Secure Trust Bank plc, part of the
Arbuthnot group, has made its first venture into the non-prime
point-of-sale motor finance market with the launch of a
dealer-based service through Moneyway, its consumer finance
arm.
Moneyway began lending to dealers on 3
February, although the decision to set up a motor finance offering
focusing on non-prime and near-prime customers was only made in
November, said CEO Gary Jennison.
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Arbuthnot had looked at buying defunct
non-prime lender Blue Motor Finance from backer Merrill Lynch at
the end of 2008, but the negotiations ultimately came to
nothing.
However, Chris Jones, former risk director at
Blue, has taken on a similar role at the newly-launched finance
provider.
Moneyway aims to lend between £4 million (€4.5
million) and £5 million per month by the end of this year, and
around £10 million per month by the end of 2010, Jennison said.
Meanwhile at parent bank Arbuthnot Latham,
there has been no shortage of interest in yacht finance this year,
with lower values – at least for some yachts – making 2009
“potentially a very good time to lend”, according to the managers
of its private client finance team, Stewart Dick and Gillian
Keeler.
Keeler and Dick said that lending now, based
on what are presumably very conservative valuations, could mean
good things for a lender’s security cover once asset values begin
to recover, meaning a correspondingly lower loan-to-value
ratio.
Arbuthnot has also seen an increase in
applications from clients using yachts and overseas homes – both of
which are financed by the UK bank – as security for loans.
They are using such loans as a way of freeing
up liquidity for personal or business use, possibly with a view to
taking advantage of bargains they see in the current difficult
market.
