The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (ELFF) released the “2024 Industry Future Council (IFC) Report: Promoting Innovation and Experimentation in Equipment Finance.” The study focuses on the growing role of technology and innovation in the equipment finance industry and the risks and opportunities associated with them over the next three to five years.

The facilitated discussions of this year’s IFC participants identified three key areas to consider in developing the strategy for a company’s optimal level of technology deployment and innovation:

• Customer preferences for personalized engagement — The study reveals that 80% of customers say that the experience a company provides is as important as the actual products and services they provide, and 78% expect companies to adapt to their changing needs and preferences.
• Employee experimentation with new technologies in a structured, coordinated manner — Equipment finance firms must be willing to experiment and innovate to stay competitive, and need a defined innovation strategy that prioritizes experimentation that’s not at the expense of a firm’s core strengths.
• Cybersecurity risk recognition and management — Building on previous work commissioned by the foundation on cybersecurity practices and combatting fraud, the IFC concluded that an effective cybersecurity posture requires a combination of people, processes and technologies.

“While the equipment finance industry has traditionally been slow to adopt cutting-edge technology, our future success relies on our ability to embrace new advancements,” Zack Marsh, chair of the ELFF and senior vice president, accounting and analysis at AP Equipment Financing, said. “The foundation hopes that the IFC’s work influences equipment finance leaders to develop their own innovation strategies that lead to increased experimentation with emerging technologies so the industry is better positioned to thrive in the years ahead.”

This year’s IFC report was written by Keybridge, an economics and public policy research firm. The IFC is comprised of a cross-section of equipment finance industry executives who participated in a full group brainstorming session and four breakout team sessions to further facilitate discussion.

The IFC report, sponsored by Equifax, LTi Technology Solutions and Solifi, is available for free download at https://bit.ly/ELFFIFC.