Mercury and Sheffield streamline online to dealership financing for outboards and boat packages

Mercury and Sheffield shorten the path from online browsing to boat ownership

Brunswick unit Mercury Marine and Sheffield Financial, a division of Truist Bank, announce a retail financing partnership that streamlines purchases of Mercury outboard engines and Mercury-powered boat packages. The program, unveiled from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, links online shopping and credit decisions to in-dealership loan closings, enabling dealers to offer Sheffield-powered installment financing with competitive rates and a connected digital experience. Dealers gain access to Sheffield’s online prequalification technology for use across marketing channels and seven-day-a-week access to a specialized marine underwriting team for faster credit decisions.

The arrangement aims to accelerate sales cycles and reduce paperwork at the dealership level, while improving customer conversion rates by delivering a consistent financing experience from digital ad or website to showroom. “This pairs Sheffield’s specialized expertise in outboard engine and boat package financing with Mercury’s trusted brand to deliver a simple, fast and transparent financing process,” says Susan Andersson, senior vice president and head of national accounts at Sheffield Financial. Randy Caruana, Mercury’s vice president of Americas and Asia Pacific, adds that the streamlined financing helps dealers meet growing customer expectations for a fast, connected journey from online research to dealership closing.

For Brunswick, the deal underscores a wider industry push toward integrated digital retailing and embedded financing as a sales-growth lever for higher-ticket marine products. By offering tools that let dealers market financing offers and prequalify prospects before they reach the showroom, Mercury and Sheffield seek to sustain dealer operations, reduce friction in the purchase process and support long-term customer relationships. The partnership explicitly covers both outboards and complete boat packages, aligning finance capability with Brunswick’s product ecosystem.

Sheffield Financial, founded 33 years ago and a member FDIC division of Truist Bank, provides installment financing across marine, powersports, compact tractors, outdoor power equipment and trailers. The lender serves hundreds of brands and has financed millions of customers nationwide; its backing by Truist gives dealers access to larger balance-sheet capacity.

The deal reflects a broader trend in the marine industry where captive and third‑party lenders expand digital credit tools to capture online-intent customers. Faster underwriting and embedded prequalification are increasingly seen as necessary to convert research-stage shoppers into closed sales at dealerships.