Cars and corporate mobility

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Banking and insurance channels to capture small customers

According to Aniasa, the indirect channel accounts for 42 per cent of long-term rental orders and will grow further

30 May 2024

3' min read

The indirect channel, which according to Aniasa today accounts for 42% of all orders for long-term rental contracts, will undergo profound revolutions in the coming years. In addition to the brokers and dealers widely used by renters, insurance agencies and the physical and digital counters of banks represent a very interesting opportunity to approach smaller customers. It can also happen the other way around, i.e. that the charterer is used as a supplier by another entity that proposes and provides the service to the customer.

Indirect channel is in the DNA

Unipol Rental is 80% owned by Unipol Sai and 20% by Bper. The use of insurance agencies and bank branches is therefore in the company's DNA. Unipol's agency channel has a very high territorial coverage and generates one third of the company's fleet. It is made up of entrepreneurs who have understood the importance of diversifying their business. Their approach to the customer is push. They offer their customers the rental product, while also proposing other types of non-automotive insurance coverage. Agents are structured in different ways. Some have set up groups of specialists also by acquiring them from the market, while others grow internal staff.

Unipol's banking channel is fairly recent; it has been active for about a year through the acquisition of Sifà. Unipol Rental is establishing a very direct, almost advisory relationship with banks, supporting them in selling their services to customers. The bank's approach to the customer is different from that of the agent: it is pull. The bank rarely goes out to sell the rental, rather it provides an additional service to its customer.

Direct and Indirect Model

Besides Bnl, which is part of its own group (Bnp Paribas), Arval has other partnerships with the banking market. The main one is with Intesa Sanpaolo, active since 2017, the most recent one is with Iccrea. These partnerships are managed by a dedicated team that follows the relationship and business development by offering support and training to staff. In some cases, partnerships in banking can have a direct model involving proactive action on the part of the bank's network: the agents or managers propose the product to their customers, take care of presenting the most suitable rental offers and, once the dossier has been assessed and the contract signed, Arval takes charge of managing the customer for the entire life cycle of the rental contract. In other cases, on the other hand, the model is indirect and the banks, through their managers and agents, act as generators of opportunities, intercept or create the need and communicate it to Arval, which then liaises with the customer concerned to finalise the contract.

Desk and internet banking

The commercial partnership between Banco Bpm and Alphabet dates back to 2020 and was created with the aim of offering all of the bank's customers, as well as its employees, a range of long-term rental solutions. Thanks to this partnership, Banco Bpm customers can choose the offer, opting for different service packages, from the simplest to the most comprehensive. The service is available both at Banco Bpm branches and on the group's digital internet banking platforms.

Partnership of three

Relying on operators specialising in the sale of leasing by a bank is a smart way to ensure commercial pressure on the sales process. Abordo is the brand that identifies Sella Leasing's long-term rental, which has decided to enter the sector using HubTec, a Nord Est Group technology company with considerable experience in the digital sector of long-term rental. HubTec is the technological owner of rent4you.it and Rent4Business, a platform that ABordo will use to manage the journey of its customers arriving from digital channels, agents and Sella Group companies. Underlying this project is a commercial agreement that Sella Leasing has with Ald Automotive.

Supplier, not pivot

Generali started a pilot project with about 80 insurance agencies to test a distribution model for long-term rental through the agencies themselves. To do this, it has entrusted itself to Moov. The latter, from a contractual point of view, buys all the pieces of the service, i.e. the rental contract (vehicle, financing and assistance) from the long-term renter and the insurance from Generali agents, and resells the complete service to the end customer through a single contract branded Moov-Generali. Moov provides agents with a portal for configuring the rental contract and services, including insurance cover provided by the agents themselves.

The latter are supported in their negotiations with the customer by local and remote staff. Moreover, in the after-sales phase, Moov directly manages the customer relationship. The advantage for the agent is twofold: he sells the insurance coverage inherent in the rental contract and acquires a fee for closing it.