Westlake Financial
“Can a subprime indirect auto lender become a full-stack consumer and dealer financial services platform?”
HQLos Angeles, California, United States
IndustryFintech / Lending
The story
Westlake Financial is a privately held Los Angeles-based indirect auto finance company that originates and services subprime-to-prime auto loans through a dealer network. It has expanded beyond auto financing into adjacent dealer/consumer financial products — floor plan financing, commercial real estate loans, fleet credit lines (Turo Host Financing, Westlake Fleet), insurance (Spot Insurance), portfolio servicing (Westlake Portfolio Management), and a co-branded consumer credit card (Westlake Black). The 2022 Railsr partnership and 2024 Stride Bank Visa launch mark its move into direct-to-consumer embedded finance beyond auto loans.
Last 12 months
Product timeline
2009
Integrated with RouteOne dealer credit application platform for indirect auto financing.· pivot
2018
Launched Spot Insurance offering for dealers.· insurance
2018
Announced new third-party servicing entity (Westlake Portfolio Management) and partnerships.· pivot
2022
Partnered with Railsr to launch Westlake Black Credit Card (Credit-Card-as-a-Service).· card
2022
Westlake and Western Funding moved to real-time deal funding via Nowcom automation.· pivot
2024
Relaunched Westlake Black Visa Credit Card with Stride Bank as issuer.· card
The stack
Payments / PSP
Banking / BaaS
Card issuing
Lending
Westlake Financial (in-house)Indirect auto financing (full spectrum)Westlake Fleet / Turo Host line of credit ($100k-$1M)Floor plan financing for dealersCommercial real estate loansPortfolio purchasingWestlake Funding Solutions (small business funding)Westlake Portfolio Management (third-party servicing)
Sponsor bank
Accounting gap: none