CHARLESTON, WV -- West Virginia marks a significant milestone in its digital title journey with the nationwide rollout of the country’s first Digital Vehicle Title program. Setting a new standard in electronic titling systems, West Virginia’s Digital Title is not only digital but also fully transactable, marking a distinctive advancement that will revolutionize the industry.
Fully transactable Digital Titles allow dealers and fleet operators to better manage inventory and eliminate the need for laborious, manual matching of titles with vehicles on the lot or in their systems. Digital Titles create real-time updates that ensure the system of record is continually kept current. Any time an attribute of the title changes – a lien is filed, a brand is added, a new owner is listed – the Digital Title is immediately updated in the state’s system of record.
The West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has been working with Champ Titles, Inc., a leading provider of digital vehicle title, registration, and lien systems of record, and Tyler Technologies Inc., (NYSE: TYL) a leading public sector software and services provider, to take a revolutionary approach to modernizing the infrastructure of its statewide motor vehicle system. Launched in 2021, West Virginia’s Digital Title and Registration Suite (“DTRS”) is a comprehensive vehicle title administration solution to manage titles, registrations, liens, and dealer licensing.
“We are incredibly appreciative of the longstanding public-private partnership with the State of West Virginia and the DMV,” said Ian McQuinn, General Manager for Tyler Technologies West Virginia. “We’ve worked closely with the DMV since 2007 to help modernize their services, and the launch of the Digital Title represents a major culmination of those efforts.”
“We are so pleased to have such a bold and forward-thinking partner in the West Virginia DMV. The state’s constituent-first approach to upgrading infrastructure continues today with the Digital Title. This technology will be a gamechanger for the country, realizing the digital efficiency that Champ Titles set out to achieve when it was founded,” said Shane Bigelow, Chief Executive Officer.
The printed version of the West Virginia Digital Title is listed in the most current version of the J.D Power Title and Registration Textbook. State DMV Commissioner Everett Frazier said, “This is a modern and secure approach to titling, but we realized that not every jurisdiction would be immediately comfortable using a digital title, so we created the printed version of the West Virginia Digital Title. Anyone with a Digital Title from West Virginia can print a copy of it any time they want. It is a legal, transactable physical representation of the West Virginia Digital Title, and verifiable by checking NMVTIS or West Virginia’s own verification portal which can be found on the West Virginia DMV website.”
The printed version of the West Virginia Digital Title is a paper representation of the Digital Title, akin to a mobile boarding pass, providing a legal, transactable physical alternative. Just as boarding credentials can be presented using a mobile device, a Digital Title can be presented in the same way. But, if a physical copy is preferred, the printed version of the WV Digital Title exists for just that scenario.
Titles involved in transactions outside West Virginia using either the Digital Title or the printed version can be easily authenticated using West Virginia's verification portal, ensuring security, useability, and reliability.
The next phase aims to encourage jurisdictions nationwide to recognize and accept Digital Title transactions.
The process of educating the country on the use of Digital Titles and evaluating their usability starts now. Frazier continues, “We are launching an educational campaign to ensure that every motor vehicle administrator across the country is familiar with and knows how to transact using the West Virginia Digital Title. We will be talking about it with motor vehicle administrators at their conferences and in their newsletters, and we will continue to work closely with our partners in industry. As other states move in this same direction, it is imperative that we support one another. It is with this support that we’ll successfully bring the Digital Title to the market.”
West Virginia DMV joined with DDI Technology (DDI), a leading automotive title management firm and a subsidiary of IAA Holdings, LLC (IAA), a leading global digital marketplace, connecting vehicle buyers and sellers, to begin a nationwide pilot of the technology. DDI tested a limited number of Digital Title and printed versions of the WV Digital Title transactions throughout the US, using the tools created for West Virginia to support that process.
According to Kevin Park, Government Affairs and Industry Relations Manager of Insurance Auto Auctions at DDI, “This was a hypercare pilot, where we engaged with our partners to guide the Digital Title transactions through the entire process. We demonstrated usability, proved the verification tools, and validated the end-to-end security of the program.”
More information on the program, the related technologies and system security can be found at https://transportation.wv.gov/dmv/Pages/default.aspx.