Author: rdelavictoria

  AI has quickly gone from an emerging technology to a mature one, with its impact being felt in just about every industry. Much of the discussion around AI is eclipsed by anxiety and concern about the prospect of potential job losses, as experts fear the impact of AI’s often superior performance over human performance in many sectors.  

However, the conversation is evolving, and fear is slowly turning to deeper understanding and acceptance that, while AI will inevitably mean certain jobs will be more efficiently and cost-effectively carried out by machine-learning technology, in other sectors it will also lead to new jobs and resources being created and required in businesses. Furthermore, tech experts say that AI can potentially free up humans to do more strategic, higher-level work and augment many business functions.   

Humans will still have an important role in shaping and guiding the technology. Forbes magazine cuts through some of the confusion and moral panic around the ‘AI revolution’ and cites evidence for improvements to business: ‘revolution’ is actually a 60-year evolution of the use of increasingly sophisticated statistical analysis to assist in a wide variety of business decisions, actions, and transactions. It has been called ‘data mining’, ‘predictive analytics’ and, most recently, ‘data science’.  Last year, a survey of 30,000 American manufacturing establishments found that “productivity is significantly higher among plants that use predictive analytics”.  

Take the world of auto and equipment finance as a prime example: AI is already being adopted in the analysis and collection of data, creating a more streamlined, efficient and more user-friendly journey for the borrower and for brokers. After all, AI is simply learning from the data.  

How will AI benefit the end user exactly?  

Today’s consumers need speed and convenience in virtually every experience. They are busier, contend with more distractions and, as a result, are less willing to wait than in years past.  

In an increasingly competitive lending landscape, it is essential that lenders optimise decision-making for efficiency and effectiveness to better serve borrowers.    

Put simply, AI can enhance the customer experience in three main ways:  

• Make the customer journey easier and improve the customer experience
• Remove biases in decision making  
• Detect fraud.  

AI set to improve the customer journey at Metro 

Metro is moving forward at pace with its AI plans to improve the lending experience for its customers and brokers.   

The company has recently employed David Bridges in a newly created Chief Information Officer (CIO) role with an AI rollout forming a significant part of his remit. Other resources have also been deployed by Metro to formally progress the technological and AI transformation program of the company.  

David says: “Our plans to deploy AI into our systems will ultimately reduce the time and number of touchpoints for customer requests and processing, approvals and complaints.”

Metro will have a platform to collect more data, known in AI as a Large Language Model (LLM), to create a complete customer identity and profile that will create the streamlining and efficiencies across the lending processes.   

Metro’s Head of Servicing, Raj Kripal, says the company’s AI plans will lead to a more tailored approach to customer service.

“With the new LLM, we can tailor a response based on the data collected to build on our features and this will improve the novated leasing experience for customers. With this technology we can streamline credit assessment and complaints management.

“We are leveraging AI to recommend specific Metro products to make for a more personalised recommendation and to make life easier for our customers,” Raj says.

Why is Metro adopting AI?

Metro is going full steam ahead with AI because it sees the opportunity and potential for digital transformation to enhance the services it provides and to capture wider audiences. The obvious reason which has already been covered is the speed with which operations can be carried out through AI deployment. But there are other clear advantages.   

Research from the London School of Economics and Political Science shows the need for accelerated digital transformation by brands and organisations to meet Gen Y and Gen Z expectations. These cohorts display a lack of tolerance for slowness in communication, a frustration with legacy solutions and the inability to expediently source information.  

“We are actively targeting Gen Z with this technology, as we see AI’s appeal to younger audiences who increasingly seek a more automated, digitised approach to finance, and we want to capture more of that market,” Raj says. 

Metro emphasises that automation and digitisation and high-quality customer service are not mutually exclusive.

David says: “AI will enhance the SME experience, create a more tailored broker experience with innovation in operating systems, without replacing the human-to-human customer service experience – which is Metro’s major differentiator in the market.

“Leveraging AI for a speedier and more personalised customer journey is human-centric and that is at Metro’s core.” 

At Metro, as a leading provider of asset finance, consumer car loans and novated leases, we take pride in being a reliable, resourceful and innovative alternative to traditional bank lenders. We lend $1.5-2 billion per year through an Australia-wide network of specialist brokers and salary packagers. Our team drives this success and upholds the values that make Metro a great place to work and do business. We foster trust, open communication, collaboration and cross-training opportunities.

But don’t take our word for it. We would like to introduce four valued team members, who o explain why they came to Metro and stayed. From a career-driven credit analyst to innovative, people-centred Business Development Managers, and our ever-evolving social committee chair, these are some of the people who make Metro unique.

Julia Thorn, Credit Analyst, Metro employee since January 2021. Moving sideways, then upwards: Julia Thorn doesn’t wait for opportunities to find her, she goes looking and takes control.

