Private label vs. co-branded vs. referral: which vendor financing program tier fits your volume?
All three Five West partner tiers cost $0. What separates them is how much of the program carries your brand and how much application volume you send. Here is how to pick the right one, and when to move up.
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Most of your customers will finance. The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation found that 82% of businesses financed equipment or software in 2023 (2024 Horizon Report fact sheet). The question for a dealer or manufacturer is not whether to offer financing, but how much of the program to own. That is what the three tiers decide.
What are the three vendor financing program tiers?
They are the same financing with different amounts of your brand and setup around it:
| 3rd Party Financing | Co-Branded | Private Label | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | An occasional financed deal, or trying a partner out | Vendors whose customers ask about financing every week | Manufacturers and dealers where financing is part of every sale |
| Monthly application volume | No minimum | $100,000 | $500,000 |
| Other requirements | Nothing to sign | One funded deal per quarter | A partner program agreement |
| Setup | None | Minimal: your logo, one training session, an apply button on your site | Full build |
| Time to go live | Refer a customer today | About 1 to 3 days | About 1 to 3 days |
| Whose brand | Five West’s, with your referrals tagged to you | Your logo on Five West’s tools | Yours |
| What you get | A dedicated finance rep and one point of contact | Co-branded payment calculator and financing page, apply-online link, Partner Portal, ongoing training, 100% funding upfront on orders | Everything in Co-Branded, plus customer finance programs built from the ground up, CRM integration, sales meeting sponsorships, and trade show support |
| Trial period | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days |
| Cost to you | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Volume requirements apply after the 90-day trial. Full details are on the partner programs page.
What does “monthly application volume” mean?
It is the dollar amount your customers apply for in a month, not the amount that funds. Four $25,000 applications in a month is $100,000 of application volume, whether three of them fund or all four do. Funded deals are measured separately: Co-Branded asks for one a quarter.
The easiest way to see where you land is by your average ticket:
| Average ticket | Applications a month for Co-Branded ($100,000) | Applications a month for Private Label ($500,000) |
|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | 4 | 20 |
| $50,000 | 2 | 10 |
| $100,000 | 1 | 5 |
| $250,000 | 1 | 2 |
Rounded up to whole applications. Transactions run from a $15,000 usual minimum to $5 million and above.
A dealer selling $50,000 machines reaches Co-Branded with two applications a month. A manufacturer with a $250,000 average ticket gets to Private Label volume with two. Volume is about dollars, not deal count, which is why big-ticket sellers move up faster than they expect.
One practical note: the partner application is built for vendors who expect to send at least two applications a month. If you will send fewer, you do not need it. Referrals on the 3rd Party tier need no application at all.
Which tier fits your business?
- You finance a deal now and then, or you are testing a partner. 3rd Party Financing. Send the customer to your point of contact and we take it from there.
- Customers ask about financing every week, and you want them applying from your website. Co-Branded. A financing page and payment calculator with your logo, built by us, and the Partner Portal to follow every deal.
- Financing is part of how you sell across reps, locations, or a dealer network. Private Label. A program under your brand, wired into your CRM, with support at your sales meetings and trade shows.
- You are not sure. Start at 3rd Party. Plenty of partners refer their first few deals that way and move to Co-Branded once the volume is steady.
Even the referral tier is worth having. Customers listen when you recommend a lender: in the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Small Business Credit Survey, 19% of businesses that applied at a finance company said a recommendation or referral influenced where they applied, and 44% cited the speed of the decision or funding. A vendor who hands over a fast, reliable partner at the moment of the sale is answering both.
What does each tier cost?
Nothing. Every Five West tier is free to the vendor: no setup fee, no monthly fee, nothing to buy, and no application fee for your customers. Five West builds the co-branded apply page, payment tools, and campaign collateral at no cost. What the upper tiers ask for is volume rather than money.
