Ernest Evans,
General Manager,
U.S., DLL

Ken Martin,
Managing Director for Sales,
First Citizens Bank Equipment Finance

Matt Lesage,
Co-Lead,
Wells Fargo Vendor Finance

Dave O'Neill,
Co-Lead,
Wells Fargo Vendor Finance

Howard Shiebler,
President,
Crossroads Equipment Lease & Finance

The vendor finance market in 2025 is shaped by paradox: strong demand across verticals on one side, macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty on the other. As customers demand more speed, flexibility and personalization, finance providers are under pressure to deliver smarter solutions faster — without sacrificing risk discipline. In this roundtable, leaders from DLL, Wells Fargo, First Citizens and Crossroads discuss how they’re navigating shifting expectations, tapping into technology and data, and uncovering new ways to support vendor growth.

How would you describe the current state of the vendor finance market? What trends are shaping your strategy in 2025?

Ernest Evans: The vendor finance market is conditional to a significant amount of economic activity in the U.S. The market is currently burdened with uncertainty due to geopolitical conditions and uncertainties, which has depressed typical activity. Throughout 2025 and beyond, we stand by our purpose of partnering for a better world and remain committed to supporting our partners and customers by remaining well-prepared and responsive to the everchanging environment.

Ken Martin: We are seeing continued strong opportunity for First Citizens Equipment Finance across all of the verticals we serve — technology has been the most robust for us so far this year. In the industrial space, the ability to move large amounts of inventory has become paramount to success. With a build-up of inventory in that sector vendors are looking for financial support to move what they have to make room for newer equipment coming in behind it. It’s important for us to offer innovative solutions and to ensure we have the right programs to match the specific needs of the verticals we support.

Dave O’Neill: The current state of the vendor finance market is solid overall, but there are some headwinds. While the financing solutions provided to original equipment managers (OEMs) and independent dealers continue to be in high demand, there is uncertainty related to the activity forecast and how much of the tariff costs can be passed through in new equipment pricing. In some cases, we see that end user buying decisions are being put on pause or delayed because of the uncertainty and volatility in the markets.

Howard Shiebler: We are very focused on transportation and titled assets. We are seeing many players leaving and new entrants as the truck market has been through a very bad recession from 2023 to now.

How are your customers’ expectations evolving, particularly around speed, technology integration and flexibility?

Evans: Not so surprisingly, business buyers are adopting similar expectations as today’s everyday consumer. They emphasize their desire for personalization and omnichannel experiences, ensuring that they too have a consistent and high-quality experience, regardless of how they choose to interact and make purchases. Digital capabilities have been transforming various industries for years. At DLL, we are committed to delivering the digital services and capabilities these buyers have come to expect.

Matt Lesage: Client expectations around speed, technology, integration and flexibility continue to be paramount. All four of these areas have been critical for a long time and we continue to enhance our value proposition around all of them.

O’Neill: Agreed – as Matt described, these four areas are a priority for our business. We need to continue to invest because yesterday’s leader can quickly become tomorrow’s laggard. Recently, we launched a new credit model for existing Wells Fargo clients, which utilizes machine learning to identify positive credit attributes that weren’t previously recognized. This allows us to approve deals that we may have declined previously. As a result, we’ve seen a material increase in approval rates in several market segments.

Martin: You hit on items of key concern to vendors. Without question, speed of execution remains the most essential element. That’s closely followed by ease-of-use delivered through technology. In addition, there’s our ability to be flexible in those specific instances where either our vendor or the end-customer requires it. We need to be flexible on specific transactions which are important to that vendor and customer. We consider all three of these elements — speed, ease of use through technology and flexibility — to be key components of our value proposition.

Shiebler: There’s a shortage of capital, so the demands have been more focused on availability than speed. That said, vendors are looking for speed and reliability more than technology solutions.

Are you using data and analytics to better support vendor sales teams or to optimize deal structures?

Evans: In a world where technology is rapidly developing and becoming more datadriven, DLL continues to enhance its data management and data usage capabilities. By leveraging advanced data analytics, we are able to provide valuable insights to our teams, enabling them to make more informed decisions and better support their customers.

Martin: Absolutely. The ability to use data and analytics to support vendors is more important in our industry today than I’ve ever seen it. We use data to ensure that we’re targeting the right vendors and that we’re taking into consideration the kinds of support they need most. Historical information many times provides the window into our most promising future opportunities. In my view, top-notch data mining and analytics capabilities are essential to successfully competing in the current equipment financing environment.

