BMW Group Financial Services (BMW Group FS) has reported its initial trial of replacing paper-based contracts with an electronic documentation system has cut processing times to a quarter of their previous length.

The decision to switch to electronic processing was approved by BMW Group FS in 2009 following research by the company which showed paper-intensive contract packages could take up to 10 days to process, including the manual assessment of up to 20 supporting documents, while the average dealer was managing 12 outstanding invoices at any one time.

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The OnBase enterprise content management system from Hyland Software began workplace testing in five BMW markets – Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden and Norway – and informs dealers by e-mail if a contract package is incomplete or contains data anomalies and advises on how to avoid delay.

The system was launched across the five markets between May and October 2011. By July 2012, contract turnaround was reduced to five days. By August, it was three days and by September it was two and a half days, according to BMW Group FS in the Netherlands.

A lot of paper in 3.6m contracts

As the captive finance provider for both BMW and Mini, BMW Group FS, which also includes Alphera Financial Services (acting as an independent lender) and leasing arm Alphabet, operates in 50 countries with a portfolio of 3.6 million contracts and a business volume of €75bn volume (£60bn).

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Stefan Karlsson, BMW manager of Business Development, Nordics added the company was aware of the room for improvement, particularly increasing efficiency across markets and business lines, and the next step would be to integrate OnBase into other business operations, improving customer service and contract turnaround.

The move coincides with that of RCI Financial Services (RCI FS), the captive partner to the Renault-Nissan Alliance in the UK, which last month launched its Electronic Document Identification and Signature Operation system (EDISON).

Nissan itself also incorporated a finance calculator for potential customers run by RCI FS within its new-look online platform for 225 dealerships in the UK and managed by GForces.

Previously, Mercedes-Benz had introduced a forecourt iPad application to showcase the B-Class model, although it did not include a finance feature.

However, the industry has demonstrated hesitancy over the ‘paperless office’ with Ian Dewsnap of BenchMark Consulting International commenting, in April’s Motor Finance, the idea had gone the way of online-only car purchases and fixed-price retail.

Further comment and analysis of the move will be published in the October issue of Motor Finance magazine.

richard.brown@vrlfinancialnews.com