ARLINGTON, Texas — Equifax Inc., a global information solutions provider, announced this week that it has signed an agreement with the National Independent Automotive Dealers Association (NIADA) to be a National Member Benefit Partner.

Through this relationship, Equifax will provide NIADA-member dealers access to the next generation of tools and information to help them deliver vehicles, including its recently upgraded online portal focused on improving a dealer’s ability to facilitate their used-vehicle sales.

The online portal, Equifax ePort, provides independent dealers access to auto shoppers’ credit data as well as verification of income and employment to remove lender stipulations, mitigate fraud and ultimately speed the delivery of used vehicles. Equifax ePort also enables simple and more secure access to the daily data and information that dealerships need to work more efficiently with both consumers and lenders.

"Equifax ePort is a revolutionary approach to solving headaches frequently encountered by our member dealers,” said Scott Lilja, senior vice president of member services at the NIADA. “Our members can now streamline the delivery process and drive sales by leveraging a single source for consumer information.”

The NIADA and Equifax recently began working together to identify the common pain points independent dealers face. Through this collaboration, both organizations believe they will be more strongly positioned to better help independent dealers overcome some of the identified challenges by providing information in one easy-to-access portal. As a result, officials said, dealers are able to clear stipulations quickly with instant access to income and employment verifications; access multiple credit scores to work more effectively and efficiently with lenders; streamline fraud and checks and similar verifications to stay focused on selling; and help provide an auditable and documented process for interactions with consumers and lenders.

”Now, with the enhanced capabilities of our Equifax ePort platform for dealers, we will be able to offer even more solutions to the auto market,” said Gary Hughes, general manager of Automotive Services for Equifax. “We are pleased to join with NIADA to better empower independent dealers as they continue to grow their business and navigate the road ahead.”