The customer who says “we cannot afford that right now” often means “we cannot afford that this month.” Those are different problems with different answers.
TL;DR Financing raises average job value and closes work that would otherwise be deferred. You pay a merchant fee for that. Do the arithmetic before deciding, and be scrupulously careful about how you present it.
Where financing genuinely helps
Strong fit
- Jobs above roughly $2,000 where the number causes hesitation.
- Failures that cannot wait, like heating in winter, where the customer is stuck.
- Upgrades and improvements competing against doing nothing.
- Situations where a customer downgrades to a cheaper option purely on monthly affordability.
Poor fit
- Small repairs. The fee eats the margin and nobody needs terms on $300.
- Customers who can comfortably pay and are simply negotiating.
The merchant fee arithmetic
This is the part that gets skipped and it decides whether financing helps or hurts.
How it works. You offer promotional terms, the lender pays you in full within days, and you pay a merchant discount fee. Longer or more promotional terms cost more.
| Offer | Typical merchant fee range |
|---|---|
| Standard interest-bearing to customer | 0 to 3% |
| 6 months, no interest | 3 to 6% |
| 12 months, no interest | 5 to 9% |
| 18 to 24 months, no interest | 8 to 15% |
Fees vary substantially by provider, credit profile and industry. Get your actual rate card before modelling anything.
The decision
Job value $8,000. 12-month no-interest promo at 7% = $560 fee. Net $7,440.
Worth it if the alternative was losing the job, or the customer downgrading to a $5,000 option.
Not worth it if they would have paid $8,000 anyway.
The honest test. Does financing win you work you would otherwise lose, or does it just cost you a fee on work you already had? Track both.
Ways to handle the fee
- Absorb it and treat it as a cost of sale. Simplest, and usually correct for high-margin work.
- Build it into pricing across the board. Fair, but everyone pays for a service some use.
- Offer a cash discount instead of a financing surcharge. This distinction matters legally. Surcharging cards is restricted or regulated in several states and by card network rules. Framing it as a discount for cash or cheque is generally safer. Check your local rules.
Choosing a provider
Ask every provider these questions
- What is my actual merchant fee for each promotional term?
- What is the approval rate for my typical customer profile?
- Is it a soft credit check to pre-qualify?
- How fast do I get paid?
- Can the customer apply on their own phone, on site?
- What happens if the customer defaults? Is there recourse to me?
- Are there monthly minimums or platform fees?
That last one on recourse is critical. Most consumer financing is non-recourse, meaning the lender carries the default risk. Confirm it in writing.
Common providers in home services include Wisetack, Affirm, Synchrony and GreenSky, alongside options built into field service platforms. Availability and terms vary by trade and region.
Presenting it without pressure
This is where businesses get into trouble, both ethically and legally.
Do
- Offer it as one option among several, after presenting the price.
- Show the monthly figure alongside the total. “$8,000, or about $667 a month for twelve months, no interest.”
- Let them apply themselves, on their own phone.
- Say the terms plainly, including what happens after any promotional period.
Do not
- Lead with the monthly payment and obscure the total. That is the practice regulators watch.
- Fill in the application for them.
- Present financing as a reason to buy more than they need.
- Imply approval before it happens.
- Discuss their credit outcome with anyone.
The rule. Financing should help somebody buy what they already decided they need. It should never be the reason they decide.
Compliance, briefly
Consumer credit is regulated. You are typically a merchant, not a lender, but obligations still apply.
- Advertise terms accurately. If you state “0% APR,” associated disclosure requirements attach. Use the provider’s approved marketing language.
- Do not state or imply approval odds.
- Handle applicant information carefully.
- Keep the provider’s disclosures intact. Do not paraphrase them.
This is not legal advice. Ask your provider for their compliant marketing kit and use it.
Where to surface it
- On your pricing page, as a line: “Financing available on jobs over $2,000.”
- In your quote document, showing both total and indicative monthly.
- On the tablet at close, as an option in the proposal.
- In seasonal campaigns for higher-ticket work.
Measure it properly
- Percentage of jobs financed.
- Average job value, financed versus not. The gap is the real benefit.
- Total merchant fees paid, monthly.
- Approval rate. A low rate means the provider is wrong for your customers.
- Close rate on quotes above $2,000, before and after offering it.
That last comparison is the only one that proves it worked.
Get an actual rate card from one provider this week and run the numbers on your last five jobs over $2,000. That takes twenty minutes and tells you whether this is worth doing at all.
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