Leading brokers and funders join SmartFinanceHub
06/10/2021
Introducing the new digital platform developed by FXE Technologies.
FXE Technologies, the technology division of Funding Xchange, has unveiled SmartFinanceHub, a platform that enhances digital connectivity and conversion rates between brokers and funders. The launch comes after FXE Technologies received BCR grant funding to develop a platform that provides brokers and funders with access to digital tools like Open Banking, Management Accounting data and the ability to confirm credit profiles.
FXE Technologies worked over the past twelve months with a number of leading brokers and funders to refine the proposition and design. Since a successful soft launch in June, this group had the opportunity to road-test the solution prior to the official market launch.
The platform seamlessly connects brokers to their panel of funders, providing the ability pre-qualify a proposal versus their funders’ appetite for a deal. Once the broker has selected a funder, the platform makes it simple to quickly structure a high quality proposal and submit digitally. By leveraging data from credit reference agencies, providing the opportunity to for clients to upload management accounts and connect via Open Banking, the platform provides brokers with ‘out of the box’ digital capabilities.
In this article, first published in Leasing World issue 163, Katrin Herrling and Ben Sher from FXE Technologies ("FXE") discuss the leasing industry and importance of technology adoption with some of the initiative’s sponsors and early adopters; Daniel Bailey – Executive Director of Arkle Finance, Josh Levy – CEO of Ultimate Finance, and Tom Perkins - Director of Charles and Dean.
FXE: What are the key technology changes that you have seen in the industry over the last 18 months as the pandemic fundamentally disrupted ‘business as usual’?
Tom Perkins: “Many of the restrictions have forced adoption of technology, and clients are increasingly comfortable with sharing data digitally. It’s been positive for us. In fact, we had our best trading year in 2020. I put that down to building meaningful relationships with businesses. The combination of digital processes and a focus on client relationships is the path for our future.”
Daniel Bailey: “For me, the collaboration between brokers and funders to solve critical challenges of the past 18 months stands out. In the past technology has been driven by the funders designing portals and when every funder does that, that makes the brokers life quite challenging. It doesn’t solve the whole problem from a customer journey prospective because it moves the administrative burden over to the introducer.”
Josh Levy: “What used to be value-added is now just basic hygiene: e-sign, digital KYC, seamless integration between online and offline is the bare minimum now and one that every funder needs to be adopting in our market. It’s been a great normaliser to bring standards up across the industry which benefits everyone.”
FXE: Tom and Josh, as we move out of the pandemic, what capabilities will set the industry up for success and how do we go about seizing these opportunities?
Tom Perkins: “For me it's agility. Agility is key when you are faced with an immediate challenge and if your business is geared up to change direction and adapt that gives you resilience in the market place.”
Josh Levy: “Key for Ultimate is greater awareness of the limitations of previous models. In the introducer market these models were singular, lender X would do this, lender Y would do that. One of the core principles of SmartFinanceHub is bringing it all together in a joined-up fashion. Different funder portals have ended up with different experiences for brokers, with a disjointed industry process. The value of the network and the value of the ecosystem is bringing it all together in a way that benefits everybody.”
FXE: Daniel, if you look back on the last 18 months, what has changed in your engagement with brokers?
Daniel Bailey: “It’s been really encouraging to see brokers and funders much more willing to work together and find ways solve the overall challenge rather than the aspect that directly affects them. There have been tools in that time that clients have been willing to use. Brokers and funders benefit from the richness of data and from a client’s perspective, it is much easier to share the information in a safe and secure way.”
FXE: What other changes do you see in the industry that are driving the adoption of technology in 2021?
Daniel Bailey: “Within the asset finance market there is quite intense competition from the entire credit spectrum; there are features of other products and speed to market that we need to compete with. We will need to adapt our business to do so.”
FXE: Tom, what about from a broker’s perspective?
Tom Perkins: “We have an obligation to show an unbiased view on products and allow clients to make informed choices based on decisions that we have made in the background to determine which products and lenders are presented to that customer. If that practice isn’t in evidence we are effectively in breach of our obligation and using technology to drive better practice and better engagement with customers is only a good thing. This was my biggest attraction to SmartFinanceHub and being involved with it, it’s been a bug bear of mine for years as a small business, you can see what the ideal operational workflow is and I can’t solve it as a small business.”
FXE: Having joined SmartFinanceHub as early adopters, where do you see the value for the industry?
Tom Perkins: “We can bring new talent into the business and leverage the technology to drive accurate outcomes for customers, without the need of having twenty years of experience knowing every single funder like the back of your hand, that will drive more throughput into the industry. Being involved in this concept strategically and helping shape the direction of travel has been exciting. I am a big advocate and will continue to be so.”
Daniel Bailey: “From Arkle’s viewpoint, we have a broad appetite for asset types and sectors. Filtering opportunities very quickly is a game changer for us, it reduces waste significantly. That enables us to maximise the time we spend on the most productive proposals. The other key benefit of using SmartFinanceHub is the ability to obtain data from a wide range of resources - particularly around credit data and bank account information, we are able to filter very quickly and also decision in the same manner.”
Josh Levy: “I think for the market as a whole, it’s a more standardised way of doing things, upping standards, prioritising direct integrations and bringing in data sources while having it all done in a consistent manner has to have benefit to the industry. Technology for us is about removing bottlenecks, creating more time and more capacity for our teams to focus on the value add personal service.”
FXE: What do you expect the next two to three years to bring and what’s going to be important for the industry?
Josh Levy: “I see several trends. Firstly, growing awareness of the value of non-banks as key providers of Asset Finance solutions. Secondly, the super deduction capital allowance will drive volumes through the Asset Finance industry and provide even more impetus for lenders and brokers to invest in technology. Thirdly, client service expectation is changing. Clients demand certain things that we just have to provide and the only way that we can really do that is by simultaneously improving the front-end and back-end experiences.”
Daniel Bailey: “Following the pandemic I expect to see a growth in start-ups and small companies that need finance and as an industry we are well positioned to support that. Lots of established clients have had to go through something of a reset. As an industry we need to be comfortable that many of our clients have had a challenging time and are most likely coming out of the pandemic with a lot of debt. As an industry how we help them navigate and service that debt, while assessing long term sustainability is important. Technology will have a big part to play, there is more and more data available to us and ensuring the data is correctly structured and we are in a position that we can quickly analyse will be very important.”
SmartFinanceHub has been designed by FXE Technologies with the support and advice of leading brokers and funders, including Charles and Dean, Arkle and Ultimate who have been using the platform in operation since June 2021.
After processing hundreds of proposals, the platform is now available to the wider market. SmartFinanceHub enables funders and brokers to collaborate more effectively enabling efficient, compliant processes and freeing up time to build deep relationships.
To find out more click here or go to: https://fundingxchange.co.uk/smartfinancehub/
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