HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.—GrooveCar announced that is has added 29 partners since April. Expanding into new regions, GrooveCar continues to develop business relationships in many growth areas throughout the U.S., the company said.
“The expansion into these markets further enhances credit unions ability to drive their direct auto loan growth strategy. Credit unions are eager to have a resource that will provide members vehicle inventory, research information and other auto buying features, while providing specific opportunities to increase loan volume with their members,” GrooveCar explained.
New credit union partners include: 1st University Credit Union, Texas; Baptist Health South Florida, Florida; Bard Employees, New Jersey; Cherokee County Federal, Texas; Corry Federal, Pennsylvania; Deepwater Industries, New Jersey; Empower Federal, New York; Great Erie Federal, New York; Greater Hartford Police, Connecticut; Greater Kentucky, Kentucky; Greater Wayne Community, Ohio; Greensboro Postal, North Carolina; Homefield Credit, Massachusetts; H & H, Texas; Leominster Employees, Massachusetts; Maternity BVM, Illinois; Monarch Federal, Ohio; Mountain Heritage, West Virginia; NEA, New York; Northeast Schools and Hospital, Vermont; OUR Credit Union, Michigan; People First, Pennsylvania; Post Office, Wisconsin; Riverside Community, Illinois; Rockford Bell, Illinois; Sweetwater Regional, Texas; Tappan Community, Ohio; Western Connecticut Credit Union, Connecticut; and West Virginia Central, West Virginia.
“Auto loans in 2016 continue to remain an area of promise as members’ willingness to borrow is fueling their interest and actions,” states Robert O’Hara, vice president of strategic alliances, GrooveCar. “Credit unions are looking for greater member engagement and look to utilize an auto buying resource that accommodates the member’s desire to purchase direct. The auto-buying platform allows credit unions to compete at the highest level, to engage members with marketing support assistance along with built-in programs to support message delivery to members across traditional and digital channels. The platform provides inventory of over four-million vehicles, a feature-rich auto search platform and technical information members will use during the research phase of the purchasing process."
Total Lending Grows
Total lending for credit unions year-over-year grew, with auto loan balances rising 15.4% over 2015 and used auto loans rising 13.2%. Overall credit unions witnessed growth in every major category, according to a June 2016 NCUA report, and CUNA Mutual Group expects auto sales to exceed 17.8 million for all of 2016, up 3% over 2015.
The GrooveCar platform is a turnkey auto-buying program enabling credit unions to provide a host of information to car buying members before, during and after they begin the process of purchasing a car and securing an auto loan, O’Hara said.
“The program satisfies the members’ need to research autos, rates, and information long before they reach the dealer’s showroom,” said O’Hara. Industry research indicates 97% of car buyers begin their research online over a four-month process, the GrooveCar platform provides a program to serve the member from their website instead of losing them to other online sources.”