Equipment lenders shift toward embedded tech over portals

Equipment finance lenders increasingly prioritize embedded technology over standalone customer portals as dealers demand faster, more seamless workflows.

Lender “stickiness” is increasingly tied to how well financing tools integrate into dealer CRMs, ERPs and internal sales systems, Tawnya Stone, vice president of strategic technology at Great America Financial Services, said during a May 19 panel discussion at Equipment Finance Connect 2026 in Houston. 

“Integrations are huge with our customer base,” she said. “It’s something that has really increased our stickiness with our customers and made it so that their operations are more efficient.”  

The shift aligns with broader embedded finance adoption, as 65% of small and midsize businesses said they would switch software providers if their platforms failed to integrate financial tools, according to Worldpay’s 2025 Merchant Insider report. 

Dealers are increasingly unwilling to force sales teams into multiple systems that require several steps or external lender portals, Josh Arnall, F&I manager at H&R Agri-Power, said during the panel. 

“If you have to go to somebody else’s portal, that’s like anathema,” he said. 

In response to the sales team’s needs, H&R Agri-Power developed an internal software platform, Power EQ, to centralize quoting, inventory management, warranties and financing workflows, Arnall said. 

Keeping tools in-house 

API integrations have become critical because salespeople want financing tools embedded directly into the systems they already use, Arnall said. 

“If we can integrate with our lenders, that’s the most exciting thing to me, so that we don’t have to go to all the different portals.” — Josh Arnall, F&I manager at H&R Agri-Power

“Even if their portal works great, it’s different. It’s a different portal and we want it all to stay in the house,” he said.

Great America’s strategy similarly focuses on keeping customers inside the company’s operating environment, despite recently launching a new customer portal, Stone said. 

The goal is not to make customers use a separate portal; instead, “I want them to be using the tools that they’ve already chosen for their in-house work,” she said. “They push a button and that’s when the credit app comes to me.”  

Each partner’s unique workflows and needs push lenders toward embedding to maintain efficiency and relationships, Eduardo Cruz, president of Commercial Equipment Financing, said during the panel. 

“We need to integrate into everyone’s system. … If that credit application goes back into a system, I’m clicking a button, I’ve got all the data points that I need to make a decision,” he said. 

The long-term goal remains near-instant financing workflows in which credit applications, approvals and funding requests move automatically between systems through APIs, Great America’s Stone said. 

“If it is that much easier for our customers to interact with us versus our competition, they’re going to take the path of least resistance,” she said. “Are we the cheapest rate, no, but what you get is so much more.” 

Follow coverage of Equipment Finance Connect 2026 at equipmentfinancenews.com.