United Trust Bank signs three-year deal with verifi for virtual asset inspections

United Trust Bank (UTB) has signed a three-year agreement with verifi to deploy its remote asset inspection technology across the bank’s Asset Finance operations.

The partnership will enable UTB to carry out virtual asset inspections, with the aim of reducing the time required to verify assets and helping to speed up funding for brokers and SME customers.

UTB’s Asset Finance division provides funding for hard assets including heavy plant, construction and agricultural machinery, commercial vehicles and prestige cars.

Traditionally, verifying the existence and condition of an asset can require physical site visits followed by manual reporting and analysis. Under the new arrangement, verifi’s self-certifi platform will allow brokers and customers to capture structured asset data and imagery remotely, with the information reported directly to UTB.

The bank will also use spuuf, verifi’s image authenticity technology, to validate images submitted during the inspection process. This is designed to provide additional assurance over proof of existence while enabling UTB’s underwriting teams to receive asset information more quickly.

Nathan Mollett, Managing Director – Asset Finance at United Trust Bank, said:

“Our Asset Finance business continues to grow rapidly because we listen to our broker partners and invest in technology that makes doing business with UTB simpler, faster, and more secure.

“Legacy physical inspections have long been an operational bottleneck in our space. Committing to a three-year strategic partnership with verifi allows us to remove much of that friction.

“It gives our underwriters high-quality, reliable asset data in minutes, enabling us to deliver the speed our brokers demand without compromising on asset security.”

The agreement follows a period of expansion for UTB’s Asset Finance business and forms part of its wider investment in technology to support underwriting and broker service.

The bank recently launched Stance Asset Finance, which operates alongside UTB’s core Asset Finance division and targets customers whose requirements fall outside the bank’s standard lending criteria.

Jonathan Garnett, co-founder of verifi, said the technology was intended to support rather than replace lenders’ underwriting expertise.

“Our role is to act as a seamless additional gear, removing the friction of data collection so UTB’s lending experts can work with additional confidence about the assets they are funding,” he said.

“Agreeing a 3-year partnership with UTB is a fantastic validation of our platform, and we are excited to support their continued growth.”