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Small and medium-sized businesses across Australia can now access funding more quickly, as Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) introduces a range of digital improvements to its asset finance offering. The upgrades are designed to reduce delays and support business investment as confidence begins to return.
CBA has launched conditional pre-approvals for eligible small-business customers seeking car or equipment finance up to $500,000, requiring no additional documentation. Same-day approvals are also available for qualifying customers financing equipment, vehicles, and machinery.
Additionally, eligible customers can receive instant digital documentation for standard assets up to $1 million, allowing them to sign and finalise agreements on the same day. For brokers, virtual inspections via Redbook Inspect are being offered to further improve turnaround times.
“At the start of the year, there was a cohort of business owners who delayed decisions to invest in a vehicle or a new piece of equipment for their business because of concerns about the economy, geopolitical uncertainty and the continued pressures from higher cost of living,” said general manager, asset finance, Renee Theodor.
“However, we have seen momentum tick up over the past month and I expect this to continue post the Federal Election, particularly with the end of the financial year approaching and the extension of the Government’s $20,000 Instant Asset Write Off for another 12 months.”
New research from East & Partners revealed that more than 50 per cent of businesses had delayed vehicle purchases for between six and 12 months. Improved cash flow outlook (56.5 per cent) and a stronger economy (37 per cent) were the top factors that could motivate businesses to bring forward their investment plans.
“While many businesses remain cautious, inflation is moderating and CBA’s economists maintain the base case view that there will be a 25-basis point interest rate cut in May,” Theodor said.
“I think the combination of easing inflation, some certainty around the domestic political landscape, and tax-planning decisions ahead of the end of financial year, will all be considerations for businesses to make investments in their productivity.
“What we hear from customers over and over is that their investments in new assets drive productivity growth through things like time savings, energy efficiency, speed, computerisation, automation.”
According to the research, 94.4 per cent of business decision-makers cited speed to approval and settlement as their top priority.
“We are very focused on ensuring access to capital to help drive productive capacity and for small and medium-sized businesses, this means making it simpler and easier to access funds,” Theodor said.
“We know that when a business is ready to make the leap and invest in that asset, they want speed and simplicity in their car and equipment finance, that’s why we’ve recently made conditional pre-approvals available for eligible small business customers with a car or equipment finance need. This means we’re able to assess the customer based on their history with us, with no additional documentation required.
“CBA business bankers can also deliver same-day approvals for eligible small business customers who want to finance cars, vans, light trucks and a wide range of equipment and machinery, enabled by CBA’s leading small business platform BizExpress.
“Another improvement we have made is instant, digital documentation for standard assets valued up to $1 million. This means our bankers can generate documentation instantly after approval on most applications, and it can all be executed digitally the same day for eligible customers with a car or equipment finance need. So, when customers are ready to buy that new asset, it’s possible to receive a decision and complete their asset finance documentation on the same day.
“For brokers, we’ve introduced virtual inspections with Redbook Inspect to help speed up the process in situations where we need to conduct inspections of assets. Redbook Inspect delivers consistent, high-quality reports, greater flexibility and convenience to both customers and brokers – so it’s a win-win. It’s all part of how we’re investing in automation to cut our turn-around times and deliver faster approval and funding for our customers.”
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