Four kinds of lender finance imaging equipment, and they are genuinely different deals. Banks price lowest at roughly 7% to 12.5% and take two to four weeks on a full financial package. Specialty equipment lenders run 8.5% to 20%, approve in 24 to 72 hours, and will finance refurbished and private-party systems banks decline. OEM captives (GE HealthCare, Siemens Healthineers, Philips, Canon) run 7% to 15% and bundle equipment, financing, and service, with promotional pricing on specific units. SBA 7(a) suits a whole-project buildout at prime + 3% on loans over $250,000, or about 9.75% today.
The right answer depends less on rate than on what you are buying and whether the service contract is part of the negotiation.
Five West is a fifth option that collapses the search: one application across our funding programs, A-credit pricing from 7% to 9%, application-only to $500,000, refurbished and private-party included, with same-day options on qualified files.
Traditional banks
Banks fund from deposits, which is why their money is cheapest and their underwriting most conservative. Published 2026 ranges put bank equipment financing at roughly 7% to 12.5%, with terms to seven or ten years.
What they want: two years of business and personal tax returns, interim financials, a debt schedule, a 680+ personal FICO with best pricing above 720, two or more years of operating history, and debt service coverage in the 1.15x to 1.25x range. Often your deposit relationship as well.
The imaging-specific friction: banks are frequently uncomfortable with refurbished scanners, with private-party purchases, and with de novo centers that have no payer history. They also tend to underwrite the collateral conservatively, because a generalist credit officer does not know what a five-year-old 1.5T is worth on resale.
Best fit: an established multi-modality center with clean financials, buying new, on a timeline that can absorb a month.
Specialty equipment and healthcare lenders
These lenders fund from credit facilities rather than deposits, so pricing is higher: commonly 8.5% to 20%, with strong imaging borrowers well inside that. What you buy is speed, flexibility, and underwriting that knows the asset.
What they want: considerably less than a bank. Thresholds vary widely by lender, and many stop at $150,000 or $250,000. Five West writes application-only up to $500,000, which covers every ultrasound, X-ray room, and mammography purchase outright, most CT, and a good share of refurbished MRI. All it takes is a completed application and the equipment quote, with no tax returns or financial statements.
What you get: approvals in 24 to 72 hours on standard amounts, two to four weeks on larger transactions. They will finance what banks often will not: certified refurbished systems, private-party purchases from a closing center, de novo locations with a strong operator, and soft costs like rigging and de-installation.
Best fit: refurbished purchases, tight install windows, de novo centers, and any file that needs explaining.
OEM captive finance
GE HealthCare, Siemens Healthineers, Philips, and Canon all run finance arms, and in imaging these are a bigger factor than in most verticals. Captives exist to move scanners and service contracts, so pricing is occasionally subsidized on a specific unit, though standard captive pricing sits mid-market, around 7% to 15%.
What you get: one negotiation covering equipment, financing, installation, and the service contract. Decisions typically come in one to two weeks, sometimes with deferred-payment or promotional pricing timed to product cycles or quarter end. Those promotions are model-specific and time-limited, so they are worth asking about but not worth planning around.
The catch, and it is a real one: the financing is tied to that manufacturer's equipment, and the service contract is usually bundled into the same conversation. A subsidized rate paired with a service agreement priced at the top of the 8% to 12% band can cost more over seven years than a higher rate with a competitively bid service contract. On MRI, where OEM service runs $42,000 to $134,000 a year depending on manufacturer, the service line can exceed the interest line.
How to handle it: price the scanner, the money, and the service separately, then compare the bundle against the sum of independently sourced parts. Ask what the rate would be without the service contract attached.
SBA 7(a)
Maximum rates as of August 2026, against a 6.75% prime rate: prime + 3% variable on loans over $250,000, about 9.75%, rising to prime + 6% and prime + 6.5% on smaller loans. Terms run to 10 years for equipment and 25 for real estate.
