Accelerating Payouts: Westlake Financial Streamlines Its Auto Refunds With Onbe

Instant digital payouts eliminate long wait times, improving customer satisfaction with their payment experience.

Onbe, a leading corporate payouts platform, today announces the launch of a digital-first consumer refund program with Westlake Financial (Westlake), the largest privately held finance company in the United States. Westlake has replaced its check-based refund program with Onbe’s payouts gateway, providing instant payments to recipients while eliminating internal program and labor costs.

47% of automotive customers name wait time as the leading cause of frustration with their payout experience, according to Onbe’s Summer 2023 Auto Survey. Refund checks can take weeks to be processed and delivered, and Onbe’s survey found that more than half of consumers don’t get to choose an alternative payment option. Checks are the most expensive way to issue a disbursement, costing up to $12 per payment when the cost of labor is factored in, according to the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP).

Westlake’s new refund program replaces checks with instant digital payments, offering their auto loan customers a choice of popular and cost-effective payment methods, including custom-branded virtual cards that can be accessed and spent immediately. Fundamental to the efficiency of the program, Onbe’s proprietary escheatment management solution, StateSmart^SM, eliminates Westlake’s compliance risk and reduces administrative burden. “Onbe removed the internal costs and labor associated with our processes while creating a more user-friendly payment experience for our customers,” says John Mason, Senior Vice President of Operations at Westlake. “Meeting customers’ expectations for a faster, more convenient payment experience was a goal, and Onbe’s digital refund solution decreased wait times dramatically.”

“We are proud to work alongside Westlake to modernize its automotive loan overpayment refund program, reducing cost and risk while extending Westlake’s excellent consumer lending experience beyond the life of the loan,” says Tracy Monson, Chief Product Officer at Onbe. “A transformed automotive refund process means Westlake can offer their customers modern and digital payout choices while operating with maximum efficiency—essential to keep pace with customers' preference for payment speed, choice, and convenience.”

As consumer demand for digital payments meets businesses’ drive to reduce the cost and labor of issuing payouts, automotive companies will increasingly benefit from using a payouts platform to modernize and streamline their legacy payment processes. Learn more about Onbe’s automotive payout solutions here: https://www.onbe.com/industries/automotive.

About Westlake Technology Holdings

Westlake Technology Holdings is an auto and finance technology company headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with approximately $18 billion in assets under management. Westlake Financial (“Westlake”) originates indirect automotive retail installment contracts through a nationwide network of new and used automotive and power sports dealers. Westlake also offers credit facilities and commercial real estate loans through Westlake Capital Finance (WCF); portfolio servicing through Westlake Portfolio Management (WPM); floor plan lines of credit are provided through its Westlake Flooring Services division, www.WestlakeFlooringServices.com; shared cash flow auto lending through Westlake’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Western Funding Inc., a Nevada based auto lender; indirect automotive leasing for credit unions through Westlake’s subsidiary, Credit Union Leasing of America (CULA); dealer leads and direct-to-consumer auto loans are offered through Westlake Direct; consumer installment loans are offered through Westlake’s wholly-owned subsidiary LoanCenter, www.loancenter.com.

About Onbe

With more than 25 years of industry experience and offices in Chicago, Philadelphia and London, Onbe is a fintech that manages and modernizes customer and workforce disbursements for corporate clients ranging from mid-market to the Fortune 500. Onbe’s team of experts and technology platform offers clients a turnkey solution to offload their entire B2C payment operations, relieving them of the cost, complexity and risk that come with orchestrating these payments in-house. Backed by top-tier investors, Onbe delivers on today’s consumer expectations for instant, digital and seamless payments. To learn more, visit www.onbe.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

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