The vendor finance market is humming with activity, but complexity is never far beneath the surface. From tariff-driven hesitation among end-users to rising demand for digital, embedded financing solutions, the forces reshaping the industry in 2026 are as much about how deals get done as whether they get done at all. We brought together five senior leaders from the Vendor Top 40 to share how they’re navigating a market that rewards speed, discipline and the willingness to evolve.
How would you describe the current state of the vendor finance market? What trends are shaping your strategy in 2026?
Mike Janse: While the vendor finance market remains fundamentally attractive, it is becoming more competitive and digitally driven. Heightened geopolitical uncertainty and macroeconomic volatility are adding complexity, with uneven impacts across industries.
As we move through 2026, our strategy is increasingly influenced by rising partner and customer expectations, the rapid expansion of embedded finance and the transition from transactional financing to lifecycle and usage-based models. This is driving a strong focus on digital efficiency and differentiated solutions that deliver value throughout the full asset lifecycle, well beyond the initial purchase.
Mitch Leahy: The vendor finance market is in a strong and steady position, with confidence driven by how both finance providers and their customers continue to evolve their operations and sales approaches. Customers are adjusting their sales strategies to more effectively balance new customer acquisition with the ongoing needs of existing end users, while also expanding beyond traditional core offerings to diversify their products and services. This expansion is creating new sales opportunities and allowing customers to position themselves as more comprehensive, end-to-end service providers. In parallel, finance companies are being challenged to evolve alongside these changing business models, particularly by supporting “as a service” programs and investing in technology that enables efficient, accurate workflows for all parties involved. Looking ahead to 2026, our strategy reflects these trends through a continued focus on structuring our support teams and program management in ways that align with how our customers operate and how their needs are expected to grow and change.
Matt LeSage: The vendor finance market remains solid, with financing demand from OEMs and dealer networks continuing to be strong, but the environment is more volatile than it was a few years ago. In 2026, I’m seeing customers and end users make more deliberate buying decisions as they balance equipment needs with broader economic uncertainty, rate sensitivity and ongoing cost pressures in certain supply chains. At the same time, competition remains intense across banks and independents, which keeps a premium on consistency, speed and a high-quality customer experience. My focus is on collaborating closely with program partners on their strategic goals and how we help them accelerate sales, staying disciplined on credit and structure and continuing to invest in technology and analytics so we can deliver fast, reliable approvals and support our partners through the cycle.
Brian Rosa: The market’s been busy. New business volumes have come in near record highs to start 2026, and we’re seeing healthy demand across most of the verticals where our vendor partners operate. That said, there’s real tension underneath the numbers. Tariff volatility, elevated rates and geopolitical uncertainty are making some end-customers hesitate, even when their vendors are ready to sell. Our 2026 strategy is really about helping OEM and dealer partners convert that demand into closed deals. That means showing up with flexible payment structures, faster decisions and the kind of programmatic support that helps vendors compete without having to discount their way to a sale.
Justin Tabone: The vendor channel is a great place to be right now if you are a well-positioned vendor equipment finance company with the right partners. EverBank is seeing strong demand for equipment financing from vendors and their customers. This is largely driven by strong CapEx as businesses invest in newer technology and equipment upgrades, anticipating potential improvements in economic conditions and growth in the months ahead. Demand also reflects the quality of our partnerships with leading, reputable vendors. Their customers are financially stable and are continuing to purchase equipment needed to operate their businesses across the cycle. The support of our overall banking institution is another factor contributing to our success in a volatile, competitive market.
Trends shaping EverBank vendor equipment finance strategy in 2026? Collaboration with vendor partners is essential to meeting the acquisition and budgetary needs of today’s end-users. We are navigating concerns about volatility, rates, credit quality, geopolitical tensions and other headwinds by leveraging tools in our vendor channel and our own business to offer competitive financing. These tools include residuals support, subsidies, deferrals, fair market value (FMV) leases, bundled solutions, deferred step-up structures and point-of-sale digital finance solutions. We also are helping vendors and customers benefit from the tailwinds lifting equipment finance, including Section 179 and bonus depreciation tax incentives.
How are your customers’ expectations evolving, particularly around speed, technology integration and flexibility?
Janse: Customers increasingly expect fast, digitally enabled financing decisions that are seamlessly embedded in the purchasing journey and delivered through intuitive, low-friction experiences.
At the same time, flexibility has become critical. Customers want solutions that align with how they acquire and use equipment, including usage-based structures. This expectation is particularly pronounced among customers purchasing one or a limited number of units, where simplicity, speed and relevance of the offering are often decisive factors.
