Survey reveals that once consumers have made a purchase from a dealership, 47% are likely to return to spend an incentive, enhancing their overall experience.

Onbe, a market-leading corporate disbursements platform, recently released the findings from its Summer 2023 Auto Survey. The survey polled 732 auto shoppers, aiming to better understand their preferences when receiving payments from their lender, dealership or manufacturer. While purchase incentives are among the top three factors that influence a consumer’s decision of when to buy or lease a new vehicle, Onbe’s survey uncovered that businesses have an untapped opportunity to build lasting loyalty by offering the frictionless, fast payouts their customers prefer, while improving their efficiency. Whether beginning their journey with an automotive brand from an incentivized test drive to the trade-in process to the maintenance of the vehicle, payments are a key contact point between automotive customer and automotive companies – and by reducing friction, these companies can exceed customer expectations.

According to the survey, 43% of respondents indicated that lack of choice was a leading cause of frustration with their payment experience, and more than half (56%) of buyers or lessees are not offered a choice in how they receive their loan or lease overpayment or automotive incentive. Payments choice gives automotive companies the opportunity to better meet their customers’ needs by distributing payments easily, quickly and conveniently. Beyond the initial point of purchase, dealerships and manufacturers can leverage modern modalities to execute their incentive or rebate programs to acquire and to cultivate loyal customers – through convenient goodwill payments in the case of a mistake, dealership maintenance or additional services such as tires or fuel incentives. Further results show an opportunity for dealerships to drive spend-back, with 47% of respondents saying they are likely to spend back the incentive payment with the dealership they receive it from.

“Our longstanding experience in providing solutions for top automotive brands are bolstered by the findings in this survey - highlighting the importance of choice and a modern payout experience, which produces loyalty building opportunities long before and after the initial sale of the vehicle,” said Bala Janakiraman, CEO of Onbe. “An effective fintech partnership that delivers convenient, frictionless payment solutions, empowers auto businesses to exceed today’s consumer expectations.”

Additional findings from Onbe’s Summer 2023 Auto Survey include:

• 55% of consumers have received an automotive payment in the past, with 55% receiving an incentive or deal payout and 34% for a loan or lease overpayment refund.
• For larger automotive payments (over $100), nearly three quarters prefer payments made to their digital wallets, such as PayPal and Venmo, or direct to bank solutions such as ACH.
• 47% of auto shoppers say the leading cause of frustration with their payment experience is time it takes to receive their funds.

Offering payment choice and fast, frictionless payment methods not only helps to build brand loyalty but can increase the likelihood of return revenue throughout the customer’s vehicle lifetime. Whether a customer is receiving a test drive incentive, auto rebate, or a settlement payment, Onbe’s payout gateway enables automotive companies to reduce payments friction, maintain their customers’ business and satisfaction while eliminating operational expenses.

You can learn more about Onbe’s automotive solutions here.

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.

Methodology

The Summer 2023 Auto Survey is the first iteration of Onbe’s monthly payments market research survey. The purpose of this particular survey is to learn how consumers prefer to receive automotive payments and understand what those consumers value most when receiving payments from an automotive manufacturer or dealership. Respondents were asked to complete a survey with 19 questions during August of 2023. We received a total of 732 responses with a 52% qualifying rate, collected from across the United States and from demographics reflective of national diversity. Respondents must have been at least 18 years of age to qualify for the survey; another piece of qualifying criteria consisted of respondents needing to have received an automotive payment.

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