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Vehicle specialists in banks and leasing companies know that you can put what you like down on paper. Although they check collateralising documents before they grant a loan, they also inspect the vehicles themselves. However, even if both the object and the associated documents exist, the lenders are not protected from standard scams like double, multiple and air financing. For around one decade the institutes have been co-operating by exchanging vehicle data through a joint pool. Before the vehicles go into financing, the ownership status of mobile assets can be clarified rapidly and clearly at the touch of a button. In a standardised escalation process the asset register PS DataCollect informs the finance institutions concerned if a dataset appears in more than one portfolio. The banks and leasing companies can then investigate the matter. They increase the security level in an uncomplicated manner in this way, since the check can be easily integrated into the corporate software. At the same time the quality and topicality of the data repository increases.

With 2.3 million chassis numbers per day and every month more than 900,000 high-quality objects, the data platform has achieved a high audit density over time. The broadly based group of participants includes national companies of international groups, but also mid-sized national players as well as savings banks and VR banks. The high penetration makes it increasingly difficult for fraudsters and companies in distress to conceal the possession status of their collaterals. As a result, the security level has increased. The close exchange between the sectoral participants supports an international organic growth of the prevention network. PS-Team sensitised already at an early stage at forums such as Leaseurope the issue of fraud risks and promoted a joint approach.

Positive experience of the German subsidiaries of French big banks and leasing companies spread quickly within the companies. At present the largest French banks are matching their data through the register. The group of participants is constantly increasing. Both in Germany and in France users joined forces in product advisory boards to develop the platform further and recruit other financing institutions for the prevention network: the French working group was set up in 2017 at the initiative of the French leasing association.

In a close exchange between the platform provider and the users ideas for a practice-oriented upgrade of the software are developed: in regulatory terms the banks are obliged to include their collaterals to a larger extent into the risk assessment. To this end PS DataCollect provides an excellent framework since the mobile assets data are fully covered by the register. At present there are preparations to extend it by a workflow for the valuation of collaterals. Since the process is clearly structured and transparent and since only asset data are matched, it meets international statutory requirements governing risk management and data privacy.

In Western Europe not only the French banks and leasing companies but also the financing institutions from the Benelux countries protect themselves through the data platform. A key role is played by the Dutch NVL Association which has the object financing institutions as members and enjoys an excellent standing for the entire region. A majority of the members participated in a test group last year. “Since the companies associated within NVL finance high-value objects, the loss of a single collateral has a major impact,” says NVL Secretary General Peter-Jan Bentein. “It is part of the mission of our association to prevent damage for its members. In case of fraud this can only be done jointly and as far as possible with an international approach.” At present, the database monitors more than 400,000 objects in this field.

In May 2019 PS-Team opened a branch in Warsaw and followed a request often made by customers based in Germany to accompany their internationalisation with known and proven services and software solutions. This step made it possible for financial institutions to apply with contacts in Poland own individual audit procedures. The register is highly welcomed by the lenders since the investment and consumption-friendly climate in the country boosts the leasing volume – and hence also the risk of fraud with vehicles as collaterals amongst others. PS-Team, therefore, works at full stretch on the rapid extension of the offering on site.

There is no doubt that since the beginning of the 2010s the security level has significantly increased in asset financing. Another quantum leap forward was achieved when the national registers were merged. With this instrument banks and leasing companies are effectively responding to internationally organised fraud. PS-Team will create this year the technological and organisational prerequisites to achieve this. Each single national register is the result of cross-border persuasion efforts – within internationally positioned big banks, within the framework of Leaseurope or across national associations. If these threads are now brought together in an expandable European security network, the competitiveness of the participating institutes increases. Because they can calculate with lower risk costs.

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