SBA is genuinely well suited to imaging in one specific case: a whole-project buildout that bundles real estate or a long-term lease, vault construction, shielding, the scanner, and working capital for the ramp into a single facility with one amortization. That is hard to assemble from an equipment lender, which will finance the scanner and cap the soft costs.
It is the wrong tool for a single $150,000 ultrasound or a replacement DR room. The 45- to 90-day timeline and documentation load are disproportionate, and the rate edge over a good conventional equipment loan is modest after fees.
Side by side
Published market ranges as of August 2026. WSJ prime rate is 6.75%. Individual quotes depend on the full credit profile.
Where industry expertise actually shows up
Every lender claims to understand healthcare. In an imaging file it shows up concretely:
- Valuing the collateral. Someone who has financed scanners knows what a 16-channel 1.5T is worth in year five and that a wide bore holds value better. A generalist discounts what it cannot price.
- Understanding the ramp. An imaging center does not reach steady-state volume on day one. It waits on credentialing, payer contracting, and referral relationships. A lender who knows this will structure step payments or a short deferral; one who does not sees a coverage problem.
- Reading payer mix. Technical component billing, global versus professional split, and prior-authorization drag on volume are normal features of the business, not warning signs.
- Financing the soft costs. Rigging, de-installation, transport, and shielding are a material share of an imaging project and are where lender policies differ most.
- Knowing the commissioning calendar. A lender who has funded scanners understands that the physicist survey gates revenue and plans funding around it.
Which should you choose?
- New scanner from a major OEM → get the captive quote, then price the money and service separately elsewhere before accepting.
- Certified refurbished MRI or CT → specialty lender. Most banks will not underwrite it well.
- Ultrasound, X-ray, 2D mammography under $250k → specialty lender, application-only, funded in days.
- Established center, new equipment, no deadline → get the bank quote, and get a competing one before you sign it.
- De novo center, vault construction, real estate, working capital → SBA 7(a).
- Install date inside three weeks, or a December 31 placed-in-service deadline → specialty lender.
Comparing offers honestly
Rate alone is a poor comparison in imaging, more so than in other verticals. Ask every lender the same questions:
- Total cost of the contract: every payment plus every fee, not the rate.
- Is the service contract attached, and what is the rate without it?
- What soft costs will you fund (rigging, de-install, transport, shielding), and at what cap?
- Fixed or variable, and if variable, indexed to what?
- Prepayment penalty, and does it decline over the term?
- Collateral position: the equipment only, or a blanket lien on the practice?
- End-of-term obligations on any lease structure: buyout, return condition, de-installation responsibility.
Five West programs at a glance
There is a fifth option: shop all four at once. One application reaches our funding programs, which cover bank-style pricing, specialty structures that will underwrite refurbished and de novo, leases, and SBA, all without stacking inquiries across a nine-month install calendar.
- Rates
- Priced to your credit profile, term, and equipment; competitive with a bank on rate, not on speed
- Terms
- 24 to 84 months, with 10 years on select programs
- Amounts
- $20,000 to $5 million+
- Application only
- Up to $500,000 with no tax returns or financial statements
- Credit
- Established businesses from 600+, startups from 700+
- Equipment
- New, used, refurbished, dealer, and private-party purchases
- Speed
- Same-day options on qualified files, with approvals in as little as a few hours
- Coverage
- Nationwide, U.S. territories, and cross-border
Send us your quotes and we will unbundle the captive's service contract from its rate so you can see what each is actually costing over seven years.
Free consultation, no obligation. All financing is subject to credit approval and underwriting; rates and terms depend on the complete business and credit profile.
The bottom line
Banks are cheapest and slowest. Specialty lenders are fastest and will underwrite refurbished and de novo. Captives are convenient and occasionally promotional, but bundle the service contract, which on MRI can outweigh the rate. SBA fits a whole-project buildout.
