“The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behaviour crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. ” – Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’
Acquis Lumia was created to fill a gap in the industry’s fight against fraud. The aim was to provide a centralised platform where lessors could identify suspicious or irregular balance sheet borrowing on a large scale and stop fraud in its tracks.
The catalyst for this type of industry collaboration was the Arena TV fraud, where 55 lenders collectively became exposed to a £280m loss. The issue being that the largest Credit Reference Agency was reporting only £83m of exposure the month before the administrators were called in. Prior to Arena TV, the industry had long talked of working better together, but it was now time to make it a reality.
The industry responded and Acquis Lumia was born, but from day one, it was acknowledged that market take up would be key to its success. Early estimations from the working party behind Lumia suggested a minimum of 65% industry support would be required.
Less than 12 months on and Acquis Lumia now has 26 portfolios signed up and a further 14 going through implementation. These 40 portfolios equate to about 78% of the market by value and, had this been in place in 2021, Lumia would have provided visibility of £200m of Arena debt.
The 26 providers who have signed up to the community are visible on the Acquis Data Services website – https://www.acquisdataservices.com/acquis-lumia/community/ – we look forward to welcoming the next 14 companies that have committed to go live and we hope this tips the rest of the industry into joining the collaboration.
“To create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.” – Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’
For now, it’s safe to say that Lumia has crossed a threshold, tipped and is now spreading like wildfire. But the support of the early adopters has been key – if the industry all waited for the concept to have been proven, then the opportunity to make that difference would have been lost. Each one of these businesses has made a positive movement to make a difference – and we look forward to the remainder of the industry joining the collaboration.
