Equipment leasing referral partners: what a good one looks like

A referral partner can be the cheapest deal flow an equipment lender or leasing company has, or the most expensive, depending on how it works. These are the questions worth asking before you sign with one, and how EFN answers each of them.

What a referral partner is, and is not

A referral partner introduces a borrower to a lender and is paid when the deal is done. That is different from a lead vendor, which sells contact details whether or not anything comes of them, and from a broker, which in common practice packages the deal, decides where it goes, and often sends it to several funders at once. Brokers vary. The arrangement worth looking for is one where the partner is paid for a good match rather than for volume.

Ten questions to ask any referral partner

1. Who else does it send files to? A partner that works only with direct lenders sends you borrowers, not another intermediary's files.
2. How is a file checked before it reaches you? Against your stated criteria, by a person, or not at all?
3. Does each file come to you alone, or to a list of lenders at the same moment?
4. How long do you have to answer, and what happens to the file if you pass?
5. What did the borrower agree to, and what kind of credit pull has already been run?
6. What do you see before you commit? Enough to judge the fit, with the borrower's identity held back until you claim the deal?
7. When is the fee owed? Up front, per lead, at closing, or only after funding, and how is it collected?
8. Can another lender pay to go first? If so, the best fit does not always get the file.
9. How is sensitive data handled: where Social Security numbers are kept, who can see them, and whether every view is logged?
10. What does the agreement say about repeat business from a borrower the partner introduced?

How EFN answers them

• Who it works with: direct lenders only. Banks, credit unions, specialty finance companies, and equipment finance groups that fund from their own balance sheet or credit facility. No brokers, loan packagers or intermediaries.
• Screening: each file is compared against your geography, equipment, credit box, time in business, deal size, documentation and asset rules. Every match is human-reviewed against your credit box before it reaches you.
• Exclusivity: one lender at a time, with no competing calls from other lenders. You have 24 hours to claim a deal; once you claim it, it is yours until you pass.
• Consent and credit: the business owner applies once and authorizes EFN to match the request. EFN runs a soft credit pull only.
• What you see first: the asset, amount, state, credit range, time in business and the fit score. The borrower's name and contact unlock when you claim the deal.
• The fee: 1% of the funded amount, only on deals that actually fund. EFN invoices you after a referred deal funds. Nothing is charged up front, and nothing is taken out of the deal at closing.
• Priority: one flat referral fee for every lender in the network. No lender can pay to be routed ahead of another.
• Sensitive data: Social Security numbers are encrypted at rest and never in the first summary. An owner's full number is shown only when a signed lender asks for it, one owner at a time, and every view is logged.
• Repeat business: the referral agreement sets it out, and you review and sign it before any deal is routed to you.

What no referral partner can do for you

No partner can make a file fit that does not. The value is in the match, and the match is only as good as the criteria behind it. Keep your profile current when your appetite changes, answer quickly, and pass on what does not fit; the files that follow get better for it. The partner never sets rates or makes the credit decision. You do.

Before you join, the sample deal page shows exactly what a routed deal looks like, field by field. No login required.

Common questions

Is EFN a broker?
No. EFN is a matching and referral service. It does not negotiate deals on anyone's behalf, and it earns a referral fee only when a deal it introduced funds.

Can an equipment leasing company join, or only banks?
Any direct lender that funds from its own balance sheet or credit facility: banks, credit unions, specialty finance companies, and equipment finance and leasing groups.

What does it cost to receive referrals?
Nothing to join. The referral fee is 1% of the funded amount, only on deals that actually fund, invoiced after funding.

Can I pass on a file?
Yes. Pass on anything you do not want. A deal you pass on costs you nothing, and it moves to the next match.

Is there a written agreement?
Yes. Nothing is routed to you until you have reviewed and signed the referral agreement, so the terms are settled before the first deal arrives.

Set your box. Receive only what fits.

Watch how it works (2 min) · See a sample routed deal

Free to join. The referral fee is 1% of the funded amount, and it applies only on deals that actually fund.

More for lenders: Equipment finance deal flow, matched to your credit box · How an equipment financing referral reaches your desk · For second-look equipment lenders: the files the bank passed on · Looking for equipment finance brokers? A referral network for lenders instead · Equipment finance lead sources: where deal flow comes from, and what each one asks of you · How to get more equipment finance applications without buying leads · Pay only on funded deals: how a success-based referral fee works · Application-only equipment deal flow, matched to your program · Second-look equipment and truck deals, for the lenders who fund them · Small-ticket equipment deal flow, sized to your program · Guides for lenders

Equipment Funding Network is a matching and referral service, not a lender and not a broker. Lenders make every credit decision and set every term.