Financial services company General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) has launched a new global system that enables people to apply for finance in a car dealership and receive approval in 60 seconds.

The system, called Response, was devised in 2000 to 'enhance dealer service and improve communications with GMAC's vast network of dealers', the company said.

It added: 'In just two years, GMAC has devised, developed and deployed Response and has just completed the first phase, introducing the service in 12 countries across Europe, Asia/Pacific and Latin America.'

The company plans to expand the service by rolling it out to Greece, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Portugal over the next 18 months.

'Response gives our dealers and their customers one of the best consumer credit services on the market. It is also the only service of its type available on a pan-European basis,' said GMAC director of marketing, Larry Sherstad.

'This innovation allows dealers to convert sales faster, print contracts and access the latest GMAC rates and financial plans while also offering customers GMAC insurance products. Response is an extremely important development for us, cementing our relationship with dealers and enabling them to convert enquiries into sales faster than ever before.'

GMAC owns full service leasing company Masterlease Europe which has operations in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK. On the continent, GMAC operates under the name Masterlease, and in the UK under the Interleasing brand.