American Cycle Finance has begun funding applications for dealers in California, growing its footprint to 31 states, President Ben Donnarumma told Powersports Finance.
“California is the largest market in the country [for powersports],” Donnarumma said. “We have a bunch of dealers there that we’ve already signed up over time, but we’re officially doing business as of [December 2019] in California.”
The subprime lender signed on about 20 dealers before getting final approval to do business in California. Additionally, American Cycle Finance staffed up its sales team in the region, hiring Adam Bliss as a sales business development manager. Bliss previously held sales roles with Speed Leasing and Chrome Capital Group.
Getting lending approval for California was fairly straightforward, Donnarumma said. After identifying the state, ACF figures out how long it should take to get the licensing straightened out. “Then we have to go through compliance with all the forms,” he explained. “Probably the biggest issue is dealing with all the compliance with the finance contracts.”
Marlborough, Mass.-based ACF plans to expand to other states later this year. The lender works with more than 500 dealers.