Do not work through them one at a time. On a scanner with a 9- to 15-month install calendar, a sequential search burns months and stacks credit inquiries. Get the file in front of several funders in one pass, insist on total cost of contract rather than rate, and unbundle the service agreement before you compare anything.
On rates: Any range on this page is illustrative rather than a quote. Your actual rate can come in higher or lower, and it depends on personal and business credit, time in business, the equipment itself, the term you choose, and the size of the transaction. Two files for the same machine can price differently. It is also worth checking the date on anything you read elsewhere. A good deal of the equipment-finance content still circulating was written when prime was 3.25%, and prime is 6.75% today, so if you happen to come across rates like 5% or 6%, it is worth confirming whether the page is current before you plan around it. The surest way to know your number is to let us price your file.
Related imaging center financing guides
More on financing equipment for a diagnostic imaging center.
Choosing an imaging equipment lender: common questions
Who finances MRI and CT scanners?
Four lender types: traditional banks at roughly 7% to 12.5%; specialty equipment and healthcare lenders at 8.5% to 20%; OEM captive finance arms from GE HealthCare, Siemens Healthineers, Philips, and Canon at 7% to 15% with promotional pricing on specific units; and SBA 7(a) at prime plus 3% for loans over $250,000, about 9.75% as of August 2026.
Is OEM captive financing a good deal for imaging equipment?
Sometimes, but it needs unbundling. Captives often subsidize the rate to move scanners and service contracts, so the financing can be the cheapest available on a new system. The risk is that a below-market rate is paired with a service agreement priced at the top of the 8% to 12% band. On MRI, where OEM service runs $42,000 to $134,000 annually, the service line can exceed the interest line. Ask what the rate is without the service contract attached.
Will a bank finance a refurbished MRI?
Often not comfortably. Banks tend to be conservative on refurbished scanners, private-party purchases, and de novo centers with no payer history, partly because a generalist credit officer cannot readily value a five-year-old magnet on resale. Specialty equipment and healthcare lenders underwrite refurbished systems routinely and are usually the practical route.
Is an SBA loan good for an imaging center?
SBA 7(a) fits one case well: a whole-project buildout bundling real estate or a long-term lease, vault construction, shielding, the scanner, and ramp-up working capital into a single facility. That combination is hard to assemble from an equipment lender. It is disproportionate for a single ultrasound or a replacement X-ray room, where the 45- to 90-day timeline outweighs a modest rate advantage.
How fast can imaging equipment financing be approved?
Specialty lenders commonly approve standard amounts in 24 to 72 hours, with larger transactions taking two to four weeks. OEM captives take one to two weeks, banks two to four, and SBA 7(a) four to twelve. Approval speed depends heavily on transaction size: imaging deals above $500,000 move out of application-only programs into full underwriting.
What should I ask an imaging equipment lender?
Total cost of the contract including all fees rather than the rate; whether the service contract is attached and what the rate is without it; which soft costs they will fund (rigging, de-installation, transport, shielding) and at what cap; fixed or variable and the index; prepayment penalty and whether it declines; collateral position, equipment only or blanket lien; and any end-of-term obligations on a lease.
Can I finance the shielding and installation, not just the scanner?
Often yes, as soft costs inside a larger equipment facility, but lender policies differ more on this than on almost anything else, and most cap soft costs as a percentage of hard collateral. Because rigging, de-installation, transport, and RF shielding are a material share of an imaging project, ask about the soft-cost cap early, because it can decide which lender is actually cheapest.
Holding a captive quote?
Send it over. We will price the money separately from the service contract so you can see what each is actually costing you.
This article is general information about commercial equipment financing and is not a commitment to finance. All financing is subject to credit approval and underwriting. Rates, terms, and approval depend on the complete business and credit profile. Figures shown are illustrative market ranges gathered from published sources as of August 2026 and are not an offer. Five West Financial is not a tax advisor or an accounting firm; confirm any tax treatment with your CPA before relying on it.