Auto Dealers | May 2025 How payments are powering digital transformation in auto retail

“Dealerships have a vital interest in enhancing the customer buying experience,” says Chris Ward. “As more elements become digital, the focus shifts to maximizing transaction speed and reducing friction. It’s about balancing efficiency and cost while delivering an exceptional customer experience.”

That kind of experience, Ward explains, hinges on simple, speedy, and safe payments. “Dealers are focusing first on simplicity, for an intuitive buying process that customers can understand and execute with ease. Speed matters—no customer wants to spend all day in the dealership once they've decided to buy. Customers demand safety supported by proper controls throughout the entire payments process.”

Safeguarding payments is essential to maintaining the trust that dealers work hard to build. “Whether it’s making a service repair payment or accepting a down payment, everyone wants a safe, sound, and secure process—free of surprises.”

“When you think about payments, don’t forget service,” Smith adds. “There are far more transactions in the back end of the dealership than the front. Every customer wants the service process to be quick and painless.”

“One way to improve the service experience is to have mobile payment devices that allow customers to pay by phone when picking up their vehicle—rather than walking to a cashier’s desk,” Smith suggests.

“While the case for digital payments is strong, you’ve got to take a strategic mindset toward payment advancement,” says Lyubena Smith. “Examine all payment flows—money in, money out—and financial processes. A full analysis allows you to rebuild a more efficient payments ecosystem centered on speed, simplicity, and security.”

Here are five strategies for dealers evaluating their payments approach:

1. Rethink how you receive funds.

Customers typically use a mix of cash, checks, and credit cards. The right Merchant services set up can automate and eliminate manual steps in posting and reconciliation and better secure receipt of funds.

Truist partner Dealer Pay offers another approach with its dealer-specific payments and point-of-sale software solution that integrates payment acceptance into eight of the top dealer management software (DMS) systems. With Dealer Pay, you can provide your customers with a standout experience that’s not limited by your DMS vendor’s payment solution.

2. Consider newer payment methods and payable approaches.

Real Time Payments (RTP®) let dealers keep cash on hand longer and enable immediate payment settlement—such as purchasing a car from an individual seller.  Streamlining your business-to-business payments with Truist ePayables can help you improve cash flow, streamline accounts payable, and simplify invoice payments.

3. Use B2C options like Zelle®.

Zelle enables quick payments to consumers without needing bank account information, just a phone number or email. It’s ideal for tax, tag, and title refunds or trade-in payments. And Zelle replaces checks, which carry fraud risk, higher processing costs, and mailing delays.

4. Use commercial cards to extend cash flow.

Commercial credit cards increase buying power, reduce fraud exposure, and allow for extended payment windows. If you use Truist Purchasing Card, you can pay vendors under their timing terms while benefitting from the 30-day extended pay window.

5. Focus on fraud reduction.

Make sure you’re taking the fundamental steps to secure your funds from electronic and check-based fraud. Use Payee Positive Pay to reject fraudulent checks, set up ACH Fraud Control or ACH Block, and Check Block on accounts that don’t receive debit transactions, and employ tokenization and virtual cards. Look for vulnerabilities, assess ways to reduce your fraud exposure, and think through contingencies and backup procedures if you’re attacked. Truist offers insights and resources to help you stay ahead of cyber threats and fraud.

Protect your dealership against increasing risk of fraud. Paper checks, once dominant, have been largely replaced by electronic payments—driven in part by the rising threat of fraud. In 2023, over 80% of organizations reported attempted or actual fraud, up from under 70% the prior year. Checks remain the most fraud-prone payment method.^{Disclosure 4}

Look at embedding financial services in your DMS. Embedded finance solutions increase convenience for consumers, boosting satisfaction and loyalty, while simplifying a host of dealer financial processes. Rankin says, “Embedded financial services let you seamlessly initiate and receive payments while collecting data that will ultimately enhance the customer buying experience."

Keep your eyes on new applications and use cases of AI. While AI isn’t yet central in auto retailing, its power for analyzing consumer data offers promise. “AI is going to help dealers get better at early identification of their buyers’ needs,” Rankin predicts. “And that will improve the buyer experience.” Stella AI’s reshaping of customer engagement is just one example of how AI is transforming the auto retail business.

Consider alternative payment methods. Younger buyers often drive adoption of the latest payment alternatives. “Consumers want multiple digital options like PayPal®, Venmo®, and digital wallet, says Rankin. “That’s where the future is headed.”

Digital payment technology advances are rarely groundbreaking and are often adopted over an extended period. Opportunities to benefit from payment strategy come from finding ways to incorporate incremental digital advancements in your financial operations and pursuing adoption with customers and vendors alike.