What can the ex-GM of NIKE subsidiary Converse teach lessors about selling equipment finance?

Daniela Weitmann is not your average employee for a European equipment finance provider.

She does not have a background in leasing or even in financial services; but instead has worked in FMCG goods, most recently at NIKE.  

But yet, right in the eye of the pandemic storm, Weitmann was recruited as the DLL’s new chief digital officer and global head of transformation. There cannot have been a more challenging moment to take charge of digital delivery of DLL’s products and services.

Daniela’s immediate challenge is to realise DLL’s Route 95 ambition: to fully automate 95 percent of the small-ticket business in key markets by 2022.

IAFN’s founder Edward Peck will talk to Daniela:

• how to transfer the product and customer journey skills from Converse…….enabling the customer to customise footwear to providing customised financing products
• to see how she believes digital can add value to DLL’s lessee customers and their manufacturer vendor finance partners
• to learn what digital transformation means to DLL and its workforce 

Daniela Weitmann will join us for two sessions. Please book your place for session one – and for those who want to explore the topic more – apply for your place in session two.

Session 1: WEBCAST SESSION

• 2^nd June 2021 midday UK, 1pm Europe
• Webinar platform, free to attend
• One hour interview and questions session
• All members of the auto and equipment finance global community

Session 2: Ask me anything session (ZOOM)

• 2^nd June 2021 1pm UK and 2pm Europe
• Zoom meeting , free to attend
• One hour meeting for a limited audience for one-to-one ask their own questions
• For our next generation digital asset finance industry practitioners and asset finance technology providers

To request your place email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please include a question you would like to ask Daniela.

Fireside chat series: Richard Jones, Managing Director of Motor Finance & Leasing, Lloyds Banking Group

What does the chief exec of UKs largest auto finance provider know about the future of UK motor finance?

Here is your chance to find out! Members questions answered by Richard Jones, managing director of motor finance and leasing at Lloyds Banking Group.

From midday (UK) on 24th May for exactly one hour, David Betteley head of content at IAFN will be talking with Richard Jones, managing director of motor finance and leasing at Lloyds Banking Group about the issues which are keeping senior auto finance industry execs awake at night.

IAFN delegates will direct David’s questions. We expect these will include some or all of the following:

• How the role of dealerships is changing and what that means for point of sale finance
• When and how and if finance companies expect to make money from financing electric vehicles
• Understanding the opportunities and challenges from the shift to PCH, subscriptions and mobility
• The role of banks as the focus of auto finance shifts from selling products to selling services
• The long term effects of the pandemic on the auto industry
• Impact of changing regulations on onboarding and collections (Vulnerability)

Want to join?

To register to attend click on the button and complete the form or simply reply to this email.

To ask a question, anonymously or attributed, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We will include as many questions as we can – selecting the most popular and most entertaining when we have to choose.

Expanding the Horizons: Holding assets for longer

For a long time the automotive industry has been protected from disruption with high barriers to entry thanks to massive scale and manufacturing advantages, trusted brands and regulatory inhibitors. Digital disruption is beginning to lead to rapid transformation of the sector, bringing challenges and opportunities.

With a growing interest in the automotive finance industry in holding assets on the balance sheet for longer than first life-stage only, the industry’s vision is gradually moving from the business of selling many cars to one customer, in favor of selling one car to many customers. This strategy can allow captives to test a variety of fleet solutions and eventually implement them in a portfolio of products.

Based around IAFN research commissioned by Sopra Banking Software, this event will explore the new strategies that fit with this vision, such as subscription and car sharing services, leading towards not only Car-as-a-Service, but eventually Car-as-a-Platform. 

Following an introduction to the research by the author, Valerio Iannucci, which involved in-depth interviews with industry executives, you’ll have a seat at the table for our industry roundtable discussion with a chance to put your questions to the panel.

Register now to be part of the conversation!

In-depth insights

70 minutes

- Expert panel

- Adam Goodacre, business application and robotic automation development manager, Volkswagen Financial Services

This focused session will look at Robotic Process Automation and how it can transform equipment and auto finance operations.

It provides a detailed understanding of the concept of RPA and looks at how it can be used to benefit asset finance companies.

RPA provides rules based processing of repetitive functions so they can be automated to allow employees to move onto higher value tasks.

This includes exclusive case studies, looking at how leading companies in the industry have introduced the technology and how it has benefitted their businesses.

• Learn how Volkswagen Financial Services has automated manual processes using robotic process automation (RPA).
• Understand when to use RPA rather than developing new digital processes from VIP Apps Consulting, business process specialists for the asset finance industry.
• Insights on hyperautomation from RPA platform provider UI Path
• Practical advice from practitioners on how and when to apply RPA

The event also includes an extensive resource list of downloable insights, including how CIOs can redefine IT priorities and how to start your RPA and innovation journey.

COVID-19 Insights

86 minutes

 - Industry panel

In this special seminar, a panel of leading industry experts looks at the challenges facing the asset finance industry when it comes to forbearance and the future of collections.

