Car repair financing company Sunbit offers F&I loans

Unlike Sunbit’s service and parts financing, the F&I financing option carries an interest rate of “0 percent no matter what,” according to Rob Bollinger, Sunbit head of national dealer groups. The company makes money by charging dealerships a fee for facilitating the transaction, Sunbit Chief Revenue Officer Tal Riesenfeld said.

Riesenfeld told Automotive News the system had a 90 percent approval rate — everyone with a 500 credit score or more — and requires only a soft credit check, a less detailed look at the customer that doesn’t register on the consumer’s credit the way a traditional “hard” credit application would. (Sunbit does report to credit bureaus whether the customer is making payments on an approved loan, but the loan request itself doesn’t register.)

Consumers can borrow up to $8,000 depending on their credit profile — Bollinger estimated the average service contract ran $2,750 — with payments spread over six-, 12- or 18-month terms. Most borrowers are approved in the “single-digit thousands” range, Riesenfeld said.

Sunbit does not charge back dealers if the customer refuses to pay or ends the contract early, Riesenfeld said.

“Since day one GMs asked us if they could utilize our product in the financing department, customizing our solution to F&I departments is a natural next step,” Riesenfeld said in a statement in March. “People want F&I products because it gives them peace of mind. We help them to buy those products and not break their monthly budgets.”