Plenti enters partnership with major bank

Plenti Group Limited (Plenti) has announced an alliance with major bank NAB, launching a “NAB powered by Plenti” car and electric vehicle (EV) loan, opening up Plenti’s own-branded finance solutions to the major bank’s personal banking customer base.

According to Plenti, this partnership will broaden the consumer finance options available to the major bank’s customers, while bolstering and diversifying revenue streams for both lenders simultaneously.

Under the agreement, both lenders have entered an equity investment agreement that can allow NAB to acquire up to 15 per cent of Plenti’s share capital via placements and market purchases, based on the “achievement of certain milestones”.

The EV loan offering is the initial stage of this partnership that will have NAB responsible for promotion of the co-branded product and funding the loans as a product issuer and will be held on NAB’s balance sheet. The major bank’s credit and relevant policy settings will apply, with credit risk accepted by NAB.

Plenti’s responsibility will be for the provision of loan application experiences, credit assessment, loan settlement, and ongoing loan and customer management.

This “NAB powered by Plenti” offering is direct-to-consumer and is not expected to impact the fintech lender’s existing car loan distribution through mortgage and asset finance brokers or any other third-party channels.

The strategic partnership has an initial term of five years with the possibility to extend for a further five years assuming that both lenders agree.

The EV loan is expected to launch during the first half of 2024.

Founder and chief executive of Plenti, Daniel Foggo, said that the strategic partnership “makes sense” as it brings together “one of Australia’s largest and most trusted financial institutions with one of Australia’s most innovative and awarded financial technology companies”.

“Together we see an opportunity to better serve new and existing customers with car and renewable energy lending products and we’re excited about the potential for future expansion of the strategic partnership over time,” Mr Foggo added.

“This strategic partnership is expected to have a meaningfully positive impact on Plenti’s growth and profitability in future years.”

NAB executive, personal everyday banking Paul Riley commented: “We’re excited to launch our first products with Plenti next year and we look forward to working with Plenti to explore ways to expand the strategic partnership further.

“The use of electric vehicles and environmentally sustainable products in the household is becoming more common in Australian homes and we’re keen to support our customers’ transition to a low emissions future.”

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