Automated Process Increases Profit Margin

The client is a leading provider of auto financing solutions, specializing in the acquisition and servicing of retail installment contracts. The company credits their success to their excellent relationships with a vast network of franchise and independent automobile dealers built over 20+ years of auto lending experience

The Challenge

The client envisioned a new software program that would automate the entire process of evaluating loan applications from data collection to final recommendation, including the application of their proprietary risk assessment algorithm.

Automating the risk assessment algorithm was particularly challenging because the logic was not linear. The decision tree structure was complex and included iterative steps. In addition, the process required over fifty pieces of the vehicle, applicant, and loan structure data for each application. Most of this data had to be extracted from systems owned by independent third parties such as credit bureaus or software used by auto dealers. Complicating matters, the client’s team made improvements to their algorithm and changes to overall requirements after the project was launched.

The importance of this project to business success cannot be overstated. The subprime auto loan market is fraught with risk, but the client’s proprietary risk assessment process effectively minimized this risk. This process, however, involved a great deal of manual labor in data collection and complex algorithm application. The main goal of the automation software was to eliminate this burden from the client’s employees, saving time and money to improve the client’s operating profits.

The Solution

The client already launched the project with an internal IT team but brought Technossus on board to accelerate the project timeline and free up internal staff for other projects. Technossus organized a team of developers, including some of the client’s IT staff, to facilitate a smooth transition when the project was completed.

Technossus created a new service bus using the client’s scrum teams’ backlog and user stories. This provided a foundation for all the applications that drive the client’s core business now and in the future. It manages all the integrations needed with external vendors and other companies and allows the internal IT team to work together more efficiently with their external partners. It also makes it possible to more easily integrate additional services with the existing system in the future.

The Results:

The Technossus team delivered a solution that successfully automated a highly complex process, reducing both the labor involved and the time required by orders of magnitude. While the client’s executives appreciated the improved profit margins, the technical team was particularly proud of a number of additional accomplishments, such as staying on schedule despite the changing requirements, forging a close working relationship with the client’s IT team, and finding an elegant solution that allowed the new software program to run over 50 times faster than the original solution.