Businesses invest and drive productivity
Businesses across Australia continue to invest at healthy levels. Last year delivered the largest quarterly jump in business investment in four years and capital expenditure estimates for the current financial year have since been revised upwards. Equipment and machinery led the uplift with $83.3 billion expected to be spent in FY25-26 .
While many businesses are also stretching assets and looking for value, when they do upgrade, they see quantifiable productivity gains. Renee Theodor, General Manager – Asset Finance CommBank says, “Our research indicates the vast majority of businesses financing vehicles and machinery in the past 12 months have seen that translate to a 10% to 50% productivity boost . That’s one reason supporting the East & Partners forecast growth in asset finance volumes of 15.7% in 2026 .”
The pull towards brokers
Alongside strong demand indicators for working assets and associated finance, there has been a gradual increase in businesses intending to switch asset finance providers. Taken together, the top-ranked benefits of engaging a broker, including time saved when shopping around, better pricing and specialist expertise , are likely to come into sharper focus.
“While businesses have different investment objectives and machinery upgrade lifecycles, the overall demand picture is positive,” Renee Theodor says. “With four in 10 businesses planning to switch asset finance providers in the next six months , this suggests brokers will be busier this year.”
Capturing growth and creating sticky customers
With businesses using an average of three brokers8, the question becomes how to create an experience for customers that makes the decision to engage easier. While that’s further evidence of the desire to shop around, there are also consistent traits that customers want.
When asked to name their goal when seeking asset finance, speed of credit processes and settlement came out nearly unanimously on top. However, 96% also said it’s the number one gap in their asset finance experience .
As Renee Theodor explains, “businesses value fast and easy processes. When speed, responsiveness and the overall experience improves, most businesses say it opens the door to additional lending needs.”
Digitally enhancing the experience
Delivering a faster, simpler application and lending process is increasingly being driven by digital capabilities. The right tools can remove friction and help brokers respond more quickly to customer needs.
One area where this is making a difference is in securing signatures for applications and settlement documentation. Recently, CommBank launched our new broker e-sign capability, as one of many steps being taken to continually enhance the experience for brokers and customers.
In practice, this means that all brokers can now use their own DocuSign account to more easily issue eligible loan documents for execution. The real benefit is the ability to manage customer documentation digitally in brokers’ existing workflows, and reduce the time to execution from days to hours compared to requiring a wet ink signature.
“We always listen to the feedback from brokers about the best ways of working together, and enabling the use of existing DocuSign account was one way we could make their life easier,” says Renee Theodor.
“This is one step in an ongoing focus on making it more efficient for brokers to engage with us digitally and in person, and ensure they can capture the benefits of happier, loyal customers.”
Talk to CommBank
With demand for assets rising, businesses are looking further afield for the best solutions and experiences. Speak to your CommBank Business Development Executive for support, including helping you navigate our new DocuSign capabilities.