The session examines the impact of COVID-19 on existing portfolios and also the lessons that can be applied to new business to help the industry to respond to any future crises.

The event includes delegate insights into what they think of the original forbearance scheme and where there could be improvements in future.

Delegates will also be able to download a range of expert research reports, including case studies on how new technology can support improved outcomes for finance companies and collections best practice.

Join co-founders of International Asset Finance Network Brian Rogerson and Edward Peck to discuss the outlook for auto and equipment finance industry as the UK starts to ease the lock-down.

Session framework

Effect of government regulation

•  Auto - FCA payment holidays; PCP balloon payments; scrappage and other future schemes
• Equipment –BBLs and CIBIL

Economic timelines

• End of lockdown June/July 2020
• End of furlough November 2020
• Potential resurgence of COVID-19 Autumn/Winter 2020/2021
• New year BREXIT transition end
• Repayment scheme interest payment holidays end June 2021

Sectoral demand 

• Auto demand affected by reduced appetite for public transport appetite, unemployment and potential for permanent structural changes from homeworking and increased focus on environment
• Effect of COVID-19 on niche funders, and dead cat bounce – funding investment in businesses for PPE and screens etc.
• Demand generation offers and impact on margins

Appetite of funders

• Competition for capital for auto captives versus investment in BEVs
• ABS/Block funders appetite to lend; technical defaults leading to liquidity shortages and higher cost of capital
• Future of block funding

Industry consolidation

• Which lenders will survive and which will go
• Lender risk appetite post funding
• Broker impact

Post Covid-19 landscape

• New scorecards to reflect new risks
• Real time data and early warning indicators

Chris Ballinger, chief executive officer and founder of the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative

- 15 minutes

Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionise the way mobility solutions are delivered and financed, drastically reducing the cost of providing services.

Vehicle-based services such as ride-hailing could have their finance processing costs slashed to a fraction of their current level using the technology and it could transform the type of payments being made.

MOBI is a global consortium that works with companies throughout the industry to establish common standards for the use of blockchain in the mobility industry.

It aims to build a worldwide network of cities, infrastructure providers, consumers, and producers of mobility services in order to accelerate the adoption of the technology.

In this session, Chris Ballinger explains how blockchain could be the foundation of the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure economy, as it provides confidence that transactions are compliant and protected from fraud, so a third-party such as a bank doesn’t need to be involved to verify and approve them.

ASSET FINANCE SERVITISATION 2/5

Panel discussion

20 minutes

In the second session of our five-part series on asset finance servitisation, a panel of experts consider the key issues facing the industry as it moves from ownership to usership.

This panel discussion, hosted by David Betteley, advisor to the International Asset Finance Network, looks at issues ranging from managing regulation to the legal implications of managing servitisation contracts.

As part of the session, the expert panel considers the growing shift to on-demand services, as customers look to pay for outcomes rather than the assets needed to deliver them.

They also examine the success that has already been achieved in areas including technology, which has embraced servitisation to support customer change.

SERVITISATION IN ASSET FINANCE 1/5

- Tim Baines, Professor of Servitisation and Advanced Services, Aston Business School

- David Betteley, Content Advisor, Asset Finance International

20 minutes

In the first of five presentations in this seminar on asset finance servitisation, delegates will obtain insights from exclusive research carried out by Aston Business School.

The session looks at how companies will compete in future and how servitisation fits into the business ecosystem.

Servitization is the innovation of a manufacturer’s capabilities to compete through services rather than simply products alone, which enhances customer insights and generates long-term loyalty.

Manufacturers and their finance partners can exploit an important opportunity for growth by embracing the potential benefits of servitization.

Baines will reveal how success in developing this new model depends on nurturing beneficial partnerships, such as with forward-thinking asset finance partners, and maximising opportunities for growth.

He will also reveal past successes of the servitisation model that could provide a foundation for the development of services in asset finance.

His analysis is taken from a new report called Focusing on Customer Outcomes Through Servitization, included a review of the essential components of the servitization model and how they differ from traditional manufacturing processes, including new approaches to finance.

ASSET FINANCE SERVITIZATION 5/5

15 minutes

- Mike Belcher, Head of New Business, LeasePlan UK

In carving a new role in the Mobility as a Service landscape, leasing companies can excel as specialist providers of vehicles to other mobility services, including global technology platforms such as Uber, in addition to their traditional role of providing vehicles direct to end-user customers.

In this final episode of our five-part series on asset finance servitization, Mike Belcher, head of new business at LeasePlan UK, provides exclusive insights on its Mobility-as-a-Service journey.

He will look at:

• The challenges of Mobility-as-a-Service
• The future opportunities for leasing
• How leasing companies are adapting to change
• Using technology to engage more closely with customers
• The role of electrification in the MaaS journey

Although leasing companies are investing in digital services, he argues that the leasing industry has to recognise it has a place in a much bigger MaaS landscape, alongside global technology companies and specialist vehicle manufacturers.