NETSOL Technologies
How Netsol Technologies Helps Companies Transform Their Asset Financing And Leasing Operations

Consumer mobility is undergoing a paradigm shift as the sharing economy is creating exciting new business models with the proliferation of digital services. Taking into consideration the emerging trend among customers in the asset finance sector to switch from vehicle ownership to usage-based services, the demand for improved price transparency alongside flexible ownership has increased several folds. On-demand mobility models have taken center stage in the automotive industry as they not only allow businesses to participate in an efficient transport economy but also provide commuters with convenient, fast, and affordable transportation.

Although on-demand mobility is a rapidly growing segment in the global auto ecosystem, automotive captives are still struggling to cope up with residual risk management and lease pricing. The critical risks associated with financing vehicle purchases—be they lease or loan, prime or subprime, fleet or individual, new or used—are invariably realized when cars are sold into the secondary auto market.

On the one hand, the primary transaction needs to be as economical as possible, putting pressure on the Residual, but if set too high, unanticipated losses can materialize later when the car is sold.

Like several others who are facing residual risk challenges, a tier 1 automotive vendor captive based in California was dealing with off-lease inventory problems. They needed a solution to monetize their cars coming off lease more effectively before selling them at auction.The automotive captive needed to make sure that the Kelley Blue Book (a California-based vehicle valuation and automotive research company) value and the street value of the car in the wholesale market are closely aligned. Perfectly poised to address these challenges was NETSOL Technologies [NASDAQ: NTWK], a global provider of IT and enterprise application solutions suited for the operational needs of finance and leasing companies.

Unleashing the Power of an Innovative Platform

NETSOL Technologies provided the automotive captive with its On-Demand Mobility platform, OTOZ (pronounced “Autos”). It aims to maximize the lifetime value of an auto asset by harnessing the collective power of the sharing economy.

“We came up with a business model that greatly reduces the residual risk by continuing to generate revenue after the lease is up and more closely matches the book value with the street value of the car when that car is ultimately sold in the secondary market. OTOZ is transforming the way cars are being used as it is redefining the car ownership paradigm,” asserts Douglas Jones, Vice President Operations at NETSOL Technologies.

OTOZ Smart Mobility Platform leverages Blockchain-based technologies and smart contracts to log vehicles and trips digitally. It also provides a digital token (OTOZ Mobility Coin) for incentivized customer behavior and data sharing within the OTOZ ecosystem. More specifically, the platform utilizes blockchain-related applications in various customer use cases, including providing a registry for assets, which creates a “Digital Passport” for every car that’s registered on it. Additionally, the platform integrates state-of-the-art technologies such as machine learning, AI, IoT-based telematics, and data analytics to drive insights around customer driving behavior and asset utilization. “We understand the potential of fleet and peer-to-peer car-sharing by bridging the gap between car owners and someone who doesn’t own but needs one. With OTOZ, we are transforming personal mobility and successfully achieving our goal of increasing the profitability of each car,” explains Jones.

An Adaptive Enterprise with Versatile Solutions

The OTOZ platform is targeted toward captive auto finance companies within larger auto sector organizations, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), fleet operators, and private car owners. It is a platform that allows car dealers, OEMs, auto finance companies, as well as car users to create supply and demand for cars that are connected, insured, fueled, charged, cleaned, accessible, and ready for short term journeys. The SaaS-based platform even allows its customers to experiment and improve their mobility services model using a scalable and agile architecture built on micro-services. Moreover, through the aggregation of shared data across platform customers, OTOZ also utilizes a digital marketplace that identifies key services that benefit end customers based on their specific business assets.

Apart from this, the company offers its next-gen product, NFS Ascent, digitally enabled through NFS Digital. NFS Ascent is an Adaptive Platform for the evolving global asset finance and leasing industry. It consists of three fully integrated applications that make up the full end-to-end lifecycle; Wholesale Finance System (WFS), Omni Point-of-Sale (POS), and the Contract Management System (CMS). The product offers enterprise-level security for applications and databases with an automated Business Process Manager and advanced business rule engine. It is designed to improve productivity, performance, and responsiveness, while integrating into a customer’s current technology framework and infrastructure seamlessly. On the other hand, NFS Digital is an effective tool that mobilizes users by empowering the field operatives and sales teams.

The company’s suite of applications is backed by 40 years of domain expertise and supported by a committed team of over 1,300 professionals placed in eight strategically located support and delivery centers throughout the world. NETSOL Technologies assists companies in transforming their finance and leasing operations by providing an innovative and fully automated asset-based finance solution that covers the complete leasing and finance lifecycle. The company has also launched an OTOZ Innovation Lab, which is designed to enhance the reach of its Ascent platform into car-share opportunities with existing as well as new auto captive finance customers. “Innovation is in our DNA, and unlike some of our competitors, we are completely focused on asset finance. As the very first global supplier to have a digital strategy, we aim to continue bringing new tools with advanced capabilities to the market for our customers to benefit with,” concludes Jones.