Your customer pays the finance charge, as they would at their own bank. The only cost a dealer can choose to take on is a rate buy-down to advertise a promotional rate. If a partner you are evaluating charges setup fees, license fees, or per-application fees for any of this, keep looking.
What is the same on every tier?
The tier changes the branding and the tools. It does not change how your customers are underwritten or how you get paid:
- One point of contact. Every program runs through a single point of contact at Five West, instead of your reps shopping each deal to several lenders. Here is why playing broker costs dealers more than it saves.
- Two funding paths behind one submission. Each file is matched either to the sharpest pricing or to Five West’s direct lending program when speed, certainty, or structure matters more. That matters because declines are common: in the same Federal Reserve survey, 46% of applicants that were not approved for at least some of the financing they sought said lender requirements were too strict. A decline from one program does not end the deal.
- Fast answers on a soft pull. Most submissions get a first response within 1 to 2 business hours, and approvals on clean equipment finance files can come back in as little as 30 minutes. Applications use a soft credit inquiry.
- The same deal sizes and structures. Transactions from a $15,000 usual minimum to $5 million and above, application-only decisions up to $500,000 on qualifying transactions, and freight, installation, training, software, and extended warranties included on qualifying deals.
- You get paid in full. 100% of the invoice, paid directly by Five West on funding, after your customer signs and the equipment is delivered and accepted. Deposit funding can be released once documents are signed where the equipment requires it.
How do you move up a tier?
Use the 90-day trial to measure. Track applications by count and dollars, approvals, funded deals, and how long each one takes to fund. When your applications run steadily around $100,000 a month, Co-Branded is the natural next step; when financing becomes part of every sale and you are near $500,000 a month, talk to us about Private Label.
Moving up a tier does not restart anything; you just get more of the program under your name. The full setup sequence, from picking a partner to the first 90 days, is in how to set up a customer financing program. Smaller shops should also read how smaller dealerships should offer financing.
The bottom line
Choose the tier that matches the volume you send today, not the one you hope to send next year. Referral costs nothing and starts today. Co-Branded puts your logo on the tools once financing comes up every week. Private Label makes financing part of your brand when it is part of every sale. All three are $0, all three pay you 100% on funding, and you can move up whenever your volume does.
Frequently asked questions
Does it cost anything to set up a vendor financing program?
Not at Five West. Every tier is free to the vendor: no setup fee, no monthly fee, nothing to buy, and no application fee for your customers. The upper tiers ask for application volume instead of money.
Is there a minimum volume for a vendor financing program?
Not on the 3rd Party Financing tier. Co-Branded asks for $100,000 in monthly application volume and one funded deal per quarter, and Private Label asks for $500,000 in monthly application volume, each after a 90-day trial.
What is the difference between co-branded and private label financing?
Co-branded puts your logo on the financing partner’s tools: a payment calculator, a financing page, and an apply link for your website. Private label is a full financing program under your own brand, with everything in co-branded plus CRM integration and support at sales meetings and trade shows.
What does monthly application volume mean?
The dollar amount your customers apply for in a month, whether or not every application funds. Four $25,000 applications is $100,000 of application volume, enough for the Co-Branded tier.
How long does it take to set up a co-branded financing program?
At Five West, typically about 1 to 3 days. We build the apply page and payment tools, train your reps, and go live. Your part is a logo, one training session, and a snippet on your website.
When does the vendor get paid?
On funding. Five West pays 100% of the invoice directly after your customer signs and the equipment is delivered and accepted. Where the equipment requires a deposit, deposit funding can be released once documents are signed.
Can I change tiers later?
Yes. Many partners start on 3rd Party Financing and move to Co-Branded once their volume is steady. Moving up a tier does not restart anything.
Start a partner program.
Tell us how you sell, and we will tell you which tier fits. The partner application takes about 10 minutes, and it is not a credit application.
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This article is general information about vendor financing programs. It is not a commitment to finance or a contract; program terms are set in each partner’s agreement and can change. All financing is subject to credit approval and underwriting.