US equipment finance volumes on track for record year

US equipment finance new business volumes remained close to record levels in September 2026, with the industry on course to achieve its strongest year on record, according to the latest CapEx Finance Index (CFI) from the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association (ELFA).

New business volume among surveyed ELFA member companies reached $11.8bn on a seasonally adjusted basis, down just 0.7% from August and representing the third-highest monthly total in the survey’s more than 20-year history.

Year-to-date new business volumes increased by 17.0% compared with the same period in 2025, while September volumes were 14.7% higher year-on-year on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.

The latest figures suggest that demand for equipment financing remains strong despite economic uncertainty and concerns over the future direction of US interest rates.

New business volumes totalled almost $38bn during the three months to September, approximately 20% higher than the previous three-month period.

ELFA’s full-year forecast remained broadly unchanged at $137.6bn, which would represent the highest annual total since the survey began in 2006 and exceed the previous record set in 2024 by 14.3%.

Small-ticket equipment finance continued to perform particularly strongly, with volumes rising 7.2% month-on-month to $4.5bn in September.

This matched December 2025 as the fourth-highest monthly reading on record, while year-to-date small-ticket activity increased by 27.2%.

Among lender categories, banks recorded $5.5bn in new business, down 8.0% from August’s record high but remaining above the average pace recorded during the first half of the year.

Captive finance providers saw volumes increase 9.3% to $4.0bn, their second-highest monthly total on record, while independent finance companies reported $2.1bn, down 3.7% from August.

“New activity was almost $12 billion in September, the third-highest reading in the survey’s more than 20-year history. The loss rate ticked up but remains range-bound at a level consistent with healthy financial conditions, and the overall delinquency rate fell to its lowest level in over three years.”

The industry-wide credit approval rate increased by 2.4 percentage points to 77.7% in September, its largest monthly improvement since October 2023.

Small-ticket approval rates rose by 1.8 percentage points to 80.0%, while independent lenders recorded a 5.9 percentage point increase and captive finance providers saw approvals improve by 2.9 percentage points.

Credit quality also strengthened, with the overall delinquency rate falling to 1.6%, its lowest level since April 2023 and 0.3 percentage points below September 2025.

Bank delinquencies declined to 0.97%, their lowest level since June 2023, while rates among captives and independent lenders remained broadly stable.

However, the overall loss rate edged up by 0.04 percentage points to 0.48%, unchanged from a year earlier. Small-ticket losses increased to 0.76%, although ELFA said overall losses remained within the range recorded over the past two years.

Despite the strong lending figures, industry confidence eased slightly in October, with ELFA’s Monthly Confidence Index declining to 60.4 from 62.4 in September.

The association warned that further Federal Reserve interest rate increases and continued economic uncertainty could affect financing costs and demand.

Cress said: “The path of interest rates remains highly uncertain, which could translate into even higher borrowing costs. But the tailwinds to demand are so strong, and financial conditions so stable, that it would take a significant downshift in economic conditions to slow demand over the last quarter of the year.”

Nicholas Sandler, Co-President and Co-Head of Diversified Credit at Eldridge Capital Management, highlighted the growing opportunities for specialist finance providers as traditional lenders face capital and regulatory constraints.

“Demand is deep in this market, and as traditional lenders pull back under capital and regulatory constraints, we’re seeing more customers turn to specialized providers who can deliver customized, flexible, and dependable solutions.”

The latest figures point to continued momentum in US equipment finance heading into the final quarter of 2026, with strong demand, improving approval rates and relatively stable credit performance supporting expectations of a record year.