CF Bankshares and its wholly-owned banking subsidiary, CFBank, selected Orion First, a commercial loan and lease portfolio servicer, as its exclusive provider of primary management services for its equipment finance and leasing line of business.

The agreement between the companies supports CFBank’s recent expansion into commercial equipment finance and leasing, offering financing to businesses secured by new and used equipment.

As part of the agreement, Orion will provide CFBank with portfolio management services, including the booking of newly originated contracts; payment processing and all cashier services; reporting covering accounting, portfolio data, delinquencies and custom reporting; customer service support, and delinquency/default management.

CFBank will focus on middle market and small ticket equipment finance transactions, loans and portfolio purchases. It will originate transactions from third parties and bank customers before eventually expanding into vendor programs.

“Our decision to go with Orion was simple: They’re the best at what they do,” John Catalano, CFBank’s new president of equipment finance, said. “We want to stay focused on origination and credit underwriting. For that, we need a trusted partner for portfolio servicing and that is what we have with the Orion team.”

“We are excited to support CFBank with their entry into the equipment finance space,” Quentin Cote, executive vice president of Orion First, said. “This is a fantastic team doing great work that aligns with our values. They are actively committed to helping small businesses succeed. As more banks enter the equipment finance and small ticket finance sectors, our industry as a whole benefits from their lending experience, their knowledge of commercial banking products, expanded customer bases and, ultimately, new ways to improve the experience of small business borrowers everywhere.”