Our outsourced loan servicing technology and skilled staff have enabled lenders to offer suitable products in a market of significant fragmentation. All the while supporting vulnerable customers during a difficult time.
A key aspect of this servicing is providing lenders with detailed insight, helping them to gain a deeper understanding of their customers and how they engage with their products.
In addition to helping those who are vulnerable, lenders must also remain vigilant of compliance. This is why our multi-disciplinary team of FCA-accredited customer experience specialists are capable of handling incoming and outbound customer queries, collections and arrears, payments and reconciliations. Combined with award-winning technology that is reliable, efficient and flexible, we are committed to benchmarking ourselves as a centre for excellent.
Below are five examples of best practice in the lending space and how they should be applied to the market.
1. Flexibility
In the UK every industry has been impacted by a number of significant events such as the pandemic, the rise of zero-hour contracts and leaving the EU. As a result of one or more of these, people may have changed jobs and industry or experienced a change in their personal and home circumstances. All of these can result in a change in income. In the past, lenders provided a limited number of products with little or no flexibility, and those with a typical income would find themselves excluded from all or most forms of lending.
Lenders need to be able to offer a portfolio of loans with variety, to meet the needs of people in different circumstances. The right technology platform for such loans will therefore be critical to accommodate more flexibility with the ability to configure differences in payment dates, drawdown facilities and interest rates. This ability to offer a more personal service and retain more customers can increase customer loyalty.
2. Scale
Lenvi is a trusted partner to large financial organisations providing fully outsourced loan servicing through our best-in-class combination of market-leading technology, highly skilled personnel and an exemplary approach to compliance.
Our teams can scale up to cope during busy periods of the year with the technology continuing to function normally under pressure. One example was during the launch of a new iPhone handset where one of our teams processed a credit application every five seconds. Consumers expect a seamless and rapid response when applying for handset finance and their expectations need to be met. In such a high-pressure situation with high expectations, automation is critical to meeting demand. This capability frees up resources to focus on those customers who need more attention.
3. Personal touch
For the last nine years, Lenvi has conducted annual research into consumer attitudes towards unsecured credit. One of the questions posed to the 2,000 UK consumers every year is about their preferred method of communication with their lender. Our research has shown that in the most difficult and turbulent times, consumers want the personal touch and prefer speaking to someone.
Over the past five years, the results have remained almost consistent, with nearly a quarter of all respondents wanting to be in touch via telephone. This peaked with 27% of respondents in 2021 as a result of the pandemic.
4. High touch
Consumers are more interested in their finances and managing their own affairs, making a self- service portal an important feature for lenders. Online banking and mobile banking with apps see consumers doing more every day via their phone. They are information hungry and want real-time access to their finance with the ability to manage their accounts, without needing to phone a call centre for minor changes.
This approach has become the norm with current accounts, car loans and credit cards. Consumers want to be able to manage their loan repayments and make adjustments 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
5. Strong on compliance
Lenvi is committed to a ‘right first time’ approach to compliance and customer interaction. We have a firm focus on identifying the right outcomes for all parties. We are authorised and regulated by the FCA and our dedicated Risk and Compliance Team are constantly monitoring the market and consultative outputs from regulators, to shape our approach and support our clients.
Our compliance systems and processes are underpinned by a full compliance monitoring programme which includes thematic reviews, horizon scanning, compliance monitoring reviews, quality assurance and ongoing learning and development. The compliance team at Lenvi ensures compliance to all aspects of the FCA handbook, including CONC, MCOBS, SYSC and COBS.
