Why ascend to the cloud
By Travis Melchior A cautious approach to technology is understandable. You don’t want to risk-sensitive customer information falling into the wrong hands simply because you jumped onto a new trend too soon. Security is a major concern for both small and large lessors alike. Before embracing new technology, it’s understandable …
Who owns the data?
By Brendan Read Data is money. It can be used to sell, cross-sell and upsell, like for equipment, add-ons, repairs, service plans and lease renewals. Data also can be sold to third parties. The growing popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT), which collects vast quantities of valuable data from …
Servitization to supplant ownership?
By Brendan Read Traditional ownership of assets and financing for notably automotive, office equipment, healthcare and agricultural products may soon become obsolete, tossed into the recycling bin. In its place will be product-as-a-service, or pay-per-use assets, also known as servitization. Servitization is an alloy of changing customer preferences to an …
Referees of the Digital Age
By Angela Armstrong Fairness isn’t easy. It posits that fairness requires, in some form, a “referee”. So, I started wondering about fairness, and referees, in the digital age. Humans are fallible. But data (at least until it gets interpreted by someone) is arguably neutral. You’ve probably heard of Cambridge Analytica. …
Keeping the goodwill going
By Steve Leer Happy customers make for happy equipment leasing executives. Often that business bliss begins with the frontline customer service representatives who answer lessee phone calls and e-mail messages. Reps just like the seven Toronto, Ont. area women who work for JDR Solutions, Inc. The seven—Lesley Evans, Debbie Forbes, …
The future with CUSMA
By Brendan Read The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), also known as the USMCA will, when, (but increasingly looking like ‘if’) ratified, provide a renewed foundation for trade between all three countries. CUSMA is to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). CUSMA was signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, …
Financing robots
By Brendan Read Robots are taking over the world. Just ask Alexa, or any other virtual assistant. Or when you get into your car: a fair amount of it has been built by their assembly-line “cousins”. According to the Robotic Industries Association (RIA) (www.robotics.org), part of the Association for Advancing …
Executing eSignatures
By Aaron Seaton The execution of legal and administrative documents within lending and asset-based finance is a common task, which can be especially voluminous in equipment finance transactions. These documents are important, but they often lead to massive back-and-forth activities between lenders, obligors and guarantors. One of the big reasons …
CFLA CMO: Uneven growth ahead
By Robin Somerville With so many potential crisis events threatening global trade and security, most economists are even more gloomy than usual about the future. Canada’s economy has not been spared and is expected to grow slower than last year despite continued high population growth, a low unemployment rate and …