Every auto dealer knows the feeling. You've closed the deal, the customer is excited, and the car is detailed. Then comes the funding delay. The lender needs a current utility bill, but the customer only has an electronic statement. Or the pay stub is blurry. Or the insurance card expired yesterday.
In the industry, these are called "stips" (stipulations), and they are the number one cause of Contracts in Transit (CIT) delays. Meeting car finance requirements manually is a friction-filled process that frustrates customers and kills cash flow. In 2026, automation is the answer.
1. The "Big 4" Requirements and How to Automate Them
Most auto loans require four key pieces of documentation. Here is how modern technology streamlines each one:
Proof of Income (POI)
The Old Way: Asking for physical pay stubs, which are easy to forge and hard to verify.
The Automated Way: Digital Verification Tools connect directly to payroll APIs (like ADP or The Work Number). The customer logs in, and the system instantly pulls verified income data. No upload required.
Proof of Residence (POR)
The Old Way: Bringing in a water bill. (Who gets paper bills anymore?)
The Automated Way: Geolocation and telecom data matching. The system pings the carrier data for the customer's mobile phone to confirm the billing address matches the application address.
Proof of Insurance
The Old Way: Faxing a binder from the insurance agent.
The Automated Way: Direct carrier integration. The customer selects their insurer from a dropdown, logs in, and the system verifies coverage limits and adds the lender as a loss payee automatically.
Proof of Identity
The Old Way: Photocopying a driver's license.
The Automated Way: Biometric scans. The customer takes a selfie and a picture of their ID. AI matches the face and validates the ID security features instantly.
2. OCR: Turning Paper into Data
Not every customer is tech-savvy enough to log into a payroll portal. For those who still bring paper, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is essential.
A modern loan origination system allows the dealer to snap a photo of the document. The OCR engine reads the text, classifies the document ("This is a Utility Bill"), extracts the data ("Address: 123 Main St"), and compares it to the application data. If it matches, the stipulation is cleared automatically.
3. The Customer Self-Service Portal
Stop chasing customers for documents. Give them a portal.
After the credit application is submitted, the customer receives a link to a secure "Stipulation Center" on their phone. It shows a clear checklist: "We need 2 more items to fund your loan." They can upload documents directly from their camera roll. This transparency reduces anxiety and speeds up the process.
4. Validating the "Un-Fakeable" Data
One of the hidden benefits of automation is fraud prevention. As we discussed in our article on digital tools in auto finance, fake documents are a plague.
When you automate collection via direct source data (APIs), you eliminate the risk of Photoshop. You aren't looking at a picture of a bank statement; you are looking at the actual data stream from the bank. This makes your funding decisions rock-solid.
"The goal of automation isn't just to collect documents faster; it's to verify the truth behind them instantly."
Conclusion
Meeting car finance requirements shouldn't be a hurdle race. By automating document collection, lenders and dealers can cut funding times from days to hours, improving cash flow and customer satisfaction simultaneously.
Tired of chasing stips? See how Lendisys's automated document engine clears the path to funding.