In an unpredictable and shifting market, it is still possible to identify opportunities for independent companies, but speed of response is essential. H&H Borderway Finance Limited (HHBF) are a case in point and in this instance, it is geography and a new systems partnership that has provided it with a competitive edge.

The company is the largest independent finance company in Cumbria specialising in motor vehicle finance, and it has operations extending into South West Scotland, the Scottish Borders and North Lancashire. National finance companies had been competing for customers locally but in the last few years many elected to pull out of the area. Confident that it could build on its reputation for personal service and unrivalled local knowledge, HHBF made the decision to expand by picking up increased market share within its territory and by forging more links with dealers further afield.

To achieve these objectives HHBF knew that it would need to acquire a new proposal and administration system that could accommodate their requirements. Managing Director David Carruthers said: “We wanted to allow our authorised introducers to make finance applications directly to H&H Borderway Finance via the web based dealer portal”. 

“All products are tailored to client’s individual needs and we wanted to improve on service and speed of response by allowing the status of proposals to be monitored and once accepted, by delivering the customer’s finance documents direct to the dealership ready for printing.”

With these aims in mind, HHBF spoke to Oyster Bay Systems, the software and systems specialists, and its Vienna operating system was selected. “It became clear that Oyster Bay and its Vienna system would be the right option for us,” adds David Carruthers “with an increasing market share, Vienna is ideal as it is a complete end-to-end system”.

“Applications proceed through the underwriting workflow to the payout stage, where they are automatically promoted to live agreement status within Vienna’s back-office collections system.  This total automation maximises efficiency, eliminates paperwork-related delays completely and means that there is no need to re-key any data.” 

Oyster Bay Systems provided both a dedicated technical project manager and an industry specialist throughout the implementation, which ensured that the technology was appropriate, and that it was successfully piloted before it was introduced to all existing motor dealers. HHBF say that it has already seen a significant uptake, with 50% of new proposals coming via the portal. With a faster and more efficient proposal process the decision to expand its business into additional geographical areas and to create new opportunities is fully supported.

HHBF has long prided itself on providing a flexible approach to meeting the requirements of all its customers and is now looking to attract additional business in selected new areas.

What HHBF sought:

Integrated processes providing business automation throughout the entire customer relationship cycle, with specific focus on:   

• Documentation, correspondence and direct contact provided through a ‘paperless office’ workflow function
• Electronic storage and instant retrieval of all incoming and outgoing materials through a dedicated document management system
• High service standards supported by effective customer, introducer, and funder contact management
• Full lifecycle history tracking through interleaved asset, agreement and contact diaries
• Process automation throughout, driven by a configurable status sensitive workflow engine