What’s happening in the captive and vendor finance sector of the equipment finance space?
Equipment Leasing & Finance magazine caught up with Joe Banister, Chief Sales Officer at LEAF Commercial Capital Inc., to check in on this sector. Banister is Chair of the Captive & Vendor Finance Business Council Steering Committee (BCSC), a group of members from financial services organizations providing sales-assisted financing and vendor- and manufacturer-support activities, either on a third-party or captive basis.
From your perspective serving on the committee, what issues are businesses in the captive and vendor finance sector focused on this year?
While pressures like rising interest rates—which were a key area of focus for us in 2024—may have eased somewhat, other challenges like inflation and trade policy uncertainty will top our list of topics to concentrate on this year. After a lot of discussion, the committee has identified a number of issues likely to have the greatest impact on our industry in 2025 and has developed our schedule for the year, which includes:
- Economic impacts of the new administration
- Employee development & succession planning
- How to implement new technology (e.g., AI/machine learning)
- Vendor risk management
- Fraud detection
- Consumption and subscription-based models
Having served on the BCSC for a few years, what are some of the highlights or outstanding experiences you’ve had?
Over the last several years I have built some very strong relationships while serving on the Captive & Vendor BCSC. What I love most about this committee is that it serves as a sounding board for important issues that we all face every day. We have members from bank-owned and independent equipment finance companies, as well as captives of major manufacturers serving a wide range of industries. All of them bring their unique perspectives to the challenges that impact our industry.
Would you recommend serving on the Business Council to others?
Absolutely. We meet virtually on a monthly basis and in person at industry events like Capitol Connections and the Annual Convention, and we’ve all quickly become comfortable reaching out to each other for guidance on various topics. I would highly recommend anyone seeking more involvement in our industry to consider serving on one of ELFA’s Business Council Steering Committees.