Sheffield, Suzuki Marine Team up to Offer Installment Financing

Truist Bank’s Sheffield Financial and boating company Suzuki Marine are working together on a financing services program.

The agreement, announced on Tuesday (Sept. 28), lets Sheffield provide lending services to Suzuki Marine customers through its dealer network, covering installment financing for Suzuki outboard motors and boat packages, including Suzuki engines.

“We know just how important it is to offer our customers retail financing options to go along with our line of Ultimate Outboard Motors,” said George “Gus” Blakely, executive vice president of sales and service for Suzuki Marine. “This is particularly true in today’s market, when so many new people are getting into boating for the first time. We want to keep our customers in the boating lifestyle and in the Suzuki family for many years to come — and providing the right financing is an important part of making this happen. This is why we’re excited to be working with Sheffield Financial.”

“Sheffield has partnered with Suzuki Powersports since 2008, offering retail financing to their dealers, and is now delighted to provide competitive financing solutions for Suzuki Marine dealers and their customers in the U.S. Suzuki’s high-quality boat engines and Sheffield’s industry-leading customer service is a winning combination,” said Jeff McKay, who serves as both Sheffield Financial CEO and head of point-of-sale lending.

Read more: Open Banking, BNPL and the Transformation of Banking

Sheffield and Suzuki’s installment financing announcement comes at a time of rapid change for banks and financing, a concept that PYMNTS explored in a 2020 report called “What is a Bank?” PYMNTS data showed that 36.8% of consumers define banks as institutions that store money securely, while 34.9% think of them as institutions for saving and earning interest on deposits, and 27.1% consider them institutions that provide loans and make investments.

More details: The Many Answers to ‘What Is a Bank?’

But that’s all changing, thanks in part to the advent of buy now, pay later (BNPL). As PYMNTS reported on Tuesday (Sept. 28), this is a space that Mastercard has begun to occupy, giving banks and other institutions the connectivity they needed to bring their own BNPL programs to customers, across 78 million merchants.

Also see: Mastercard Installments Brings New Network of Lenders and Instant, Turnkey BNPL to 78M Merchants

Studies have shown sales can rise by up to 45% when BNPL is offered, while shopping cart abandonment can decline by 35%.