Toyota Financial Services Ireland: SOFT4Leasing offers the ability to react quickly to changing market needs

Toyota Financial Services Ireland (TFSIR) is SOFT4’s customer since November 2019. The company’s vision is to create value for its customers by enabling freedom of movement and to be the first-choice finance provider for their dealers, in addition to attracting, developing, and retaining an engaged and innovative workforce. TFSIR business is mostly HP finance to individuals (majority of their customer base) and small enterprises. This is supporting the retail business of their Distributor, where they remain the number 1 in the country in terms of market share. TFSIR is looking at relaunching its business lease offerings in line with its Global Mobility Strategy (https://global.toyota/en/company/messages-from-executives/details/).

TFSIR manages operating leases, hire purchases, and short-term rental car finance in the SOFT4Leasing system.

We interviewed Myles Harris, Director of Operations at Toyota Financial Services Ireland, on the team’s journey with SOFT4Leasing, the lessons learned, and the benefits received.

What caused you to think about and search for new leasing software?

We initially entered the Irish market offering 2 products that were the main offerings in the market, PCP and HP.  1 year in, we wanted to expand our offerings to include Operating Lease as there was a market trend of ownership to usage. It was also to meet a TFS Global Mobility Strategy.

What criteria impacted your decision to go with SOFT4Leasing?

The following were key considerations for system selection, and SOFT4 scored the highest points across all the measures that we were assessing:

• Front and back office to be one connected system.
• Have a strong capability for digitalization.
• Cost-effective, i.e., no costly upgrades in the future.
• Strong data capture, reporting, and analytical capabilities.
• System should be considered as a possible replacement for our retail CMS (which we then undertook 3 years after first going live with SOFT4)
• The provider can deliver and advise on future technology enhancements.

What about SOFT4Leasing do you like best? What business goals have it helped you to achieve?

The system is based on a flexible architecture (note: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central platform), which offers the ability to react quickly to changing market needs. Developing solutions to improve our existing products, i.e., multi-asset and value-added products, is also possible.

Do you have anything to say about your project and support teams?

Both teams are a pleasure to work with. Very friendly and understanding of our requirements. I found the project team extremely knowledgeable to the extent that they would add some valuable questions when unpacking our requirements in the blueprint document. My only concern here is the over-reliance on only a few team members, i.e., if our key development person had to take ill or even had to leave SOFT4, it would have been a risk to the project. The support team has not been as knowledgeable as the project team but is always willing to listen, learn, and come back with solutions when the requirement is understood. I think many of our requirements in the retail HP business have been new to the team.

What would be your wish for the SOFT4Leasing team on our product’s 20^th anniversary?

I have already recommended your company to our Regional Office as an approved solution for Toyota Financial Services across Europe. This will require some development on your end to meet TFS needs, especially as we develop our mobility strategy through the Kinto Brand. On the back of this, I can only wish you all the best as you grow from strength to strength, developing your product to meet your customers’ needs.

Thanks a lot for having this conversation and we appreciate you as our valued customer!