Pitney Bowes Inc. announced Wheeler Financial, from Pitney Bowes, a new subsidiary of the Pitney Bowes Bank, Inc. This new subsidiary will help clients purchase new equipment and services critical to the industries in which they operate with loans, leases and other financial structures.
“We understand our client’s needs for capital are growing,” said Christopher Johnson, Senior Vice President and President, Pitney Bowes Financial Services. “The market’s ability to meet that need is actually shrinking. With the launch of Wheeler Financial, we are committed to investing in our clients’ growth by helping them acquire the assets essential to their business operations.”
Focused on non-captive equipment, this investment in the sustainability and growth of small and medium businesses comes at an opportune time. According to the most recent National Center for Middle Market Indicator, 71 percent of businesses surveyed are planning to invest extra cash into their business. In addition, the FDIC reports that small business loans have declined for 10 straight quarters, while banks with $100M of assets or less decreased by 79 percent between the years 1998 to 2018.
Pitney Bowes also announced a partnership with Genpact, a global professional services firm focused on delivering digital transformation. This partnership allows Pitney Bowes to leverage a best-in-class digital technology platform to expand its lending capabilities, the company said. Through Genpact’s business-process-as-a-service (BPaaS) capability, one of the first of its kind in the equipment finance market, Pitney Bowes’ will offer its clients an equipment finance platform. This managed services operating model will allow Wheeler Financial to scale quickly and meet market and customer needs in a flexible and agile manner.
“Pitney Bowes has the reach, distribution and capital to continue to invest in the needs of our clients,” said Marc B. Lautenbach, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pitney Bowes. “Our partnership with Genpact gives us a digital technology platform and innovative business model to deliver a cost efficient, seamless customer experience. We are building a stronger future together with our clients for mutual growth.”
Genpact brings its decades-long operations experience in equipment finance to provide digital technology, process expertise, and portfolio and customer operations support. Through its digital business platform Genpact Cora, Genpact is committed to transforming and innovating the technology that supports the equipment finance market, leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotic process automation.
“Equipment leasing is a dynamic industry with changing market conditions that demand agile, efficient operations—especially critical to meet the needs of small and medium-sized business that often operate on tight margins,” said NV "Tiger" Tyagarajan, Genpact President and Chief Executive Officer. “The innovative BPaaS model we are creating with Pitney Bowes leverages digital technology and advanced analytics to provide faster and better access to data enabling smarter, quicker, and more strategic asset financing decisions along with superior customer experience.”
Focused on financing for equipment beyond what Pitney Bowes manufactures, Wheeler Financial provides flexible financing solutions for multiple needs of small and medium businesses and is committed to investing in clients’ sustainability and growth.
“Continuing our history of innovation, we are taking a new approach to the equipment finance market,” Johnson said. “In partnering with Genpact, we can access both digital, best in class technology, and managed services that allow us to be more agile and cost efficient in the marketplace. This allows us to gain scale efficiently to meet our client's needs. This partnership adds an important additional dimension to our competitiveness.”
Wheeler Financial is named in honor of Walter Wheeler, who served Pitney Bowes for over four decades in roles such as salesman, European representative, general manager, CEO and Chairman.
Pitney Bowes Financial Services has been providing commercial lending opportunities and solutions to purchase Pitney Bowes equipment for more than 30 years; financing over $10 billion to date. The Pitney Bowes Bank, Inc., Member FDIC, resides in Salt Lake City, Utah and was established in 1997 to facilitate buying of U.S. postage – a form of currency. Pitney Bowes clients can access extended lines of credit for postage, supplies, shipping expenses and postal equipment rental. In addition, they can hold deposit accounts and earn interest while they prepay for postage services.
Pitney Bowes is continuing to reinvest in its financial services business as it makes resources available to its significant small and medium size business client base. The company has facilitated commerce for nearly 100-years and is committed to having a positive impact on local communities and jobs.