Lloyds Banking Group has become the 41st organisation to join Lumia, the register of asset finance borrowing.

The network, launched in 2022, aims to provide a real-time view of a company’s current asset finance arrangements.

The register has been developed with the support of lessors from across the industry, enabling asset finance providers to identify suspicious or irregular balance sheet borrowing on a large scale and alert lenders to possible fraudulent activity.

"We're proud to be part of the Lumia community, collaborating with the broader industry to reduce risk and enable more informed lending decisions through a collaborative and industry-wide approach," said Neil Temple, head of asset finance, Lloyds Banking Group.

Lloyds is one of the UK’s largest financial services groups, serving over 26 million customers.

The bank established an asset finance division in 2000 which allows businesses to access finance for equipment, vehicle and machinery.

In May, Allica Bank joined the network in a bid to support its core focus of defending against fraud.

Earlier in the year, Metro bank also announced it would be joining Lumia to support the wider industry in mitigating risk and making more informed lending decisions.

Additionally, HSBC UK Equipment Finance joined the register last year. As one of the largest asset finance providers in the UK, HSBC has over £4 billion of asset finance lending.

Last year, Lloyds Bank's fraud director said that the government's Online Safety Act would help banks to respond more quickly to fraud.

Speaking at UK Finance’s Economic Crime Congress, Liz Zielger compared the new law to the measures introduced after the 2008 banking crisis.

“The culture of preventing harm has to be at the forefront and I feel we are at that crossover point,” Ziegler told banks at the event at the time. “We need a cultural change to prevent harms in the online space.”

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