When did Vitu get started, and what does it do?
Don Armstrong and Kelly Kimball founded the company in 2005 to provide digital registration and titling technology for auto dealers. In Michigan, Don created the first U.S. online vehicle and watercraft registration renewal system in the nation. Kelly is an innovator and eGovernment consultant who has been involved in digital systems for worldwide governments. They combined forces with Rob Cohen at an auto dealer compliance consulting company called Auto Advisory Services and developed Vitu’s title and registration solution. Vitu now specializes in developing registration and titling solutions for auto dealers, consumers and governments. Most recently, Vitu also entered the payments business with solutions for both auto dealers and governments. Products are built on a modern and secure foundation. We work to deliver the industry’s best compliance record and highest customer satisfaction.

As of 2022, Vitu has grown to almost 400 employees and 12 offices in 11 states. Vitu processes more than 400,000 vehicle title and registration transactions per month. In addition, Vitu Interstate provides forms, fee calculations and title and registration processing in all 50 states. It is the newest, most comprehensive and accurate interstate title processing system in the nation.

How long has the company been in Montana?
Vitu established its Montana team in 2018. It has grown to eight members and continues to expand rapidly. Vitu’s entry into Montana was led by John Brueggeman, Vitu’s Chief Strategy Officer, a former Montana senator born and raised in Montana. After he got out of government, he started working for 3M, then met Don Armstrong and joined Vitu in 2012. He has strong ties to Montana. It may be a large state, but it has a small-town vibe. Everyone knows everyone.

What is the connection between the Motor Vehicle Division and Montana’s state government?
Montana’s Motor Vehicle Division is housed within the Montana Department of Justice. The Montana State Attorney General, Austin Knudsen, is charged with delivering vehicle and driver licensing services to the public.

What does Vitu do in Montana?
We have a contract with Montana’s Motor Vehicle Division to provide consumers and businesses with the latest government technology and services. Over the next couple of years, Vitu will be launching an extensive list of technologies, beginning with consumer services such as online vehicle registration and driver licensing. Next, we will be deploying systems for Montana’s auto dealers, lenders, and fleet operators.

Vitu’s first solution in the state was its lending system that allows Montana lenders to electronically file lien releases on vehicles, dramatically speeding up the process for the industry as well as for Montana’s citizens and auto dealers. If a dealer reaches out to one of the lenders on our list, the lender can immediately use the portal to release the vehicle online. In the next phase of this project, we will be adding the ability for lenders to file liens electronically as well.

How many lenders are using the lending portal?
For the first phase, we started with credit unions and Montana-chartered banks. We now have 30 lenders out of 110. Many financial institutions are waiting to onboard, but the remaining lenders are on hold until the MVD approves the second phase. During the second phase, we will electronically add lanes so that as soon as a dealer applies for a loan on a vehicle, the dealer can add it so that their interest in the vehicle appears online.

Our new online vehicle registration renewal system was launched in September 2021. Montana residents can renew their vehicle registration online, and they generally don’t have to go into the County Treasurer’s office. Instead, they can visit the MVD website for online vehicle registration renewal, and it redirects them to our website. There are only three steps, and inquiries and checkout are extremely fast. The rollout was smooth, and now we are doing thousands of renewals per month.

Our inquiries system allows people to look up information about drivers or vehicles. There is an onboarding process, but it is simple. We ask for some information and have customers sign documents. Once someone has been set up, they can click one link for driver records and a separate link for vehicle records. Typical users include auto dealers, airports, court systems, employers, hospitals, insurance companies, security companies and tow companies.

The only way to pull a driver’s license in Montana and see the history on a driver’s record is through Vitu. Court systems use it, but not police officers.

Vitu Interstate is for interstate transactions, and there are three levels of service. For full-service customers, Vitu finishes the transaction after the buyer has signed the papers. Vitu follows the rules for the buyers’ local jurisdictions during the entire process and delivers plates, registration and stickers. Dealers can track each step of the process until it is complete.

What programs are in development for the future?
Two programs are very close to being rolled out, and some others are further away, but I will tell you about the ones that are almost here. Dealer title-only transactions for digital titles might be available sometime during the first half of the year, and online driver’s license renewal should be in place on a similar schedule.

Dealer Digital Titling is an incredible new product. It’s cutting-edge and very exciting.

Digital dealer titling is the first phase of our partnership with the Montana MVD to make vehicle titling through auto dealers completely digital. They will be able to process the title transfer online.

When a Montana dealership buys a vehicle and needs to re-title its vehicle into its name, they will be able to log into the Vitu system. Vehicle data will be entered into the Vitu system through integration with each dealer’s management system; the transaction can then be digitally signed and submitted to MVD. Dealers will upload any required paperwork, such as a previous title or lien release, into the Vitu system to be filed with MVD.

When Vitu handles the digital-title process, the title will go to the MVD system and be printed at the state office the next day. Dealers will then have three different ways to get the title. If they need it for something such as an auction, they can choose to have the MVD send the title to them. Alternatively, they can ask the MVD to send it to the appropriate party or a one-time separate mailing address.

We are currently testing the process. When the MVD signs off, it will go into beta testing with some dealers, and then there will be a full rollout to the rest of the state and its dealers. It is very, very close to happening.

In the next phases, Vitu will implement its compete registration and titling platform. Dealers will then be able to submit title and registration through the Vitu system eliminating the need for dealers or their customers to make a trip to the county office. Instead, customers will be able to choose and pay for their license plates at the dealership. Once the transaction has been submitted to MVD, the license plates will then be shipped directly to the customer or the dealership for installation. All transactions will be available electronically with digital signatures for each form. Vitu will work with each dealer to integrate with their DMS and contracting flow to create a fully digital, streamlined title and registration process.

We are also pretty close to being done with a driver’s license renewal system. The MVD has two departments, one for drivers and one for vehicles. Suppose someone has a Montana driver’s license but doesn’t want to come to the MVD to renew it. Once our system is in place, they will be able to go to a website and renew their license through that, and then the license will be mailed out to them. There will be some restrictions on it, depending on who wants to renew, but the eligibility criteria will be posted on the website, and the software will stop people who aren’t eligible from renewing online.

Kelly Raines is an Operations Manager at Vitu since 2016. For more information visit vitu.com.