How Victor Finance transformed their business with Red Flag Alert
Victor Finance, faced challenges in monitoring their £135M portfolio and needed real-time tools to reduce arrears and risk.
They used Red Flag Alert's Portfolio Management, Growth Score, and real-time reporting to enhance decision-making and target growth.
Therefore they saw improved decision-making, reduced arrears, saved time and enhanced sales targeting through Red Flag Alert's Monitoring.
A member of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB), Victor Finance have been operating in asset finance for over forty years, typically spanning two key areas.
They act as a brokerage that connects UK businesses with appropriate lenders for a wide variety of asset financing and have clients ranging from £500,000 to £50 million in turnover. They also lend their own funds, both through storybook lending and short-term VAT lending for long-standing customers, managing a total portfolio of around £100 million through the brokerage, and £35 million on their own book.
Victor Finance needed a proactive tool to monitor their portfolio and improve their credit decision-making process. They wanted to make data-driven decisions to protect the integrity of their lending profile with real-time insights to reduce the risk of arrears and legal issues.
Victor Finance recognised the potential to take advantage of the more comprehensive services Red Flag Alert had to offer, as well as tools to enhance their strategic decision making for sales and growth. They decided to explore RFA's offerings, starting with our Portfolio Management tool and real-time reporting features.
“We started using the Portfolio Management tool in Red Flag Alert, and that allowed us to set up a reporting function to monitor all the customers that we lend money to. Now we’re ahead of the game, receiving information as soon as it becomes available.
“We get reports through on a daily basis, whereas before the team would have to manually go and find the information – it’s been a massive game changer for us.
“The difference between Red Flag Alert and some competitors that we’ve used is that they feel more like a credit check tool. The in-depth information that Red Flag Alert gives us is on a different level. It’s much more beneficial, and helps us identify opportunities as well as potential risk,” said Barry
Another major advantage has been the ability to use Red Flag Alert’s Growth Score to inform and shape business development strategies. By identifying businesses with strong growth potential, Victor Finance can target those most likely to require additional asset financing, thereby maximising their sales efforts.
“The Growth Score is a great feature for us, so we can identify businesses that are struggling but also those that are thriving. We use it to focus our efforts on businesses that are succeeding, as well as those that need additional cash flow support,” said Barry.
“It has allowed us to be more strategic in terms of how we’re approaching not only arrears but also dealing with opportunities.”
In addition to monitoring arrears, Victor Finance also makes use of Red Flag Alert’s IDV and AML services to further streamline their processes and increase due diligence on lending decisions.
"Our new process allows us to be ahead of the game with identifying potential challenges on our own book. Importantly we receive vital info ASAP when any significant changes occur within a company in terms of cashflow, like senior personnel changes, new companies being set etc"
Barry Nicol
Sales and Operation Manager at Victor Finance
Victor Finance’s real-time monitoring of their lending portfolio gives them the ability to make proactive decisions that are better-informed, reducing the risk of arrears and costly legal issues. This early identification has increased operational efficiency, saved on internal resource, and helped them to provide excellent customer support.
“We recently had an incident where a striking off order was put against one of our customers. The customer themselves was unaware - and they only found out through Red Flag Alert contacting us with a notification.
Once we queried it with the customer, they spoke to an accountant and got it sorted. They had no knowledge of it until we contacted them, and that was all because of Red Flag Alert,” shared Barry.
Leveraging Red Flag Alert’s data and the Growth Score helps Victor Finance focus on highly targeted business opportunities, with excellent market segmentation to drive more strategic and successful sales efforts. With our solution in place, Victor Finance is much better equipped to make timely and informed decisions, and they expect the benefits to continue to grow as they integrate RFA into their broader systems, including their CRM.
“Red Flag Alert helps us monitor our lending book so we can make better credit decisions and reduce arrears, which in turn helps save time and money.
“We’ve saved significant time and resources already, and over the next 12 months, we anticipate an even greater impact as we continue to use the system more extensively.
“We’re looking forward to integrating RFA with our CRM and expanding its use across the company. The feedback from the team has been fantastic, and we’re excited about the potential for even greater benefits,” Barry concluded.
Victor Finance’s partnership with Red Flag Alert has transformed their approach to managing both lending risk and sales opportunities. Using real-time reporting, proactive notifications, and strategic Growth Scores, Victor Finance has enhanced their decision-making processes, improved their portfolio management, and created more targeted sales efforts.
Make sure you stay ahead of the game by identifying potential challenges in your client book with the Red Flag Alert credit risk solution.
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