Automotive News Canada - March 2021 - 21

21

* MARCH 2021

DON'T MISS IT!

The justification
for the " wet signature "
- where a seller
witnesses a buyer's
signature firsthand
- is seen as outdated,
especially since the
onset of the COVID-19
pandemic.
PHOTO: ISTOCK

Signing its fate
As digital grows,
the handwriting's on
the wall for the end
of 'wet signatures'
By KELLY TAYLOR

WINNIPEG CORRESPONDENT

AUTOMAKERS AND BANKS
are working to eliminate a
holdover from the pre-digitized age: the " wet signature "
on sales contracts. That mission has been accelerated by
pandemic-related restrictions
on business openings and
gatherings.
Long seen as a necessary
step in having customers commit to a purchase agreement,
the wet signature - where a
seller witnesses a buyer's signature firsthand - is rapidly
becoming regarded as archaic and no longer necessary in
online transactions, said Don
Romano, president of Hyundai
Canada and a leading advocate
of electronic signatures.
" What's accelerating is
we're digitizing the entire
engagement process with our
customers, from sales to service.
" I believe it would have
happened anyway without
the pandemic
because people want to
do business
online. It's
a friendlier environment. "
Hyundai,
through its
Romano:
captive-fi " What's
nance arm,
accelerating
is testing a
is we're
digitizing
fully online
the entire
e-signature
engagement
transaction
process
process this
with our
summer in
customers,
Toronto.
from sales to
Romano
service. "
said streamSUPPLIED
lining the
PHOTO
sales process has several benefits, from
allowing customers to conduct
the transaction on their own
schedule, to helping automakers and dealers manage production, shipment and inventory.
" When you buy a Genesis,
we deliver the car to the dealer for delivery. They don't
keep them in inventory, " he
said. " So in this case, where
it really makes a lot of sense
is the customer has committed to the car, so we commit to

the truck driver or to the production facility, 'OK, make the
car.'
" That's the real gamechanger. "

'ALWAYS ON OUR ROAD MAP'
The pending arrival of
e-signatures and e-contracts
is another in a long line of
innovations that was " always
on our road map " but has
been fast-forwarded by
COVID-19,
said John
Hiscock,
senior
vice-president of automotive
finance at
Hiscock:
Scotiabank.
Scotia Auto
Hub will
" The panlet dealers
demic has
conduct their accelerattransactions
ed severelectronically. al aspects of
SUPPLIED
several busiPHOTO
nesses. I don't
think it's necessarily going
back to the same way. "
Hiscock said that in early
March, Scotiabank expected to
replace its remaining fax-toimage document servers with
Scotia Auto Hub. This allows
dealers to upload documents
electronically, see the status
of credit applications, identify any missing elements and
work with the bank to complete a transaction.
" That will be the basis for
us moving toward fully electronic contracting approximately another quarter from
now. "
The move was driven by the
demands of Scotiabank's automaker partners and their dealers and by the desire of their
customers to eliminate as
many touch points in the sales
process as possible.
The Ontario Motor Vehicle
Industry Council (OMVIC) is
leaving the decision of what
constitutes a valid signature
up to dealers, automakers and
financial institutions, said
spokesman Connor Coles.
" OMVIC's interpretation of
Ontario's Motor Vehicle Dealers
Act says whether buying a car
online or in-person, the law still
applies: E-signatures on contracts are allowed under the act,
but we recognize there are challenges between some financial
institutions and dealers, " said
Coles.
" OMVIC does not determine
what constitutes a valid signature for someone else's purpose. "
John Bordignon, a spokes-

I can use [e-contracts]
for the sale of my
company but not for
the purchase of a car? I
mean, really?
GLEN DEMETRIOFF

TUESDAY, MARCH 16
2:00 - 3:00 PM ET

Mergers &
Acquisitions

President, Rapid RTC
man for Honda Canada, said
the company has moved to
electronic signatures where
possible, as requested by dealers and their customers.
" It offers convenience,
one less touch point and an
increased element of safety
to the sales process, allowing
customers to shop and complete transactions in the way
most convenient for them, "
Bordignon said.

INK STILL NEEDED?
The death of the wet signature in automotive transactions is long overdue, said
Glen Demetrioff, president
of Rapid RTC, a Winnipegbased company that supplies
live-chat functions and other
services through the websites
of 4,200 dealers and 27 automakers. He noted that electronic contracts aided the
recent sale of his company to
U.K.-based Keyloop.
" E-contracts have long
been the basis for transactions
much larger than the purchase
of a car, " Demetrioff said. " I
can use them for the sale of my
company but not for the purchase of a car? I mean, really? "
Romano doesn't want to
overstate the importance
of e-signatures since buyers and sellers eventually do
have to meet and put pen to
paper, where the law requires
it. But the ability to confirm
the transaction - from settling on a trade-in value to
pre-negotiating inclusion of
after-sale services and accessories such as extended service contracts or cargo liners
- represents an incremental improvement in the online
experience, he said.
Romano has been working
with provinces and banks to
recognize digital signatures as
a way to ease the early parts
of a car purchase, especially because it allows dealers to
commit to a certain trade-in
value for the customer's existing car - assuming the inspection confirms the trade-in's
condition. - ANC

Joe Serra
Serra Automotive

Farid Ahmad
DSMA

Ivette Dominguez
Alpine Buick GMC

Tolga Batir
Grey Wolf Automotive Group

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Automotive News Canada - March 2021

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