SBS announced a new partnership with Alliance Inspection Management (AiM) on Wednesday designed to streamline a sometimes cumbersome part of wholesale financing.

SBS and AiM now can offer wholesale finance lenders a comprehensive audit solution that can combine digital and physical capabilities to meet finance companies’ evolving needs.

The companies highlighted that the new offering can empower lenders to adopt a hybrid approach to auditing — bringing together in-person field audits and digital self-audits — so finance companies can enhance audit accuracy, manage risk more effectively and embrace digital transformation at their own pace.

SBS and AiM acknowledged that wholesale automotive and asset lenders are under increasing pressure to manage risk in real-time, scale audit operations with consistent reliability and evolve alongside dealer’s changing needs.

They said this partnership will allow lenders to expand audit coverage, reduce operational strains and enable faster, more informed decision-making.

SBS and AiM indicated they can bring a hybrid auditing approach to their network of wholesale finance lenders, so they can manage in-person audits and digital self-audits all in one place.

Now, lenders using the SBS Digital Audit solution will also have access to AiM’s wholesale floorplan audit services and network of more than 120 full-time field auditors.

For more than 20 years, AiM has evaluated wholesale finance inventory portfolios totaling more than $26 billion per month with physical audits.

Lenders using AiM for physical audits will now have access to the SBS Digital Audit solution to gradually integrate digital audits and reduce audit costs by up to 50% and time by 40%, according to companies.

“Physical audits have long been the backbone of asset finance, with AiM conducting over 800 floor plan audits for hundreds of thousands of vehicles monthly,” said Eric Widmer, who is senior vice president of sales and marketing at AiM.

“As the industry deciphers when and how to incorporate digital audits our partnership with SBS delivers a flexible solution that allows them to take advantage of both types of audit activities,” Widmer continued.

SBS’s Financing Platform (SFP) Digital Audit leverages secure imaging, live video streaming, and NFC technology in both connected and offline environments to enable real-time inventory monitoring, providing lenders with a more accurate and timely view of their portfolios.

By increasing audit frequency through digital self-auditing, James Powell, who is chief SaaS transformation officer and head of specialized finance strategy at SBS, said lenders can strategically deploy physical auditors, provided by AiM, for maximum impact, enhancing risk protection on funded assets.

“Lenders are increasingly adopting hybrid audit models to effectively minimize risk,” Powell said. “By combining our technology with AiM’s team of physical auditors, we’re enabling lenders to enhance risk management and set the stage for digital transformation, on their own timeline.”