ISELIN, N.J. — F&I software provider Darwin Automotive announced the release of Darwin Direct. Dealers can now empower customers to purchase, contract, esign and pay for F&I products 24/7, 100% on their own, absent any human involvement from the dealership, executives said, noting that JM&A Group is currently piloting Darwin Direct through its dealer customers and other major F&I providers are set to follow.

“Darwin Direct provides our dealers with an F&I growth opportunity that is exactly what the industry needs right now,” said Scott Gunnell, vice president of sales operations and strategy for JM&A Group. “It is designed to combat the ongoing issue of margin compression and the lost opportunities from customers leaving the dealership without purchasing F&I products. Customers can now access and purchase F&I products from the dealership whenever and wherever they chose — a shopping mall, the service drive, customer’s home, their smartphone, you name it. The profit potential is significant. We are excited about the future and this kind of opportunity where our dealers’ customers can enjoy an excellent experience as part of the vehicle-buying process.”

Over 3,000 dealerships have enrolled in Darwin Automotive’s leading F&I software in just the past two years. Driving their substantial growth is their ability to provide a prescriptive selling process for F&I protection aimed at today’s car buyer, said Darwin CEO Phillip Battista.

“I believe a significant part of our industry wants to offer customers more self-serve functionality similar to Amazon, so we have launched Darwin Direct. For years dealers have stated that lost F&I sales are a huge hole in their business. As F&I is so important to overall profitability, it’s an absolute must to go after these sales in a way that is easy for consumers to do on their own,” Battista said, noting that, traditionally, dealers are left out of the revenue generated by self-selected factory service contracts.

“Dealers are losing out on a tremendous amount of F&I revenue,” he said. “Now they can market and sell F&I products directly to consumers 24/7. Price and payment is completely integrated with Service Payment Plan Inc., which even offers zero percent financing for 24 months. Our dealers enjoy substantial gains in F&I profit because we provide a process that resonates with the typical consumer and delivers their options for F&I protection in a way not previously seen.”