The merchant cash advance industry has evolved into a rapidly growing industry since the product was originally introduced almost twenty years ago by such pioneers as Litle & Co, Clever Ideas, and Transmedia (which merged / acquired companies like Dining Ala Card into what is now Rewards Network today, the former iDine). Today, there are estimated to be over twenty-five merchant cash advance providers and hundreds of agents, ISOs, and brokers offering the merchant cash advance product through various cash advance providers.
The merchant cash advance product has received even more attention recently as its "sister product" credit card processing is experiencing more competition than ever and the margins on bankcard aquiring are being squeezed tighter than ever. Furthermore, ancillary products to the credit card processing residuals such as selling / leasing of terminals which used to be an upfront cash flow stream for the ISO/agent is now almost non-existent with the introduction of industry wide free terminal programs. Due to a decrease in revenue potential in revenue for ISOs, agents and sales representatives in the credit card processing industry there has been a recent migration of these people entering the merchant cash advance space either as an "add-on" product or completely changing their business model to selling merchant cash advances full-time.
As more and more people are selling this product, capital is becoming more and more readily available to businesses nationwide that may not have access to traditional lending sources. Because a merchant cash advance is typically not a loan, but a factoring product because it's a sale of future credit card receivables, it allows for a provider an alternative underwriting method to provide working capital to merchants that may have not normally qualified for under traditional underwriting formulas.
It is estimated in 2007 alone that $600 million - $700 million worth of merchant cash advances will be provided to help grow tens of thousands of businesses nationwide. With that said, the marketplace has become extremely competitive. One example is on a recent trip to Texas I was dining in a small restaurant. I had asked the owner of the restaurant if he ever heard that he could get access to working capital by selling his future credit card receivables. His response was, "not only have I heard of it, I get at least four to five companies a week trying to sell this product to me in one form or another, either face to face, in the mail, or over the phone."
I have seen various posts / questions about merchant cash advances on various websites across the Internet including credit card processing sites, financing sites, etc. but no destination site that is exclusively dedicated to the merchant cash advance industry.
I hope this will be the beginning of what will be a destination site that will be informative and resourceful for those in the merchant cash advance industry. As President & CEO of one of the largest merchant cash advance companies in the industry, my goal is to take my five years of merchant cash advance experience to educate and inform those that are currently in the industry as well as those that are looking to enter the industry. As this website evolves, I hope it to be a resource for those currently working in the merchant cash advance industry as well as those looking to enter the industry. Items like industry trends, job boards, discussion forums, industry news, etc. will all be part of this merchant cash advance destination resource.
I also encourage you to email me with any questions, comments, etc. about this website and/or the merchant cash advance industry and I would be happy to answer them. I can be reached at dg@amerimerchant.com.
-David Goldin
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