Stephen Leonard

Successful entrepreneur and highly experienced credit risk management professional, with a track record spanning 25 years in banking and consulting. I have managed assignments with over 150 clients in 30+ countries, covering the entire credit life cycle. My expertise covers the complete range of organisations and products in consumer and SME credit: bank cards, private label, personal loans, vehicle finance, mortgages, current accounts, micro finance, mail order, telecoms utilities and credit bureaux.

I relocated to Dubai to spearhead the focus on developing the emerging markets of Africa, Middle East and South Asia. Travelled extensively in the region and established new relationships in both West and East Africa. Developed and expanded the international team. Managed complex contract negotiations with clients, partners, regulators and resellers.

As the principal founder of PIC Solutions, I relocated to South Africa to establish the company, which rapidly expanded to become the largest specialist credit risk and collections management consultancy in the Africa, Middle East and South Asia region. Responsible for managing the company’s focus and strategic growth, with a direct responsibility for sales and marketing, which resulted in turnover of USD 12+ million in FY 2007-2008 and a complement of 110 people.

I joined the start-up of Fair Isaac International (now renamed ‘FICO’) in the UK and in 7 years successfully established and grew the risk management consulting practice for the Europe Middle East Africa region. Managed a team of 16 consultants based in the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and South Africa. The team’s primary focus was to provide TRIAD account management, applications processing and scoring consultancy to over 80 clients in the EMEA region.

Managed a team of 11 fraud analysts, who were responsible for the analysis, detection and investigation of bank card fraud cases. Established procedures to prevent fraud and provide ongoing training to merchants and bank personnel. Conducted trend analysis and forecasting. Initiated new reporting systems, effectively cutting risk exposure. Developed a credit training manual to minimise bank losses from fraudulent applications. Defined requirements for host computer systems development and enhancement.

Successfully completed an intensive 18 months management training programme. Rotational experience included commercial lending, branch operations, collections control and credit analysis. Permanently assigned to the consumer credit department and managed a team of 8, who were responsible for all retail lending and MIS. Project managed the development and implementation of initial consumer loan application scorecards and ACS TRIAD for the bank card portfolio running at FDR.