Automotive Business Magazine – Q2 2026 – Digital edition - Magazine - Page 19
INT ERVIEW
SBS AND VERO TECHNOLOGIES
In order to even get
a 360-degree view of
their customer, it takes
[lenders] a week of
collating reports from
all of these different
platforms [...] that is not
the way that a lender
should operate in 2026”
“There are going to be massive
efficiency gains, both for the dealer and
for the lender.”
This increased level of trust seems to
be making its way across the industry, on
both sides of the Atlantic.
Powell says: “I had a conversation with
two different lenders within half an hour
of each other.
“They look exactly the same on the
surface of it, in terms of their profile.
“I put the Open Banking question to the
two of them. One response was, ‘no way
you can get a dealer to sign up to Open
Banking.’ To the second one, I said, ‘well,
you just build the consent into your dealer
agreements’, they said ‘that sounds like a
fantastic idea, let's learn more’.
“That second response is going to be
increasingly the response we get. What
we should be doing is not selling the
technical solution around Open Banking,
we need to be selling the business
outcome. The business outcome is better
risk management and just a better way
of doing business.”
Futureproofing
As with any change in technology, some
are bound to be resistant. But, especially
with developments that promise huge
efficiency gains, there is a risk of being
left behind.
Powell warns: “For lenders, if they're not
adopting best practices – and all the best
practices are built around digital and AI
capability now – they're not going to be
able to serve their customers in the way
that their competitors are.
“The same thing applies to dealers.
In simple terms, they're not going to be
competitive if they don't embrace this.
The flip-side of that is, there's no point
just doing AI for the sake of AI.
“We need to generate business
outcomes for our customers, but
I think that's happening now. Not
embracing it is going to make people
fall behind.”
But, as Mizzi warns, businesses
must take a calculated approach to
implementing systems such as AI, to
make the most of the technology.
He says: “In order for these agentic
AI capabilities to truly be adopted, you
need a data warehouse, or some kind of
consolidated database that's going to
provide access to the full breadth of data
that a lender has today.
“Often, we talk to big banks with
multi-billion-dollar portfolios, and they
have a loan management system for
their floor-plan, they have a separate
loan management system for real estate,
working capital, all of their non-floor plan
loans. They have a treasury system,
a CRM.
“In order to even get a 360-degree
view of their customer, it takes them a
week of collating reports from all of these
different platforms.
“There's general recognition that that is
not the way that a lender should operate
in 2026. I'm really excited that folks
recognise that's an issue.”
There is more to come, too. Technology
is already simplifying many aspects of
floor-plan management, but this could go
even further.
Mizzi continues: “There's a lot
to be done around automated
communications. We've just scratched
the surface using tools like Twilio to
provide folks with information that they
need in a format that they need it
“Rather than a dealer needing to scan
emails, or log into their portal to get
updates on when payments are due,
when new loans have been funded, or
if there are any tasks that need to be
completed, being able to just prompt
automated notifications through
text message.
“Allowing dealers to interact with
their lender over text message is just
going to become more prolific as time
goes on.”
Q1 2026
Q2
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
71
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