Digital Directions Series
Part 3: Building a digital ecosystem for asset finance (2022)
Bringing a conclusion to a series that began in 2017, Digital Directions 3: Building a digital ecosystem for asset finance draws on industry experts’ input to understand a future in which technology’s power is channelled not by individual operators, but by many participants, who collaborate on delivering new value that exceeds the sum of its parts. In this report, we offer insight into the emerging role of technology providers as ecosystems orchestrators, identify various types of ecosystem, and discuss the current opportunities to deploy them in order to meet the needs of the auto and equipment finance industries.
Connecting the technology ecosystem is incredibly important because it compresses the time it takes to get innovation into the hands of customers. When all segments of the ecosystem have open lines of direct communication, challenges are solved faster, innovation reaches the customers better and faster, and continual growth and evolution of technology is fostered. Technology is evolving at such a rapid pace, and the ecosystem needs to be there to support and embrace it.
Part 2: Realising your digital journey (2018)
In this follow-up, we look more closely at where companies have reached in their digital journey. Digital Directions 2 draws on a significant body of research and insights from across the retail, fleet and equipment finance industry.
- 71% said they have a digital leader on the management team who can combine business/marketing with technical expertise
- 55% said they hadn’t started using non-traditional data yet
- 34% strongly disagreed that their organisation had a strong culture of using data to learn more about customers and optimise processes
- 36% of companies are currently actioning the insights gained through data collection and analysis
We need to focus on the fundamentals of purpose, culture, strategy and capability if we are to close the skills gap. However, the culture of many organisations is preventing them from achieving this goal.
Part 1: Exploring digitalisation in the asset finance industry (2017)
Digital solutions are about more than writing an app, providing data that wasn’t previously available, or moving back-office processes online. The goal is not just to affect end-user functionality, but to change the entire business model.
We surveyed a cross-section of asset finance industry leaders to understand how they view digitalisation, what their strategies are, and the nature of the barriers they face.
What's driving digital change?
- Competition - first-mover advantage
- Cost and efficiency - improved cost-income ratios
- Customer behaviour and demand - expectations of digital services
- Regulation - tougher reporting requirements
- Fintechs - pushing technology solutions