SBS Appoints US Leadership Team to Modernize Floor Plan Lending with AI-Ready Infrastructure

Global financial technology firm SBS has appointed a new U.S. leadership team to spearhead its expansion into the American wholesale finance market. As floor plan lenders face a 39% surge in per-vehicle expenses, the move signals a shift toward consolidated, AI-ready infrastructure designed to replace the fragmented legacy systems currently hampering operational efficiency and risk management.

What was announced

SBS has appointed a dedicated U.S. leadership team to drive the adoption of its wholesale finance platform among American floor plan lenders. Ron Spratt joins as Senior Vice President to lead the expansion, supported by new hires Leigh Revis, who brings 15 years of automotive finance experience from Datascan, and Zak Gordon, formerly a Regional Director at NextGear Capital. This team is tasked with helping lenders modernize infrastructure that currently relies on disconnected systems for loan origination, dealer onboarding, and inventory management.

The announcement follows the addition of Dealer Financial, a lender serving independent dealerships across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to the SBS client base. The SBS platform consolidates these disparate functions into a single data layer, facilitating real-time digital audits to replace traditional paper-based inspections. This centralized approach is designed to address the 39% rise in net floor plan expenses per vehicle recorded in Q2 2025, a trend driven by high interest rates and slower inventory turnover that puts unmonitored portfolios at higher risk.

Furthermore, SBS is integrating its recently launched SBS AI Foundation into the wholesale platform. By creating a unified data foundation, the company aims to enable lenders to use AI for automated decision-making and earlier identification of portfolio risks, moving away from manual processes that often lead to data errors and limit growth. The platform is built to scale across dealership networks of any size, from global manufacturers to regional independent lenders, without requiring separate implementations.

"Wholesale finance lenders are still running on legacy technology systems that the rest of the financial services industry moved away from years ago. Most are still working with data across systems that do not talk to each other, managing audits manually, and all of these siloed systems mean that AI cannot be effective. The lenders that modernize now will be the ones who can use AI as a competitive advantage rather than scrambling to catch up."

Ron Spratt, Senior Vice President at SBS.

The companies involved

SBS, also known as Sopra Banking Software, is a global financial technology provider that supports over 1,500 financial institutions worldwide. The company’s wholesale finance platform is a core component of its offering, currently powering the operations of major automotive finance captives including Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota FS, and Volvo. SBS provides a wide range of banking and financing solutions, positioning itself as a partner for digital transformation in the financial services sector.

The company operates in a competitive landscape that includes specialized providers like Datascan and NextGear Capital. Its broader market presence is evidenced by its relationships with some of the world’s largest banking groups, such as HSBC, Santander, BNP Paribas, and Société Générale. In the U.S. market, SBS is focusing on both global manufacturers and regional independent lenders like Dealer Financial. This expansion is led by a team with deep roots in the American automotive sector, drawing talent from established industry players to navigate the specific regulatory and operational requirements of U.S. floor plan lending.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely tracked the evolution of the banking sector, recently highlighting the New State of Banking Transformation Report Captures the Trends Shaping the Future of Financial Services, which underscores the industry-wide push toward modernization. Our coverage of SBS’s partners and the wider automotive finance ecosystem includes reports on how DigniFi Expands Automotive Point-of-Sale Financing to Nissan and INFINITI Dealerships, illustrating the growing demand for flexible financial tools at the dealership level. Additionally, we have reported on risk management strategies within the broader insurance and finance sectors, such as when CLARA Analytics & Nationwide to Reveal Hidden Claims Risk at ITC Vegas 2026. With 17 previous stories on SBS and extensive coverage of its banking clients like HSBC and Santander, FF News continues to monitor how these technology providers influence global lending standards.

What this means

The U.S. wholesale finance sector is reaching a breaking point where legacy "siloed" systems are no longer just an inconvenience—they are a financial liability. With floor plan expenses climbing sharply, lenders can no longer afford the lag time inherent in manual audits and disconnected data. This move by SBS places significant pressure on domestic incumbents who have relied on fragmented software suites. The industry is moving toward a "data-first" model where AI is not an add-on but a necessity for survival. The central question for the sector is whether lenders can migrate their core infrastructure fast enough to mitigate rising interest rate risks before their margins are completely eroded.