technology innovations, please email Eleonor Angeles at eleonor@charltonmediamail.com