An innovative solution to tackle fraud

The UK’s asset finance industry is a major pillar of economic resilience and growth. But like almost every industry it is not immune to fraud. Existing industry tools and processes have helped cut down fraudulent activities. But the reality is, no existing solution provides a broad enough view of a customer’s current asset finance arrangements and it’s acknowledged that the industry needs to work together to deliver a vital additional level of insight.

A central register of borrowing for the asset finance industry, Acquis Lumia, has been designed by an industry working party with representatives from Allica Bank, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, HSBC Equipment Finance, Investec, Novuna (formerly Hitachi Capital) and Paragon Bank. Critically it is simple in scope and usability. Acquis Lumia assists asset finance providers to identify suspicious or irregular balance-sheet borrowing on a large scale. It provides a clear insight into a customer’s lending exposure, alerting the lender to possible fraudulent activity. The solution is unique in the asset finance industry, born out of industry wide consensus to tackle fraud. Acquis Lumia brings together a wider selection of lending data to address the issue than ever before, to plug the gap Credit Agencies can’t reach.

A monthly file is sent from lenders to Acquis Data Services containing just 7 pieces of information for each agreement in their portfolio: Agreement number, Lessor ID, Agreement expiry date, Company registration number, Lessee company names, Agreement start date, Net book value. This data is amalgamated and stored centrally in a secure stand-alone database. Lessee company names are anonymised.

We are acutely sensitive to the negative impact of fraud on our clients. Acquis Lumia is a solution designed to foster a better, more effective and efficient industry in which every participant has the utmost level of confidence in the system and their counterparties. It is also important that the solution is utilised by a high percentage of the industry and fees should not be a barrier to uptake. Acquis Lumia will be available to lenders in the leasing industry for a modest subscription fee, with no charge during 2022 and until Acquis Lumia has sufficient reach to deliver real value.