MotoRefi Tech Makes It Easier For Millions To Refinance Car Loans

MotoRefi CEO Kevin Bennett is on a mission to make it as easy as possible for consumers to save money by refinancing their auto loans through the fast-rising company’s website. Monday, the Arlington, Va.-based start up said it’s making that process even easier by signing up three fintech companies that will provide direct access for their customers to MotoRefi through their own websites.

A new application programming interface (API) will directly connect customers of Even Financial and Savvy to MotoRefi’s platform where they can continue the process of seeking auto loan refinancing through MotoRefi’s partners.

Meanwhile, SoFi, the digital personal finance company, will debut MotoRefi’s auto refinancing technology by connecting borrowers with auto loan refinancing options through Lantern, a product comparison site where consumers can shop for and compare financial offers from hundreds of lenders and funding sources.

“We want to help make consumers aware this is a financial opportunity for them to save money,” said Bennett in an interview. “It allows partner companies to seamlessly integrate and partner with us via API. This means integrating directly into their online experience and autofilling applications. It delivers not only awareness and helping more people be aware of the opportunity to save money, refinancing a car, it makes it easy for them, which is what they want and it brings transparency.”

This latest move continues MotoRefi’s blistering pace of growth. In January, the company announced a $10 million investment by Moderne Ventures, bringing its total fundraising to $24 million since its 2017 start. 

MotoRefi’s revenue increased six-fold year-over-year in 2020 as the company brokered over $250 million in loans. At the same time, the company tripled its workforce to 150 last year and is growing, while the numbers of lenders in its network doubled.

With the new capability of directly connecting consumers from partner companies’ platforms, Bennett sees MotoRefi’s momentum building even further.

“We expect this to drive a good bit of that continued growth,” said Bennett. “Our partners have millions of customers—a ton of potential.”

The economics of these new partnerships through its API is simple, explained Bennett. MotoRefi makes its money through new business brought in from partner sites via the API and then pays its partners a referral fee. He calls the partnerships with Even Financial, Savvy and SoFi as “the first batch of many partners.”

The notion of refinancing an auto loan was a largely unknown option for many consumers but started to catch on during the financial hardships brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Bennett estimates MotoRefi customers save an average of $100 on their monthly car payments after they refinance.

It’s a fairly quick process. A consumer looking to refinance their auto loan need only visit the MotoRefi website, filling out some information, providing some documentation about themselves and their vehicle. Within about 90 seconds firm credit offers are made  according to Bennett.

With the ease of signing up new customers through the API connection from partner websites, Bennett predicts auto refinancing will become a better known option for consumers who could be saving a ton of money.

“I think of the potential billions of dollars in auto loans. That’s a lot of auto loans that really should be refinanced,” said Bennett. “We want to make auto refinance as common as mortgage refi.”