Donald Wampler,
Managing Director, Equipment Finance,
Apex Commercial Capital

As a leader, Donald Wampler, managing director of Equipment Finance at Apex Commercial Capital, a Firstrust Bank subsidiary, enjoys helping others succeed. He always tries to lead by example, never asking his team to do anything that he would not do or has not already done in his career. “I still enjoy getting down in the trenches and working with our sales team to develop new opportunities and assisting our marketing team with new ideas. I also continue to travel, developing new business and building awareness for Apex’s products and services,” Wampler says.

Wampler shares that Apex has been successful in delivering on its 2023 goals, one of which was to improve their use of technology to better the user experience for its business partners and customers. The company will soon implement a new front-end and back-end system. Apex also recently launched its new website, apexcommercial. com, which will allow business partners and customers to apply online and access everything they need whenever they need it.

Apex’s top priorities as a company are to provide the industry with leading customer service and to invest in its employees. Following its success this year, Apex’s long-term goal is to research and implement future services and products that will allow the company to grow, and its employees to thrive, all while continuing to provide exceptional service to its business partners and customers.

When asked about the current industry buzz around artificial intelligence, Wampler shared his thoughts on the near and far future of Apex and equipment finance in the technological space. He believes that while AI is still very new in the marketplace, it could be beneficial for finance companies looking to grow their businesses more efficiently in the future. “More and more companies in our industry are beginning to implement AI tools behind their underwriting, customer service and fraud prevention,” Wampler says. “We live in a world where everyone wants everything now. Lenders that do not invest in ways to offer faster credit decisions and immediate answers to customer service-related matters are not going to be very successful for very long.”

“I am by no means responsible for [our senior leaders’] successes, but I would like to think I was an asset to them on their journey.”