SBS appoints US leadership team to drive wholesale finance expansion

Financial technology provider SBS has appointed a US leadership team as it looks to expand its presence in the wholesale and floor plan finance market and help lenders modernise legacy technology ahead of wider AI adoption.

He will work alongside an established US team that has recently added Leigh Revis, who has 15 years’ experience in automotive finance including at Datascan, and Zak Gordon, formerly regional director at NextGear Capital.

The appointments come as SBS expands its US customer base, with Dealer Financial, a floor plan lender serving independent dealerships across South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, among its recent additions.

Dealer Financial has selected SBS to modernise its wholesale finance operations.

SBS said many wholesale lenders continue to operate separate systems for functions including loan origination, dealer onboarding, inventory management and auditing. This can require data to be manually combined across different platforms, increasing operational complexity and making it more difficult to introduce AI-based processes.

Its wholesale finance platform brings dealer onboarding, inventory management and floor plan billing together within a single infrastructure, alongside digital auditing capabilities designed to replace paper-based inventory inspections.

According to SBS, consolidating information across the wholesale finance lifecycle can also provide the data foundation needed to introduce AI applications, including greater automation and earlier identification of portfolio risks.

The technology challenge is becoming increasingly important as lenders face pressure from the cost of carrying vehicle inventory. SBS cited data showing that net floor plan expense per vehicle increased 39% in the second quarter of 2025, amid longer vehicle holding periods and higher interest rates.

Spratt said: “Wholesale finance lenders are still running on legacy technology systems that the rest of the financial services industry moved away from years ago.

“Most are still working with data across systems that do not talk to each other, managing audits manually, and all of these siloed systems mean that AI cannot be effective. The lenders that modernize now will be the ones who can use AI as a competitive advantage rather than scrambling to catch up.”

The expansion follows the launch of SBS AI Foundation, which the company is integrating across its products, including its wholesale finance technology. SBS said the functionality is intended to support AI-driven innovation while maintaining risk management and compliance capabilities.

He added: “I have full confidence that this team will help wholesale lenders overcome their biggest technology hurdles today to drive efficiency while also preparing them for AI-driven growth in the years to come.”