The choice between private label and referral financing comes down to how much of the buyer relationship stays under the vendor’s own name. Dimension Funding works with vendors under both structures, and the difference between them shows up in what the buyer sees and remembers, not just on the application screen. Dealers and vendors evaluating the two can compare program structures directly at Dimension Funding, a family-owned business that’s run vendor financing programs since 1978.

Where These Two Approaches Sit in the Broader Industry Framework

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s Manufacturer & Vendor Resource Center frames vendor financing as a set of structural choices rather than a single product: a manufacturer or dealer can build financing capability in-house, enter a formal partnership with a finance source, or rely on an informal partnership with multiple finance sources as deals come up. A private label arrangement sits in the formal-partnership category, and simply pointing a buyer toward a standard application is the informal version of that same relationship. Dimension Funding has run its own vendor programs under this same formal-partnership structure since 1978. 

That’s important framing to consider, because the two approaches sit in genuinely different categories rather than different levels of polish on the same product. A vendor starting with a plain referral today isn’t just locked into it permanently. Moving to a private label setup later means adding materials to an existing relationship, not restarting one, so the lighter starting point doesn’t have to be a permanent ceiling. 

What a Private Label Setup With Dimension Funding Includes

A private label arrangement includes co-branded landing pages built on Dimension Funding’s site carrying the vendor’s own logo and value proposition, along with a personalized link a vendor can distribute directly to prospects. It also includes co-branded advertising flyers and datasheets, put together with a vendor’s account manager rather than handed over as a generic template. The full scope of what’s included is outlined in Dimension Funding’s Vendor Partner Toolkit.

That’s meaningfully more setup than sending a buyer to a plain application link, and it’s also more than cosmetic. A vendor whose name and materials stay in front of the buyer through the entire financing conversation is positioned differently than one who hands the buyer off to a page carrying someone else’s branding.

Applying Without Leaving the Vendor’s Own Site 

A buyer doesn’t have to leave a vendor’s own site to apply, either. Dimension Funding builds a financing widget combining a payment calculator and a credit application in one embed, placed directly on the vendor’s website rather than hosted only on the co-branded landing page. A prospect can run a monthly payment estimate and start an application without going anywhere else. 

Ongoing Promotion Beyond the Initial Setup 

The materials don’t stop at launch. Beyond a standing zero percent offer, a vendor can work with Dimension Funding on a custom promotion built around a specific product line or a particular type of prospect, something structured for that vendor rather than pulled from a template. 

Dimension Funding will also work with a vendor on white papers or other literature, then distribute that content through social media, a quarterly newsletter, and email marketing, putting a vendor’s message in front of an audience it didn’t have to build on its own. None of that exists on the plain referral side, since there’s no vendor-specific content for Dimension Funding to promote in the first place.

The Informal Route

Lack of demand is the most common reason a company relies on an informal arrangement instead of building a formal vendor relationship, and manufacturers who choose that route typically depend on their dealer to arrange financing only when a customer need comes up, through an informal, deal-by-deal approach rather than a structured program. 

In practice, that means pointing a buyer to Dimension Funding’s standard financing application instead of a page carrying the vendor’s own name. The application takes about six minutes to complete and moves through DocuSign the same way a private label deal does. A vendor still has an account manager to call about a specific deal or promotion, just without the landing page, personalized link, or ongoing content built around the relationship. 

Payout and Underwriting Stay the Same 

Dimension Funding pays the vendor in full once the deal funds, regardless of which route brought the buyer in. A referral vendor isn’t accepting a slower process, a weaker credit decision, or less certainty of getting paid by skipping the formal setup. What it doesn’t get is a reason for the buyer to connect that speed and simplicity back to the vendor specifically, since nothing on a generic application signals who sent them there. 

How Zero Percent Promotions Work Under Each Approach

A zero percent financing promotion is evaluated deal by deal either way, with the vendor covering the cost of the promotion rather than the buyer. What changes is how that promotion gets presented to a buyer. Under a private label setup, a zero percent offer can be built directly into the co-branded landing page as a standing, visible promotion, often paired with messaging about how a purchase can qualify for a deduction of up to $2,560,000 in the year it’s placed in service under IRS Publication 946, before the phase-out threshold of $4,090,000.

Under a plain referral, there’s no dedicated landing page to feature either message on. A vendor can still arrange zero percent financing on a specific deal by working directly with their account manager, but it has to be raised and confirmed each time rather than sitting in front of every buyer automatically. For a vendor running the same promotion repeatedly, that difference in visibility adds up.

How Long Setup Takes 

A plain referral has no setup timeline at all. A vendor can point a buyer to a standard application the same day the relationship starts, with nothing to build, approve, or wait on before it becomes usable.

A private label arrangement takes longer to get live, since the co-branded landing page, personalized link, and flyers get built with a vendor’s account manager rather than generated automatically. That upfront coordination is the real cost of the heavier option, not a slower deal process once it’s running, since both routes send a submitted application through the same review at Dimension Funding from that point on.

What Changes Operationally

Equipment-Only vs. Software-Inclusive Programs Under Either Approach

Both approaches work the same way whether Dimension Funding is financing equipment alone or bundling in software, implementation, and training. The application-only thresholds, $250,000 for equipment, $500,000 when software is part of the deal, don’t shift based on which approach a vendor uses. What shifts is who’s positioned to capture the repeat relationship the financing creates, not the underlying terms buyers qualify for. 

Choosing Based on Where Your Program Is Headed

The decision comes down to whether a vendor wants a plain referral arrangement as a permanent, low-effort option, or wants the co-branded structure that keeps more of the buyer relationship and promotion visibility under its own name. Contact Dimension Funding to talk through which approach fits your sales process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a private label setup require an exclusivity agreement with Dimension Funding?

No. A vendor can run a private label program with Dimension Funding without committing to exclusivity, which means a vendor can still send some deals through a plain referral or maintain other financing relationships alongside the co-branded setup.

Can a manufacturer run different approaches across different regions of its dealer network?

Yes. A manufacturer isn’t required to standardize on one approach nationwide. Regional dealers with higher volume can justify a co-branded private label setup while lower-volume regions rely on plain referral, without requiring the whole network to match.

If a vendor moves from plain referral to a private label setup, do deals already in progress need to be redone?

No. Deals already submitted or funded through Dimension Funding under a plain referral arrangement aren’t affected by a later move to private label. The transition applies to new deals going forward rather than requiring existing transactions to be restructured.

Who handles compliance disclosures differently between the two approaches?

Required financing disclosures identify Dimension Funding as the funding source either way, since that’s a legal requirement tied to the underlying agreement rather than the branding layer. What differs is how much of the surrounding sales messaging, promotions, and tax information the vendor controls before that disclosure point.

Does a private label setup change who the buyer contacts for service after the deal funds?

Not necessarily. Post-funding servicing, like payment processing and account questions, is generally handled the same way regardless of approach, since that servicing sits with the financing agreement rather than the sales-facing branding layer.

Does a private label setup need to cover a vendor’s entire product catalog, or can it be scoped to one line? 

It can be scoped narrower. A vendor can set up co-branded materials for one product line or a single high-volume category rather than committing every product to the same landing page and flyers, and can add more lines later without rebuilding what’s already running. 

Is there a minimum number of annual deals a vendor needs before Dimension Funding will set up a private label program? 

There’s no strict volume requirement. The setup conversation focuses more on whether the co-branded materials will see consistent use than on hitting a specific deal count, so a vendor unsure whether its volume justifies the setup can raise that directly rather than assuming it’s out of reach.