One in five UK car buyers now shop online to get their motor finance loan, an increase of almost 33% on last year, a new survey from FICO has revealed.

This firm’s second annual survey, which quizzed 2,000 consumers across nine countries, found that 37% of respondents plan to find their auto loan online next time. Of the nine countries in Europe and the Americas surveyed, only Chile saw more respondents getting loans online (24%).

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Global consumers showed a strong preference for physical transactions, with 56% of consumers securing loans at the dealership and 21% visiting a bank or lending institution.

Car buyers in the UK received their loan faster than every other countries surveyed, apart from Germany with which it tied. Some 55% of UK and German consumers received their financing in less than 30 minutes, dropping from last year when 63% of buyers secured financing in the same timeframe.

FICO believes approvals will be increasingly automated in the future, based not only on creditworthiness and risk of fraud, but also with artificial intelligence that assists in optimising deals for the consumer – guided by the portfolio objectives of each business.

When considering competing loan options, consumers are most concerned about their monthly payment amount, interest rate, and length of loan term. According to the report, this implies that financing proposals that are optimised for these aspects will be most impactful with customers.

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The UK also topped the polls in terms of satisfaction, with 82% of respondents finding the motor financing process easy – ahead of Germany (81%), Mexico (80%) and the USA (68%).

“Consumers are taking greater control of the auto financing process,” said Steve Hadaway, general manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at FICO. “They are moving online in search of a better deal. Those lenders that can instantly offer a superior financial package based on analysis of the applicant’s data stand to gain.”