Rockland Trust is launching a new equipment-leasing service in the hopes that it can entice some of its commercial customers to do business with the bank rather than captive finance companies.

The $7.2 billion bank has always made equipment loans, but Gerry Nadeau, executive vice president of commercial lending, said those loans don’t always work well for the bank’s commercial borrowers. Sometimes there are tax advantages to leasing equipment versus purchasing it with a loan, and sometimes borrowers prefer to lease for a given period, so they aren’t saddled with an outdated piece of machinery at the end of the lease terms.

Additionally, he said the bank saw an opportunity that was largely untapped by some of its competition.

“While some of the large banks have leasing divisions, they typically don’t bring it down to the middle-market customer that we sought,” Nadeau said.

He said that leasing options are in particular demand among construction companies, health care businesses, trucking companies and service providers. The bank now offers both capital and operating leases and has rolled that line of business into its commercial banking division, rather than separating it out into a separate division.

So far, Nadeau said that Rockland Trust has closed on about half a dozen leases totaling around $1 million in volume, with the goal to make between $3 and $5 million worth of equipment leases in its first year.

“We want to learn the business first,” he said. “We’re much more the tortoise than the hare. We want to learn it make sure it works right and make sure our customers see value.”