iVendi launches tool to help dealers identify gaps in lending panels

iVendi has introduced a new data-driven tool designed to help motor dealers identify gaps in their existing lending panels and unlock additional sales opportunities.

The newly launched Credit Distribution Report uses a mathematical optimisation model to analyse which finance applications are successfully approved by a dealer’s current panel of lenders – and which are declined, potentially jeopardising vehicle sales.

Built using data from iVendi’s Finance Navigator platform, the tool provides dealers with detailed insights into unmet customer demand and recommends additional lenders that could help fill those gaps. The platform is already used by a range of finance providers, including Admiral Car Finance, Mann Island, Oodle, Tandem and Zopa.

“With this development, we’re providing a degree of insight that has perhaps never before been available to dealers and their lenders,” he said.

Tew noted that while dealers typically structure lending panels around broad risk categories such as prime, near-prime, and sub-prime, real-world lending behaviour often differs significantly from these assumptions.

“Our report shows that lender reputations for risk and reality are quite often very different – discrepancies that mean dealers are quite often failing to meet the needs of quite large groups of customers,” he explained.

The Credit Distribution Report builds a profile of each dealer based on applicant credit scores, offering visual insights into which customer segments are being approved for finance and which are being declined. It also estimates the potential increase in financed deals if recommended lenders are added to the panel.

“This provides a clear picture for the dealer showing where they are losing business,” Tew said. “The suggestions for additional motor finance providers we then provide, based on their real-world lending activity from our data, are completely agnostic. We even include an estimate of how much additional finance we believe could be added each month by following this recommendation.”

The tool is powered by iVendi’s Finance Navigator, a platform that enables dealers to run price comparison-style searches across their lending panel. Results, including monthly payments, interest rates, likelihood of approval, and pre-approval status, are returned in under 10 seconds.

Tew said the flexible structure of Finance Navigator makes it easier to develop advanced analytics tools such as the Credit Distribution Report, with further innovations already under consideration.

“Increasingly, we are positioning ourselves as the Shopify of motor retail,” he said. “Providing a comprehensive end-to-end customer journey and delivering greater insights that have genuine business value is very much part of this approach.”