SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Experian Automotive recently entered into a working relationship with a lender based in northern California. The deal's intention is to provide enhanced credit prescreen services for dealers' marketing materials.

Experian's solution, iScreen, now will be utilized by Western Sierra Acceptance Corp. to boost the lender's range of services. The companies believe the partnership will bring more qualified customers into dealer showrooms through marketing campaigns.

Western Sierra already coordinates with marketing agencies and dealers to provide mailing lists of consumers most suitable for their finance offers. The company plans to utilize Experian's iScreen service to help its clients reach consumers most likely to qualify for credit incentives a dealer is offering.

Executives also contend that this collaboration comes at an important time. They stress that direct marketing is expected to become an even more vital way to drive dealer business.

"The basis for success of any dealer's direct-marketing campaign is reaching consumers who will be qualified to take advantage of the incentives being offered," explained Daniel Ridley, chief executive officer of Western Sierra.

"We are excited to work with Experian Automotive to bring the strength of Experian's data to the marketing services we provide nationally to dealers and their agencies," Ridley went on to say.

Experian reiterated that its prescreening services assemble the most pertinent consumer credit information and send it to clients quickly online. The company also mentioned that its stratified mailing lists pinpoint prospects most likely to be profitable for a finance campaign.

"As the auto finance market begins to show signs of stabilization, dealers who are able to connect with those consumers most qualified for their offers will hold the advantage," noted Scott Waldron, president of Experian Automotive.

"Pairing Experian's prescreen capabilities with Western Sierra's established presence in the auto lending space makes sense for any dealer or agency striving to maintain and increase response to their campaigns," Waldron concluded.