KeyFleet Introduces Fleet Financing Solution

U.K. fleet management company KeyFleet is rounding out its offering with added financing capabilities. Reports in The Business Desk on Thursday (Sept. 20) said KeyFleet is rolling out KeyFinance, a division of the business dedicated to linking fleet managers using its solution to financing offerings. The company has reportedly already secured investments from 20 banks in the U.K. to finance the commercial funding.

The unit is targeting small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and will offer a range of funding and asset types, the company noted. Like many alternative finance players in the U.K., KeyFinance is aiming to link SMBs to financing they might not otherwise be able to obtain via traditional bank loans.

The unit will be headed by commercial finance expert Liam Mulligan, reports said.

“Liam has the drive and expertise to lead KeyFinance, and our existing customers are very receptive to the fact that we can now help them in a broader way,” said Marc Mcloughlin, KeyFleet founder and managing director, according to the publication. “He shares the KeyFleet ethos of offering a friendly and transparent service, helping local businesses to access deals that are right for them.”

Mulligan said, “KeyFleet looks after thousands of businesses for fleet, and their sourcing and funding of cars or vans. A lot of these clients now want to fund HGV, forklifts, warehouses, invoices and more, so it’s great that we can help on other levels. We ‘hold-hand’ all our clients from the beginning, so we build trust and gain a deep understanding of their business quickly.”

Fleet and finance are two functions of the enterprise that are deeply interconnected, yet FinTech experts say these aspects are often struggling to integrate with each other. Earlier this year, Fleet Advantage released a survey that found more than one third of fleet management professionals lack the ability to adequately communicate with other members of their firms’ finance departments. It prevents them from delivering key insight into fleet spend, researchers noted.