Most equipment leasing and finance executives believe blockchain technology is relevant and offers a competitive advantage, but few have acted on it, according to a new report by Deborah Reuben and The Alta Group. The authors of this report advise learning more now and working together to take advantage of the benefits of this revolutionary technology.

Valerie L. Gerard and Shawn D. Halladay of Alta and Deborah Reuben, president of Reuben Creative, produced the survey questionnaire and, with the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s support, surveyed a wide spectrum of ELFA members, including lessors and service providers.

The report, Blockchain Beyond the Hype: Perspective for the Equipment Finance Industry, summarizes the survey results, provides a variety of insights and outlines key recommendations to advance blockchain usage where relevant to this industry.

Alta CEO John C. Deane and Reuben will present some of the report’s key findings while taking part in the Technology Innovation Workgroup Industry Update with Katie Emmel, Chief Operating Officer of IDS, at the ELFA Executive Roundtable, March 11. 

The authors strongly advise the industry to act now – not to lag behind other sectors especially given the potential benefits of blockchain.

“Blockchain is here, and the industry leaders needs to be proactive in deciding whether or not to adopt what’s looking like a revolutionizing technology,” Gerard said. “The equipment leasing and finance industry simply cannot afford to ‘wait and see’ with blockchain.

“CEOs should lead very strategic conversations on this technology within their organizations because it has the potential to affect many areas of the business.”

Other parts of the financial sector are making progress in adopting blockchain, most notably the mortgage and insurance industries and among fintech companies, the report notes. 

“We can take inspiration from innovations happening in other industries and keep in mind that this is about rethinking what we do, eliminating customer experience friction, and understanding the business problems to solve before applying technology,” Reuben said.

“Although the equipment leasing and finance industry may have been slow to adopt technology innovation in the past, our yesterday does not have to dictate our tomorrow, we can find new ways to work together, think different, and innovate to shape the future,” she added.

“The benefits of blockchain to the industry will include greater data security, new cost efficiencies, and the ability to get closer to the customer with shared information,” Halladay said. “Potential use cases cast a wide net from payment processes, ‘Know Your Customer’ initiatives, asset management, syndications and securitization.”

For the full report visit: BlockchainBeyondtheHype.