O’Neill: We’re very focused on using data and analytics to support our sales team, improve credit decisions, and optimize deal structures. Because we are consistently investing in and getting better at identifying good credit risks, our team is seeing higher approval rates, which benefits both our clients and our sales team. We are launching a new credit model for new clients, which we expect to roll out in the third quarter of 2025. This model is similar to the credit model that we launched last year that uses machine learning to better identify credit risks. As a result, we’re seeing improved approval rates that deliver both productivity and reduced credit cycle times.

Shiebler: We use data and analytics deeply in the area of credit decisioning and transaction pricing.

How are you balancing risk management in today’s economic environment with the need to support vendor sales growth in a competitive market?

Evans: Risk management is about consistency for us. Our risk appetite is well aligned with our growth expectations so that our teams can execute with confidence and our partners know what to expect from us. By maintaining a consistent approach to risk management, we ensure that our strategies are both robust and adaptable to the current economic environment.

Additionally, our deep industry expertise allows us to anticipate market trends and challenges, providing us with the insights needed to navigate complexities and seize opportunities. This expertise ensures that we remain a trusted partner, capable of delivering tailored solutions that drive growth while managing risk effectively.

Lesage: Balancing risk while supporting vendor sales growth is key to what we do on a regular basis. We understand how important it is to be consistent in the services we provide to our clients, including approval rates. We pay close attention to portfolio performance and how the portfolio performs through the cycle and make prudent adjustments to strike zones only after careful analysis. As Dave noted earlier, we are carefully monitoring the uncertainty in the market right now and talking to our program partners regularly so we can develop the right growth strategies in collaboration with them.

Martin: Given the current risk and regulatory environment, it is critical to have our risk partners working inside the tent with us as we consider new product innovations and all sales-related activities. That means giving them a seat at the table when we’re looking at innovating new products or modifying existing product. Involving our risk partners at the earliest stages expedites our ability to deliver those product innovations or modifications, thereby accelerating our speed to market. This is true for all bank lenders and especially so for large financial institutions like ours.

Shiebler: We are in the risk business and transportation is particularly cyclical. Good underwriting and risk management is fundamental to our ability to grow profitably, so we don’t “balance” risk management or modify our views based upon competitive pressures. That’s a recipe for disaster.

How are tariffs impacting your customers and end-users? Do you see them as a threat or an opportunity for your business?

Evans: The biggest impact so far from tariffs has been market uncertainty, which has manifested as depressed economic activity resulting in slower sales. In some cases, there is increased demand due to anticipated higher prices, but this is generally a timing issue.

For us, the major focus is to be alongside our partners throughout this journey, providing support and responding to their needs as they arise. By maintaining close relationships and offering timely solutions, we aim to mitigate the negative effects of tariffs and help our partners navigate these challenges effectively.

Martin: Tariffs have created uncertainty in some specific verticals, but I have not seen a significant slowdown across the board. In many instances, we have heard of specific dealers and vendors accelerating particular inventory purchases to get ahead of potential tariff impacts on prices. But there are also many industrial players where a significant portion of the equipment they use is made here in the U.S., which provides those vendors with more certainty and stability on their costs.

O’Neill: It’s too soon to tell what will happen; however, we are monitoring activity levels carefully and working with our program partners to mitigate the impact where possible and provide the best available options.

Shiebler: The impact is near term negative because freight volumes drive freight rates, which influence purchasing and financing decisions. The uncertainty is slowing down our business.

What’s one area where you see untapped opportunity in vendor finance today?

Evans: In an increasingly digital world, the need for constant innovative thinking is paramount. By leveraging advanced digital technologies, we can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of processes, ensuring that our customers benefit from easier and faster transactions.

Lesage: One area where we see untapped opportunities in vendor finance is how we can better integrate digital solutions into our services. By using the latest technologies, we can simplify processes to better support our clients and the end-user experience and drive efficiencies internally. This will further enhance the value we bring to our clients, by making it simpler, faster and easier to do business with us.

Martin: There are so many other things that we can do with vendors to assist their growth that isn’t specifically related to financing. For example, we can support them in refining their go-to-market strategies to drive sales, we can help them in making their sales organizations more efficient and effective, we can help them with finance incentive programs, we can also help with integration of finance technology.

We have access to a wealth of capabilities and know-how from being a part of First Citizens Bank, which is a Top 20 U.S. financial institution. Things like treasury management and foreign exchange and many other financial skills are readily available in-house. We recently showcased some of this opportunity at a sales summit that we hosted in Chicago to educate clients about how we can help enhance sales execution, sales management, the sales process and more. So we see tons of untapped opportunity to support our vendor clients and help them grow their business that goes well beyond our financing alone.

Shiebler: Speed. Not technology necessarily, but today’s customers want things now and are experiencing that in other areas of business. If we can be easy and fast, we’ll win more. •