BMO’s Bank of Montreal Automotive Finance department released temporary new processes meant to help dealers reduce the number of physical touch-points with their customers.
What that means is that, effective immediately, the bank is accepting completed, signed and scanned Conditional Sales Contracts (CSCs) and other supporting documents for customers who previously visited the dealership and have:
- Completed the Know Your Client and Anti Money Laundering requirements;
- Provided the applicable consent forms;
- Been approved for a BMO CSC; and
- Had their IDs previously verified at the dealership.
For dealers, the temporary process they will need to follow involves:
- Sending the complete CSC package to the customer via email. (The customer can print and sign the documents in duplicate, and scan and email them back to the dealer).
- Ensuring the delivery is made to the customer’s home address as listed
on the credit application and identification. - At delivery, a licensed dealership employee will need to:
- validate the customer’s original ID, ensure the signatures on the CSC are consistent with the ID;
- validate the information from the customer’s ID and ensure it is consistent with that of the documentation;
- collect a copy of the originally signed documents; and
- remind the customer to keep a signed copy of their records.
BMO also notes that dealers will need to follow the standard funding process during the crisis. For new CSC applications, dealerships can also submit car financing through a temporary process. For more information on that process, or in general, dealers can contact the company at 888-801-2282 for British Columbia and Prairies, 800-227-9236 for Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and 800-363-8006 for Quebec (Laval).
“While BMO is supportive of these new temporary processes, it is the dealer’s responsibility to ensure that they are following the rules and guidelines of their provincial licensing bodies,” said the bank in a statement. “We wanted to remind you that BMO can hold rates and approvals for up to 90 days. During these times of uncertainty and fast paced change, this can certainly be of value to you and your customers.”