Leahy: Customer expectations continue to evolve toward a higher standard of speed, integration and flexibility, with an increasing focus on balancing speed with quality as systems and processes mature. Customers are seeking faster responses and smoother experiences, but not at the expense of accuracy or reliability. There is also growing demand for self-service capabilities, particularly easy access to data and reporting, which allows customers to move more quickly and independently. At the same time, integrations remain a key expectation, as customers want to work within their own systems and workflows, creating efficiencies on both sides of the relationship. Flexibility is equally important, requiring a thoughtful balance between scalable, consistent solutions and customization that addresses the unique needs of different customers. Overall, expectations are centered on having technology available where it adds the most value, paired with a personal, relationship-driven touch when guidance and expertise are needed most.
LeSage: Customer expectations continue to rise, especially around speed and transparency. Vendors and end users want quick, predictable decisions, simple documentation and a digital experience that fits naturally into how they sell and buy equipment today. Integration is also increasingly important. They want financing to connect seamlessly with their platforms, quoting tools and servicing workflows rather than requiring separate steps. Flexibility matters as well, because customers are navigating uncertain conditions with little relief expected in the near term. They expect structures that can accommodate seasonality, evolving cash flows and different usage profiles. For me, that reinforces the need to keep investing so we can deliver a consistent, easy-to-do-business-with experience that helps our partners win in the field.
Rosa: Vendors and their customers have started behaving like every other digital consumer. They want to apply, get a decision and move on. Speed and ease of doing business are real differentiators now, and the bar keeps moving as buyers bring expectations from other parts of their lives into B2B transactions. Flexibility is the other big piece. Seasonal businesses, as-a-service models, deferred or step payment structures — all of it comes up more often than it used to. Rather than fitting a customer into a fixed box, we try to start with how the equipment actually generates revenue for them and build the payment around that.
Tabone: The ability to compress turnaround time as much as possible is critical for serving vendors in the small-ticket space. Vendor and customer expectations for turnaround times on credit decisioning, documentation and funding have gone down from a few hours, to now, in certain cases, a few minutes. This requires digital wing-to-wing equipment finance solutions driven by automation and other features.
Vendor expectations for mid- and large-ticket transactions are more focused on the finance provider’s structuring expertise and vertical industry knowledge. This is not to say technology and responsiveness are unimportant. Demand for fee-for-use, consumption-based equipment financing capabilities will continue to gain momentum, for example, as will artificial intelligence applications and other technology. But vendors in the large-ticket space are more interested in whether the financing partner understands their equipment, their customers and can appropriately underwrite the markets served. They value credit discipline, structural discipline, competitive pricing and prudent residual positions that create a strong fair market value offering for the company.
What’s one area where you see untapped opportunity in vendor finance today?
Janse: One of the most significant untapped opportunities in vendor finance lies in expanding beyond traditional point-of-sale financing toward more holistic, lifecycle-based solutions. This includes usage-based models, bundled financing for equipment, service and maintenance, and greater use of asset intelligence to inform pricing and structuring over time.
By supporting customers across the full lifecycle of an asset, vendor finance can become more deeply embedded in the partner ecosystem. This not only strengthens customer relationships and differentiation for vendors but also unlocks new, recurring value pools while improving asset utilization, portfolio quality and long-term returns.
Leahy: One of the most significant untapped opportunities in vendor finance today lies with vendors that have traditionally used financing for only part of their sales offering and are now onboarding new products or services that have not historically been financed. As vendors expand beyond their core offerings, financing often lags behind these changes, creating a gap between how products are sold and how they are funded. Addressing this opportunity requires education, collaboration and thoughtfully designed program structures to ensure financing aligns with the evolving sales process.
LeSage: One of the biggest under tapped opportunities is continuing to simplify and digitize the experience for vendors, dealers and end users, from quoting and credit decisioning through documentation, funding and ongoing servicing. The industry has made meaningful progress, but there’s still room to better embed financing into the sales process, reduce friction and provide more self-service capabilities that meet customers where they are. Leveraging AI will be a key tool to accelerate progress here. Done well, that improves customer experience and can also drive internal efficiency and better risk outcomes through cleaner data, faster cycle times and more consistent execution. In a competitive market, the providers who can combine strong risk discipline with a truly seamless experience will have a meaningful advantage.
Rosa: The biggest one, in our view, is everything around the financing transaction. Vendors don’t just need a payment for their customer. They need help bundling soft costs into a single contract, structuring upgrade and refresh paths, financing services and subscriptions alongside hardware, and offloading administrative work. A lot of vendor finance still treats those as add-ons. The opportunity is to make them part of the core program from day one. Vendors that have those tools tend to sell more and they tend to keep their customers longer.
Tabone: Point-of-sale (POS) digital solutions, also known as embedded finance. These solutions are in their earlier stages in our industry, but EverBank’s vendor equipment finance business noted a 56% rise in digital applications for financing in 2025. Year-to-date data in 2026 looks even more impressive. It is going to be hard for equipment vendors and finance providers to compete in the future without embedded finance applications for small- and mid-ticket transactions that lend themselves to retail business models. •