Lombard joins fight against fraud through Acquis Lumia participation

isaac Ian new — Ian Isaac, Managing Director of Lombard

Acquis Data Services has announced that Lombard has joined Acquis Lumia, a central register of asset finance borrowing designed to reduce fraud in the industry.

Lombard joins the first wave of significant industry players to subscribe to Acquis Lumia, a solution created in response to the Arena Television fraud which impacted as many as 50 lenders in the UK asset finance industry. Acquis Lumia was developed with industry collaboration in order to reduce lending risk.

Effective immediately, Lombard will work with Acquis Data Services and other parties to provide the necessary data points required to help provide lessors with greater transparency when making lending decisions. Lumia does this by providing an anonymised debt register of a company’s asset finance exposure.

James Rudolf, Director of Acquis Data Services, commented: “Lombard signing up to the Lumia register is a tipping point for the service. As the market leader, Lombard has taken a proactive role in demonstrating the industry takes fraud seriously and is willing to collaborate for the greater good. The momentum this provides is welcomed, and with many other providers already on board, Lumia is truly a valuable new service built by the industry for the industry.”

Ian Isaac, Managing Director of Lombard, added: “Acquis Lumia personifies collaboration. It’s helping the industry unite towards a common cause, and it’s only right that we join this action. The industry can do more together to fight fraud, and Lumia is a simple solution that does this – it made perfect sense for us to get on board and demonstrate our commitment to working together.”

“There is tremendous value in the data. Lending always carries an element of risk, but by uniting and providing us all with market-wide data, lessors can be more confident in their decisions. To not get involved would be risking the future health of our industry; we’re delighted to be an early adopter.”