Since 2009, Omni have worked with retailers nationwide to allow customers to spread the cost of their purchases. With their fresh and simple approach to point-of-sale finance, they are one of the UK’s leading providers of consumer credit. Omni has developed a credit score system that delivers high acceptance rates when compared to high street banks and mainstream financial institutions. The success of this model has produced a significant increase in turnover for many of their retailers.

Castle Trust Capital, who are backed by leading US private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co., purchased Omni in 2017 with Castle Trust stating “Its portfolio of retailers creates a unique franchise in the market”. Then in April 2018, Castle Trust released the following statement, “Following continued success, Castle Trust has entered discussions with the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to pursue a banking licence application.

This represents the next phase of growth for Castle Trust, which was originally authorised by the FSA in September 2012. Since then, Castle Trust has offered investment products alongside its mortgage range and now has approximately £750m of assets under management and £660m of bonds outstanding. In 2017, Castle Trust further expanded the offering with the acquisition of Omni Capital Retail Finance.”

The approach

Omni decided to complete the project in phases, initially implementing their decision engine exclusively with one bureau. This facilitated a faster ADP launch with a view to revisiting the multi-bureau model following the successful implementation of phase one. Following the initial sales discussions and contract, the LendingMetrics ADP implementation team took the lead, headed by a client dedicated Project Manager. For continuity, Omni were also allocated the same LendingMetrics person that assisted them during the sales process as their Account Manager.

We are excited that this ADP appointment takes us into yet another sphere of lending

Neil Williams, Chief Technology Officer at LendingMetrics

After setting up the first project call, the Project Managers developed a detailed Project Plan to ensure everyone was aware of their responsibilities and delivery dates for the project to remain on time. Additionally, regular calls took place with lead developers on both sides so that the ADP project ran smoothly. LendingMetrics also provided a consultancy service to help document the current decision engine, to allow ADP to be delivered with the engine fully configured. Training was then provided for their own engine.

The result

Following the delivery of ADP, Omni was then able to integrate it into their sophisticated credit approval system: OmniPort, enabling their customers to purchase immediately at point of sale. The system is paperless and credit applications can be made online, in-store or via mail-order.

With Omni’s state-of-the-art technology, their model provides retailers with the ability to offer finance in-store or online with credit decisions provided within seconds. The system is easy for staff to use and provides the customer with the ability to buy immediately using a paperless e-signature process.