The debate about
bank integration continues to exercise lessors. Is integration good
for leasing? Or will the leasing product, and the people and
cultures that have developed with it, fade to become just another
faceless banking offer?
At Leaseurope’s annual shindig in
Hamburg last month, the leaders of some of Europe’s largest leasing
operations debated the merits of getting closer to their banker
owners.
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Some leasing CEOs see the benefits:
the banks’ retail network offers them a valuable and swift route to
market, they say.
The bank has a pool of business
customers it already partners with, which are relatively easy
prospects for the leasing arm. The bank’s relationship managers can
effect an introduction, and then the leasing salesperson goes to
work.
Deals are devised through
understanding the customer’s business, and having specialist
knowledge of the asset they may be seeking to fund.
But is the picture really so
sunny?
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By GlobalDataThe front-line integration, however
cosmetic it may seem, could easily begin to extend its tentacles
into the leasing sales teams. If that happens, could leasing
survive as a separate business, supported by asset specialists?
IT systems, marketing support,
prospecting and back office could all eventually be integrated into
the bank. The frontline could be just the start.
Dutch lessor Amstel Lease is adamant
that it will retain independence despite having been rebranded ABN
Amro Lease, taking on the name of its parent bank. Internal
systems, and sales teams, will remain separate from the larger
group, it insists.
It is not the only one being rebadged
for the era of greater integration. BPLG this month became BNP
Paribas Leasing Solutions, as it repositions also to offer service
contracts alongside leasing.
Even if leasing companies are able to
tap into their parent banks’ pool of business customers, credit
remains tight.
New capital requirement regulations
are on the horizon in the form of Basel III. It means that lending
is to become even more expensive in the future, when it will need
to be backed up by deeper capital reserves. This could lead to
another trend in bank-owned leasing, where funding must be offset
by deposits taken by the retail arm of the bank.
The old days of leasing may be drawing
to a close, but the new generation of leasing specialists can still
define their own culture.
Close customer relationships,
specialist asset knowledge, and flexible funding solutions are
still in demand – whatever name they go under.
Liz Bury
