Asset finance brokers 'experiencing most competition from customers’ own banks'

'Customer’s own banks’ was the most frequent answer followed by ‘direct approaches from funder’s sales teams and vendor sales teams’ (24%) and then ‘other brokers’ and ‘customer’s self-sourcing funding’ were joint third at 20% each. The remaining 9% felt they had little competition or didn’t know where their competition was coming from.

The most recent figures from the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) suggest that broker introduced business is the fastest growing sales channel. In the 12 months to April the amount of new business introduced by brokers had increased by 10%. There was a 6% increase in sales finance and a 2% increase in direct funder business.

Keith Sangwin, Asset Finance Head of Sales at United Trust Bank, commented:

“According to the FLA, new asset finance business increased by 3% in the 12 months to April and it’s encouraging to see that brokers are not only holding their own against other sales channels but increasing their share of the market. As UTB is a ‘broker only’ funder we’re delighted to be playing our part in supporting brokers in the face of fierce competition from SME’s own business banks as well as direct funder and vendor sales forces."