Banque PSA Finance, the finance arm of Europe’s second largest vehicle manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroën, is implementing the Miles software solution from Sofico in four countries to future-proof the services it provides to fleet customers and dealers.  

Banque PSA Finance finances and manages around 105,000 vehicles in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, mainly on behalf of large corporate fleet customers.

It is one of Sofico’s oldest customers and was originally using the previous generation Leasebase system across the region to manage its extensive and complex fleet operations.

However, the company took the decision to migrate to the new generation Miles solution because of the need to meet the continually changing financial and service requirements of its fleet and dealer customers.

Banque PSA Finance also needed to meet new reporting requirements, including financial accounting, following its joint venture with Spanish financial institution, Santander.

The venture, with Santander’s Consumer Finance division announced in July 2014, has established a 50:50 partnership between the two groups in 11 countries, aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Peugeot, Citroën and DS across Europe.

Another factor in the decision to implement Miles was its flexibility in being able to incorporate PSA Finance’s unique product offerings "temps plus" and "distance libre".

These two products provide fleet customers with upfront flexibility in the length of the lease period or in the total contract mileage, with the ability to share in any surplus or deficit and are seen as integral to the group’s customer offering.

The Miles application has initially been integrated into Banque PSA Finance’s complex IT landscape in France, with a roll-out into the Benelux - Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands - expected to start shortly.

One of the key factors in the decision to begin in France was Sofico’s capability to manage and execute the project in French and the company’s knowledge of the French automotive and fleet markets.

Gémar Hompes (pictured), managing director at Sofico, said: “Naturally, we are delighted to welcome Banque PSA Finance to those of our European fleet customers who have successfully migrated to Miles.  

“The implementation presented a number of challenges and represented a great team effort from our new French division, which we formed specifically for this purpose following the acquisition of Car Systems last year.

“We now fully expect to carry out more implementations with customers in the region as a result.”