“Before coming to Metro, I worked with another financer for more than four years. It was extremely difficult to change departments or obtain credit training while I was there. I spent my time being the best employee I could possibly be, then, as a last resort, decided to change employers to gain the experience I was after.

“I moved sideways into a similar role at Metro and after 12 months, I was promoted to a Credit Analyst role, then recently to the ‘big ticket’ credit team . This new role increased my exposure to complex deals and requires more in-depth analysis. A typical day includes decisioning deals, taking calls from brokers, and workshopping potential deals that don’t fit within our standard policy requirements which require additional risk mitigation, structuring and information. I also review variations to existing loan contracts such as changes to asset details or guarantee removals.

“Throughout my time at Metro, my managers supported me to develop my knowledge and skills. I’ve had opportunities to work on projects with other departments and attend Metro and industry events, sometimes interstate. Senior staff take the time to train you and generously share their knowledge. Managers want to see you succeed. “I want to keep learning and expand my lending knowledge to other market segments. My experience showed me that you need to seek out and take advantage of learning opportunities as they are not always made available to you.”

Bethany Jolley, Project Coordinator and Social Committee Chair, Metro employee since 2019: From fitness goals and short courses to moving country, home and office, Bethany Jolley is always looking forward.

“I enjoy learning and I am doing it constantly. Before coming to Metro, I was an apprentice for a mortgage brokerage in England, then an advisor at a bank. When I moved to Australia, I got a temporary job with Metro before a permanent opportunity became available. I started as a Customer Service Associate and dedicated that time to learning the business and its systems. I took on extra tasks, showing my dedication and willingness to learn, and was promptly promoted to team leader. “As a team leader, I built on my stakeholder management skills and was exposed to servicing projects, which lead me to my current Project Coordinator role. Project management was not something I had thought about before coming to Metro. I’m dealing

with stakeholders of higher seniority than me and I have had to learn stakeholder management from a different perspective. I get to know stakeholders’ interests, and their influence and impact for every project.

“I have since completed a short course in project management, which motivated me to strive for a Diploma of Project Management. I completed and passed my diploma in May, my next goal is to obtain a university degree and begin to lead my own projects at work.”

“Working at Metro has opened my eyes to a different career path. It motivated me to do further study, and as a side hustle I am the Social Committee Chair. I’ve moved offices and home at the same time, kept fit and ran my first 10km. Metro has a great culture. Management is supportive and there is opportunity for career progression.”  

Brent Potts, Business Development Manager, Metro employee since June 2019: Innovate and accommodate: from building consumer products to providing voiceovers for instructional videos, no job is too big or small for Brent Potts. “My family worked in stock broking and finance, so I was exposed to the industry growing up and always knew it was where I wanted to work. I love helping businesses grow and seeing the transformation from a small operation to a large company. Being a business development manager means I am on the frontline, finding funding solutions so that businesses can gain income-producing assets.

“I started out in Metro’s Customer Service team and, with the support of my managers, have worked my way up to Credit Analyst, then Consumer Sales Specialist and now BDM for Queensland. The industry is constantly changing and being in the sales team means you need to think ahead to develop products and stay at the forefront of innovation.

“Innovation is one of the greatest challenges of the industry, with every finance company trying to outperform each other. Metro’s management team listens to key stakeholders and makes changes quickly in an evolving market. Being involved in building our consumer car loan product would have to be my greatest career achievement so far. It was a big and difficult task, but seeing the transformation from having no consumer product to having consistent consumer deals coming in each week has been rewarding. I get to be involved in so many great projects, some of which I could never have foreseen. I helped put together instructional videos for our brokers about the electronic document process and part of that was doing the voice overs and putting together marketing materials. “Every day is different. That’s what I love most about my role.”

Jessica Clarke, Business Development Manager, Metro employee since 2018. People first: Strong relationships inside and outside of work are key to Jessica Clarke’s career satisfaction and success.

“Strong relationships are key to a successful career in this industry. I enjoy forming relationships not only within the company but outside of it through our broker network. It’s nice to be able to see things from a different perspective. You get closer to the action, so to speak. In my role as a BDM, I meet brokers in person at their office, a cafe or a local watering hole to discuss what is working, what is not working and anything that we can do to help. “I would say making connections has been one of my greatest career achievements.  Outside of that, one of my proudest moments was being maid-of-honour at my best friend’s wedding.

“I’ve been fortunate to have been promoted twice at Metro by showing initiative and expressing interest in products and pathways that Metro was considering introducing or expanding on. I proved that I was ready and willing to dive into an area that was unknown to me. Metro has unwavering confidence in its people. They are open to ideas and opinions, regardless of your title or seniority. It’s a very cohesive working environment.

“Finance and lending will always experience challenges because they are heavily aligned with economic conditions, but all you can do is all you can do. You need to be prepared to navigate the uncertain times and support your brokers and clients with consistent, competitive offerings.”