Rivals push AI modernisation

Lendscape and JDR Solutions said on April 8 they have teamed up to sell new equipment-finance software to United States lenders trying to replace older core systems. (lendscape.com) The deal gives JDR Solutions’ customer base — banks, captive finance companies and independent equipment-finance providers — access to Lendscape’s platform, which the companies describe as scalable, application-programming-interface-first technology built to support artificial intelligence tools. (equipmentfa.com) JDR Solutions is an outsourced lease-servicing and portfolio-management firm in the United States equipment-finance market, while Lendscape sells commercial-finance software and says it serves more than 120 banks and financial institutions worldwide. (monitordaily.com) (lendscape.com) Equipment finance is the business of funding trucks, machines and other business assets through loans or leases, and the software behind it handles originations, servicing, collections and portfolio reporting. Lenders have long relied on older back-office platforms that can be expensive to modify and hard to connect to newer digital tools. (equipmentfinancenews.com) Lendscape is pitching its system as a way to let lenders modernize without ripping out every existing process at once, saying the platform can integrate with current systems and automate more work over time. (equipmentfinancenews.com) (lendscape.com) The companies framed the partnership around legacy replacement at a moment when finance-technology vendors are pushing lenders to adopt cloud software, application-programming interfaces and artificial-intelligence features in underwriting and operations. Lendscape said in January that Allica Bank had gone live on its lending platform as part of a digital-transformation project, and in March it promoted an executive workshop aimed at turning artificial-intelligence plans into operating changes. (lendscape.com 1) (lendscape.com 2) The announcement did not disclose financial terms, customer commitments or a launch timetable beyond saying JDR clients can now access the offering through the partnership. (lendscape.com) For lenders still running aging equipment-finance platforms, the pitch is straightforward: keep the customer relationships and portfolios in place, but move the operating system underneath them to software built for newer automation tools. (nefassociation.org)