UK-based specialist lender Simply Asset Finance has launched a fully automated, end-to-end lending journey in the UK asset finance market, enabling loan applications to move from submission to payout in under eight minutes.
The new functionality integrates with the firm’s existing relationship-led model and is powered by its digital AI agent, Kara. Built on an API-first architecture, the system aggregates and analyzes data across sales, underwriting, and payout processes, conducting credit decisions and compliance checks within minutes.
The initial rollout targets a select group of vendor partners with pre-approved credit lines. These partners can draw down against their facilities and complete asset purchases through the automated workflow, while retaining access to on-demand support from Simply’s lending specialists. The lender said early results indicate payout times could be reduced by up to 85%, compared with traditional processes.
The development comes amid broader digitisation efforts across the UK’s SME lending market, where turnaround times and administrative burden have long been cited as barriers to growth. Asset finance, in particular, has typically relied on manual documentation and multi-stage approvals, contributing to delays between application and disbursement.
Ylva Oertengren, chief operating officer at Simply Asset Finance, said the initiative reflects the company’s focus on customer growth rather than balance sheet expansion. “For too long SMEs have had to make do with long, complicated application processes, taking them away from focusing on growing their businesses,” she said. “By supplementing our digital capabilities with the AI embodied in Kara, we are breaking new ground to deliver a massive step up in customer experience.”
John Wiles, managing director at Simply Asset Finance, described the pilot with vendor partners as a strategic step in scaling funding distribution through intermediaries. “This fully automated journey enables our strategy to scale funding distribution efficiently through our partners,” he said, adding that the technology is designed to complement, rather than replace, the lender’s relationship-based approach.
The next phase of the rollout will extend the automated journey to the company’s wider partner and customer base, with the aim of reducing administrative overhead and accelerating access to funds across its product range.
If adopted more broadly, such end-to-end automation could signal a shift in expectations within the UK asset finance sector, where speed, integration, and embedded decisioning are increasingly viewed as competitive differentiators in SME lending.