Glossary · broker

White Label

Also called private label, branded lending, powered-by arrangement.

An arrangement where one company's funding product is presented under another company's brand, so the name on the website and the emails is not the entity underwriting, funding or holding the deal.

Drafted with AI assistance. Not yet independently checked. Nobody has verified the claims on this page against a source, so treat the figures and legal points as a starting point rather than as settled, and confirm anything you are about to act on. How we check things.

What it means

Four jobs sit inside any financing: sourcing the customer, underwriting, putting up the money, and servicing the account. They can all sit in one company. In a white-label arrangement they are split, and the customer-facing brand may do only the first.

Common shapes

  • Branded application portal. A broker or marketplace runs an application flow under its own name and hands the file to a funder whose paper appears at signing
  • Private-label origination. A platform markets and underwrites in substance while a chartered bank is the lender named on the note, and the economics move to the platform afterwards
  • Vendor and dealer programs. An equipment dealer or software vendor offers "our financing", written by a third-party lessor
  • Processor and platform capital. A payments company or marketplace offers advances funded and held by someone else

What changes for you

The contract names the real counterparty. So does the UCC filing, the payoff letter, the entity that reports to a bureau if anyone reports, and the entity you sue or complain about. Servicing and collections may be a fourth party again after a sale or participation.

Where this one catches people

You research a brand and sign with a company you have not researched. The reviews, the years in business and the licensing you checked attach to the front end; the terms, the default provisions and the collection practices come from the back end. When something goes wrong, the brand's support desk often has no authority over the balance.

Read the signature block and the entity named as lender, purchaser or lessor, then do your checks on that name: search it in the state UCC index to see how it files, check whether it holds a licence in states that require one for commercial lending, and look at the governing law and jurisdiction clauses, which will be the funder's choice and not the brand's. If the front-end company will not tell you who is funding before you sign, that answer is itself information.

Where you will meet this term

Merchant Cash Advance Working Capital Business Line of Credit Equipment Financing Business Credit Cards

Read next

Bank Partner ModelAn arrangement in which a chartered bank is the lender named on the note while a non-bank platform sources th… Broker (ISO)An intermediary who takes a business's application, submits it to funders and is paid by the funder that clos… Direct funderThe party deploying its own capital into the deal, named as buyer or lender on the agreement, as distinct fro… FunderThe party providing the money, named as buyer under a purchase agreement or lender under a note, as distinct … Independent sales organization (ISO)A sales firm that originates funding applications and places them with funders for a commission — the party m… Lending licenseState authorisation to make or broker loans, required in some states, for some products, at some sizes — and … SyndicationSeveral funders each putting up part of one advance or loan and sharing the return in proportion, while one o… True LenderThe doctrine asking which party is really making a loan when a bank is named on the note but a non-bank marke… Vendor ProgramFinancing offered at the point of sale under the seller's brand, where the equipment dealer, software vendor …

White Label — common questions

What does white label mean?

An arrangement where one company's funding product is presented under another company's brand, so the name on the website and the emails is not the entity underwriting, funding or holding the deal.

Where does white label catch people out?

You research a brand and sign with a company you have not researched. The reviews, the years in business and the licensing you checked attach to the front end; the terms, the default provisions and the collection practices come from the back end. When something goes wrong, the brand's support desk often has no authority over the balance.

Is white label the same as an interest rate?

White Label is defined above; if you are comparing it against a rate, check whether the two measures share a time dimension before you put them side by side.

Which products does white label apply to?

Merchant Cash Advance, Working Capital, Business Line of Credit, Equipment Financing, Business Credit Cards.

Is there a worked example of white label?

Not on this entry. Where a term is arithmetic, the arithmetic is shown; this one is not primarily a calculation.

What else should I read alongside white label?

Bank Partner Model, Broker, Direct funder, Funder, Independent sales organization.

Has this definition been checked?

Not yet. This entry is drafted and live, and the notice at the top says so. Confirm anything you are about to act on.

Is this legal advice?

No. It is a definition. What a clause does in your contract, in your state, is a question for a lawyer licensed where you are.

Can I suggest a term?

Yes — [email protected]. The glossary grows from what people are actually shown in contracts.