How to choose a retail financing platform

Why evaluate financing platforms on decisions, not features?

Most vendors in this category say they connect one application to several lenders. The useful question is narrower: what will change at your counter, in your POS and in your monthly reports if you pick this platform?

A buyer who brings the same seven decisions to every demo can compare answers directly, instead of comparing slide decks built to look different.

If you are still deciding whether you need more than one lender at all, start with multi-lender vs. single-lender financing. For the vocabulary used here, see financing orchestration and the retail financing glossary.

What are the seven decisions to test in a demo?

Use this checklist with every vendor, including LendPro. Ask for written answers before the demo, then make the vendor prove each one on screen.

Who should control the lender lineup and order?

You should. You know your shoppers. A mattress store with a wide credit mix needs a different lineup than a bridal jeweler, and both change lineups around holiday events and lender promotions. You should be able to choose which lenders appear and how they are arranged, and you should know who makes configuration changes, how fast they take effect and what can limit them.

LendPro gives retailers two settings. By default, one application reaches several lenders at once, and pre-qualified offers from more than one provider can show side by side. The shopper picks one and continues to that provider's full application. A merchant can instead choose the traditional waterfall: prime first, then secondary (near prime) offers if prime declines, then No Credit Needed. On the See If You Pre-Qualify path, the waterfall setting supports First Right of Refusal where a lender agreement requires it. LendPro configures the chosen setting for each location. Changes are requested through LendPro and can be limited by lender agreements and program requirements.

If a shopper is declined, the application is routed to another applicable lender, if one is available.

See how the tiers work in waterfall financing.

Does the platform integrate with your POS and the way you sell?

An associate who has to re-key the customer in a second tab will skip financing when the store is busy. POS integration decides whether financing is part of the sale or a separate chore, so test it against the POS you run today, not against a vendor's logo slide.

What should a POS financing integration do?

What are the ways a financing platform connects to a POS?

LendPro offers all three: embedded integrations where they exist, the Launch, POS Sync and Settlement APIs for other POS systems, and a hosted application that works without a POS integration. Ask which systems are supported today. Additional integration options may be available for specific needs. Discuss your workflow, required data, and implementation requirements with LendPro during an integration call. See integrations and developers.

Which POS integration questions should you ask every vendor?

• Start an application from a sale in the POS I run today, and show the result written back.
• Which POS systems are live today, which are on a roadmap, and which need custom work?
• If we run more than one POS, or change POS later, what happens to financing in each store?
• If the integration is down, how do associates keep offering financing?
• How are returns, exchanges and partial deliveries reconciled with the POS order?
• Can reports tie financed sales to the store and associate IDs in our POS?

Examples of embedded integrations live today

These are examples, not the full list. In furniture, mattress and appliance retail, LendPro 2.0 is embedded in STORIS ERP and NextGen; eSTORIS is planned, not live. American Furniture Warehouse was an early adopter. See the STORIS integration. In auto service, LendPro's multi-lender platform sits behind 1stMILE's automated credit matching at shop checkout. See LendPro and 1stMILE.

"A white-glove partner from day one."Lee Nelson, Assistant Controller, American Furniture Warehouse

Ecommerce and product pages

LendPro helps retailers add a See If You Pre-Qualify button and "as low as" payment estimates to website product pages, and builds complete AEO financing pages, at no additional cost as part of the subscription. Payment estimates are examples only; lenders set APR, term and payment based on approval. Abdul Furniture is an example. See AEO financing pages and product-page financing and embedded pre-qualification.

In store with no integration

Shoppers can apply privately on in-store kiosks and tablets, or on their own phone from a text link or QR code on a tag or sign. See kiosks and devices.

Configure financing for each sales channel. Online and in-store lender availability, application requirements, and results may differ. LendPro works with the retailer to establish the appropriate configuration for each channel.

• Ask any vendor. Run one sale through your POS integration and one with no POS connection, and compare what the associate has to do.

Can associates finish sales, returns and exchanges in one portal?

The sale is not finished when the shopper pre-qualifies. The shopper selects an offer, sees the provider's confirmation with the available limit, completes that provider's full application and agrees to its terms. Someone in the store then invoices, collects a signature and settles on delivery. Weeks later, a customer may return a chair or exchange a mattress. Separate lender portals for each step cost associate time and cause accounting errors.

In the LendPro portal, associates apply, buy (finalize the sale), transact, and process returns and exchanges in one place, with results sent back to integrated POS systems through POS Sync. They do not log into each lender's portal to complete a sale or handle a return or exchange.

Picture a shopper who financed a $2,600 sofa and loveseat and returns to exchange the loveseat for a recliner. The associate opens the original order in LendPro and processes the exchange there, with no second login.

Illustrative example. Cancel and refund in the LendPro portal is available for most lenders in the network; a few providers still require the provider's portal for cancellations and refunds. Each lender sets its own return and refund terms.

• Ask any vendor. Are purchases, returns and exchanges handled inside the platform for every lender, or must associates log into each lender's portal?

Which credit tiers and No Credit Needed paths should shoppers get?

