recent press releases
LONDON, NOVEMBER 2004 - Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance has been awarded the 'Best Online and Multi Channel Banking Team' at the European Banking Technology Awards 2004 held at London's Park Lane Hotel on 11th November.
This prestigious award recognises Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance's commitment to excellence in online service and product delivery via the asset based lending ("abl") portal launched in February. The judges, in awarding the prize to Lloyds against stiff competition from Deutsche Bank Global Markets eCommerce, cited the "definite return on investment to enhance competitiveness" as the primary reason for their decision.
The judges further cited an "astonishing" 365% increase in enquiries and an estimated 72,000 businesses now using the portal annually. Lead-to-close conversion time is 53% faster than through traditional sales channels. The portal has become the second largest acquisition channel for Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance after its parent bank branches.
The award winning, multi-channel platform was created by Xbridge, the UK's leading online business finance strategist, which partnered with Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance to revolutionise asset based lending for UK businesses.
Brad Liebmann, Managing Director of Xbridge commented, "We are thrilled to be associated with this award. It recognises Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance's commitment to pioneering new technologies to create a customer-centric, online portal for business customers that is truly world class. The portal's success has been a magnificent team effort - due in no small part to the enthusiasm of the many Commercial Finance team members and regional managers involved."
Liebmann continues, "Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance is already at the forefront of asset based lending and this award cements that. They are the first big lender to really make use of the technology available and it is paying off handsomely."
Ian Byers, Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance Corporate Development Director, who accepted the award on behalf of Commercial Finance, concludes, "We are naturally delighted to win this award which recognises our success in utilising this channel so effectively as part of our marketing programme. The team work between ourselves and Xbridge has been the critical factor in delivering this success. Let's hope we are in the running for this same award next year, because we have already identified further refinements and enhancements that should further increase customer appeal and traffic on our portal over the next few months!"