Where Macquarie fits in equipment finance
Macquarie is the largest asset financier in Australia outside the big four, and on some asset classes it is the market leader outright. The step change came in 2016 when it acquired the Esanda dealer finance portfolio from ANZ, roughly doubling down on a leasing business it had run for decades. The model that emerged is distribution-led: the overwhelming majority of Macquarie's equipment volume arrives through accredited finance brokers and equipment suppliers rather than through branches, because Macquarie does not have branches in the retail-bank sense.
That model shapes the borrower experience. Macquarie competes on process speed and credit clarity: digital applications, fast decisioning on matrix-fit files, and electronic settlement that brokers consistently rank among the fastest in the market. For a business that needs an excavator financed this week, that operational speed is often the deciding factor.
Asset appetite is broad: trucks, trailers and light commercials, construction and earthmoving equipment, agricultural machinery, materials handling, and technology and medical assets. The existing Macquarie business banking relationship is a bonus, not a requirement; most Macquarie equipment borrowers do not otherwise bank with Macquarie.
Structures: the fuller menu
Macquarie runs a broader structure menu than most majors: chattel mortgage (ownership from day one, PPSR security, upfront GST claim for accruals-basis GST-registered businesses), finance lease (Macquarie owns, business rents with a residual), and hire purchase where that structure suits the borrower's tax or accounting position. The chattel mortgage is the volume product, as everywhere.
Balloons and terms of one to seven years are standard, with the usual arithmetic: lower monthly repayment, higher total interest, lump sum at the end. Our equipment finance calculator models the trade-off precisely, including the GST credit timing that makes the chattel mortgage the default for most GST-registered businesses.
For streamlined approval, Macquarie is known for matrix-style lending at the smaller end: within policy limits, established ABNs with clean credit buying standard assets can be approved off application data and credit history without full financials. Above those limits, or on unusual assets, it is a conventional full-doc assessment.
Pricing and the files Macquarie wins
No published equipment rate card: pricing is deal-built from asset, age, term, balloon, deposit and borrower profile. Market-wide, 2026 equipment finance has run roughly 5.5 to 12 per cent p.a. Macquarie's pricing is consistently competitive on mainstream wheeled and yellow assets for established businesses, which is the heart of its book, and its speed premium means it often wins deals it has not strictly won on rate.
Where Macquarie is strongest: broker-introduced files on standard commercial assets where the borrower values approval and settlement speed, established small and mid-market businesses using streamlined paths, and asset classes like technology where major-bank appetite thins out. Where it is weaker: files that need a full banking relationship wrapped around the deal, and heavily impaired credit, which belongs with private specialists.
Because Macquarie's appetite and product settings are actively managed and move with funding conditions, the practical advice is simply to reach it the way the market does: through an accredited broker who sees Macquarie's current settings daily and quotes it against the rest of the panel in one pass.
Eligibility and application
Standard requirements apply: active ABN, GST registration for the GST mechanics to work, director identification, and servicing evidence, with streamlined matrix paths within policy limits and full financials beyond them. Companies, trusts, partnerships and sole traders are all financeable; director guarantees are standard on corporate files.
The application route is almost always through a broker or an equipment supplier with Macquarie accreditation. Settlement on approved files is electronic and fast, commonly within days of documents being signed, subject to supplier invoicing and inspections on used assets.
Product lineup at a glance
Below is the current published product range. Rates are not listed inline because they change with the cash rate and per-borrower credit overlay. Click through to the lender's own rate card for the live figure.
The honest pros and cons
- Largest asset financier outside the big four, with market-leading positions in several classes
- Fast digital approvals and electronic settlement, consistently ranked among the quickest in market
- Streamlined matrix approval paths for established ABNs on standard assets
- Fuller structure menu: chattel mortgage, finance lease and hire purchase
- No banking relationship required: built for broker and supplier introduction
- No published rate card and actively managed appetite: settings move with funding conditions
- Not a relationship bank for most equipment borrowers: no branch network or day-to-day banking wrap
- Matrix limits mean larger or unusual deals revert to conventional full-doc assessment
- Credit-impaired files sit outside appetite and need private specialists
Frequently asked questions
What equipment finance structures does Macquarie offer?
Macquarie offers chattel mortgage equipment loans (ownership from day one, upfront GST claim for accruals-basis GST-registered businesses, balloons, terms of one to seven years), finance leases (Macquarie owns, the business pays fixed rentals with a residual) and hire purchase where that suits the borrower's tax position: a fuller structure menu than most major banks currently run.
How fast is Macquarie equipment finance approval?
Macquarie is known for some of the fastest approval and settlement processing in Australian asset finance. Files that fit its streamlined matrix criteria (established ABN, clean credit, standard asset, within policy limits) can be approved quickly off application data without full financials, and settlement is electronic, commonly within days of signed documents.
What are Macquarie equipment finance rates in 2026?
Macquarie prices per deal rather than publishing an equipment rate card, and its settings move actively with funding conditions. Market-wide, 2026 equipment finance has ranged roughly from 5.5 to 12 per cent p.a. Brokers see Macquarie's current pricing daily, so a broker quote is both the practical way to reach Macquarie and the way to test it against the rest of the market.
Do I need to bank with Macquarie to get equipment finance?
No. Macquarie's asset finance is built for broker and equipment-supplier introduction, and most of its equipment borrowers have no other Macquarie relationship. There is no branch network in the retail sense; the equipment finance business runs on digital applications through accredited introducers.
What happened between Macquarie and Esanda?
Esanda was ANZ's vehicle and equipment finance company. In 2016 Macquarie acquired the Esanda dealer finance portfolio from ANZ, which substantially expanded Macquarie's asset finance scale and cemented its position as the largest asset financier outside the big four. ANZ retained direct-to-business asset finance; the dealer-introduced heritage went to Macquarie.