Coverage should reach prime, near prime and No Credit Needed shoppers, and you should be able to choose how offers appear. Some providers do not offer a pre-qualification pathway at all, so ask which providers in a proposed lineup do.

LendPro shoppers see three named paths on a tablet, kiosk or their own phone:

• See If You Pre-Qualify. One application reaches the lenders in the merchant's lineup, with soft-pull pre-qualification where the provider supports it.
• No Credit Needed. The shopper skips the primary lenders and goes straight to no-credit-needed providers, where several offers may show side by side. The provider's full application may include a check with the credit bureaus and/or alternative credit sources.
• Lookup Application. A returning shopper or the associate picks up an application already in progress.

Shoppers can start from product pages and cart, in-store kiosks and tablets, QR codes and text links, covered on embedded pre-qualification. When a prime lender declines, second-look financing explains how the next tier can still serve the shopper.

An approval only matters if it gives the customer enough purchasing power to move forward.

Where the provider supports pre-qualification, it uses a soft pull and won't affect credit scores. A lender may run a hard inquiry if the shopper accepts an offer. A pre-qualified amount is subject to the lender's final approval and is not a guarantee of approval. Lease-to-own is a rental-purchase agreement, not a loan. Total cost is higher than the cash price. Each lender sets its own criteria; availability varies by retailer, state and purchase.

Why do independence from lenders and data security matter?

A financing platform sits between your shoppers and every lender you work with. It decides which lender sees a shopper and in what position, and it handles application data. Its incentives and its controls both matter.

Some platforms are owned by a lender. That can suit a retailer already committed to that lender as its main program. Get written answers to four questions from any vendor:

• Lineup neutrality. Can I add or keep any lender I choose, including lenders that compete with an owner or investor?
• Lender order. Who sets the order and defaults, and does any affiliated lender get a preset position?
• Data. Who can see my application, decline and pre-qualification data?
• Roadmap. Whose priorities set the product roadmap, and what happens to my contract if ownership changes?

LendPro is a SaaS financing orchestration platform, founded in 2012, independent and not owned by a lender. LendPro is not a lender: lenders make all credit decisions and set all terms. The retailer, not a lender, decides where each lender sits in its lineup, configured by LendPro for each location and subject to lender agreements and program requirements.

On security, ask for evidence, not adjectives. LendPro holds a SOC 2 report. Data is encrypted in transit. Application data is shared with the lenders reviewing the application and with service providers that process it under LendPro's privacy notice. Qualified prospects can request LendPro's security documentation through their LendPro representative. See security.

How long should switching financing platforms take?

Ask every vendor for a contracted go-live commitment and a list of what could extend it. LendPro's go-live SLA is 10 business days, and LendPro confirms the start date and prerequisites during onboarding.

Plan the retailer side of a switch before you sign:

• Baseline. Export applications, approvals and funded volume by lender and store for the last full quarter before cutover.
• Lender agreements. Your contracts are with each lender. Confirm terms, exclusivity, volume commitments and any first right of refusal.
• Routing. Document your current lineup and order, and review with LendPro how they translate into a configuration for each location.
• Back office. Name who invoices, collects e-signatures, settles and handles returns.
• Training. Teach the application paths and what to say when a pre-qualified amount falls short of the ticket.

How to run a fair vendor evaluation

1. Write down your current numbers. Pull applications, approvals and funded volume by lender from your lender statements for the last full quarter.
2. Send every vendor the same seven decisions. Ask for written answers before any demo so the meetings test claims, not pitch.
3. Script the demo. Give each vendor the same three shoppers: a prime shopper on a large ticket, a near prime shopper who is declined by prime, and a shopper who wants No Credit Needed. Then process a return and an exchange on one of those tickets.
4. Bring an associate. Have your best salesperson and your newest one each run a sale in the demo, inside your POS if the vendor names an integration.
5. Check lender overlap. List which of your current lenders each vendor supports in your state, and confirm terms and any first right of refusal with each lender.
6. Collect evidence. Request the security report, a sample contract with the go-live commitment, and sample reports.
7. Score and decide. Weight the seven decisions by what matters most to your stores, then score each vendor on written answers and the demo.

Where does LendPro fit?

LendPro is a SaaS financing orchestration platform for retailers, the Financing Intelligence platform. It is not a lender. Retailers choose from 18+ lenders and 25+ lending programs and choose the arrangement: several lenders at once with side-by-side offers, or a traditional waterfall. LendPro configures the flow for each location. LendPro serves thousands of merchant locations.

LendPro offers embedded integrations where they exist, the Launch, POS Sync and Settlement APIs for other systems, and a hosted application, product pages, kiosks, tablets, text links and QR codes that work without a POS integration. Examples of embedded integrations include STORIS for furniture, mattress and appliance stores and 1stMILE for auto service and tire shops. In the LendPro portal, associates apply, buy, transact and process returns and exchanges in one place.

Industry detail: furniture, mattress, appliance, tire and auto service and jewelry. Bring the seven decisions to a live LendPro demo and we will answer each one on screen.