In this episode of "Accrued, a Fintech Confidential series presented by LoanPro, Tedd Huff and co-host Colton Pond sit down with Mike Dushane, the Chief Product Officer at Octane, to learn how getting loans for fun and recreational activities is becoming more accessible and more user-friendly. 

Mike has a rich background in the automotive and power sports industries. He shares how his passion and career have merged at Octane, leading to groundbreaking work in recreational financing. He explains Octane's mission: to streamline the loan process for customers looking to purchase RVs, motorcycles, and other recreational vehicles, making these dreams more attainable than ever before.

Throughout the episode, the trio examines what makes Octane different. Mike highlights the company's close collaborations with dealers and manufacturers, which ensure that customers find the perfect vehicle and secure financing smoothly and hassle-free. This partnership model benefits customers and strengthens the recreational vehicle ecosystem, fostering a community of enthusiasts supported by accessible financing options.

Mike shares his insights into how Octane's customer-centric approach sheds light on the importance of understanding and empathy in finance. By prioritizing the needs and experiences of their customers, Octane can offer personalized loan options that resonate with individuals' unique circumstances. This approach is not just about making sales but building lasting relationships and supporting customers' lifestyles and passions.

Looking to the future, the episode explores Octane's vision for continuing to innovate and improve the financing process. With a focus on leveraging technology and data, Mike discusses how Octane constantly seeks new ways to enhance the customer experience, making it even easier for people to finance their recreational dreams. 

You will come away from this episode with a deeper understanding of how fintech is transforming the landscape of recreational financing. Through engaging stories and insightful discussions, Tedd, Colton, and Mike illuminate the exciting possibilities that lie ahead in making finance more accessible and aligned with the passions that drive us.

Key Highlights:

• Mike's Automotive Background and Passion for Power Sports: Before joining Octane, Mike had extensive automotive industry experience and a passion for cars and power sports, which he brings to his role.

• The Importance of Team Success: Mike attributes Octane's success to individual efforts and the team's collective hard work and innovation.

• Octane's Approach to Lending: Octane initially focused on serving customers in the prime and near-prime segments, looking beyond traditional metrics to responsibly extend credit to those often overlooked by big banks.

• Customized Loan Offers: Utilizing alternative data and proprietary models, Octane can provide more personalized loan offers, often outperforming competitors by offering better terms or servicing customers they might decline.

• Technology Integration with Dealers and OEMs: Octane integrates its technology with dealer and OEM platforms, streamlining the loan application and approval process to enhance the customer experience and facilitate instant loan decisions.

• Data-Driven Collections Strategy: Octane employs a strategic loan servicing and collections approach. It uses data to inform when and how to most effectively engage customers, aiming to enhance customer experience even in collections.

• Empathy in Collections: Beyond technology, Octane applies empathy in its collections approach, understanding customer situations to encourage repayment in a way that respects the customer's circumstances.

• Expansion into RV Lending: Recognizing the crossover interests of their customer base, Octane expanded into RV lending, adapting their lending approach to suit the different dynamics and needs of RV buyers.

• Compliance and Fair Lending Practices: Octane prioritizes compliance and fairness, using data and models vetted for bias to ensure equitable lending practices.

• Vision for the Future of Lending: Octane is focused on further personalizing the lending experience, leveraging data and technology to meet customers' individual needs more precisely and improve their purchasing journey.

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Takeaways:

1. Customer-Centric Financing: Octane focuses on creating a seamless, frictionless financing experience for customers looking to purchase recreational vehicles, including RVs and power sports vehicles. They use technology to simplify the loan process, making dreams more accessible for their customers.

2. Partnerships Enhance Customer Experience: Octane can offer more personalized and immediate loan options through partnerships with dealers and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), enhancing the customer's overall buying experience.

3. Empathy and Data-Driven Decisions: Mike Dushane emphasizes the importance of empathy in product development and decision-making at Octane. The company uses a combination of empathy and data to make better lending decisions and serve its customers more effectively.

4. Future of Finance in Recreational Lending: Octane is exploring ways to personalize further and customize lending experiences, aiming to make financing as tailored and relevant to the individual customer as possible. This approach suggests a future where lending is transactional and closely aligned with the customer's preferences and needs.

5. Innovative Use of Technology in Lending: Octane leverages its proprietary technology platform to manage the end-to-end buying and lending process, which includes everything from application to loan servicing. This streamlines the process and opens up opportunities for innovation in loan servicing and management.

Links:

Octane:

Website: https://octane.co/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/octane-lending 

Fintech Confidential

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Podcast: https://fintechconfidential.com/listen

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintechconfidential

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Time Stamps:

This is a Production of Diamond D3, Media

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About The Guest:

Mike Dushane: Mike Dushane is the Chief Product Officer at Octane. He oversees the product and editorial teams and is responsible for product direction, strategy, and implementation. He joined Octane in August 2018 and has introduced innovative new products that have significantly contributed to its growth. Mike lives in Brooklyn, NY, and is an avid traveler, photographer, swimmer, car nut, and gadget tinkerer.

Octane: Octane® is revolutionizing recreational purchases by delivering a seamless, end-to-end digital buying experience. We connect people with their passions by combining cutting-edge technology and innovative risk strategies to make lifestyle purchases–like powersports vehicles, RVs, and outdoor power equipment–fast, easy, and accessible. Octane adds value throughout the customer journey: inspiring enthusiasts with the Octane Media™ editorial brands, including Cycle World® and UTV Driver®, instantly prequalifying consumers for financing online, routing customers to dealerships for an easy closing, and supporting customers throughout their loan with superior loan servicing. Founded in 2014, with over 30 OEM and 4,000 dealer partners and a team of over 500 in remote and hybrid roles.

About the Hosts:

Tedd Huff: Tedd Huff is the Founder of Voalyre, a professional services advisory firm focused on global payments and DD3 Media.

Over the past 24 years, he has contributed to FinTech startups as an Advisory Board Member, Co-Founder, and Chief Experience Officer, providing strategic and tactical direction for Global Payments OpenEdge, Heartland Payments, Nuvei, and TSYS, among others, focusing on growth while delivering innovation, process improvements and user experience-driven value to simplify the complexity of payments.

Colton Pond: Colton Pond is a seasoned marketing executive with a strong fintech and financial services background. In his latest role, he is the CMO for LoanPro's API-first lending platform, aiming to meet increasing market demands. His track record includes a significant tenure at Truv, where he led the marketing team to 300% revenue growth year over year. Colton has also held key marketing and sales positions at MX, Lucid, and HealthEquity, demonstrating his ability to drive success and innovation within the fintech sector.

Diamond D3, Media: A media creation, management, and production company delivering engaging content globally

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