Thursday, October 9, 2008

How fast can My Business Get a Merchant Cash Advance?

One of the most attractive aspects of a business cash advance is the speed with which it can be arranged. How fast is fast? Most commonly, it is a week to 10 days. However, it can be as quick as only 72 hours!

How to Get a Merchant Cash Advance in 72 Hours
Getting a Merchant Cash Advance this quickly requires a few things to come together for you and your business. At a minimum, it requires the following:
  • Your Business Needs To Be Using an Approved Processor. A Merchant Cash Advance is centered on the credit card sales processing. If you are not using processor that already works with your funding provider, you will have to switch processors before arranging a Merchant Cash Advance funding. Switching processors is usually pretty painless but it does add several days to a Merchant Cash Advance timeline. Most providers will have established relationships with a variety of processors to offer you competitive rates and options if you need to switch. Caution: Watch out for funding providers that require you to switch to a more expensive processor. Most reputable providers should have relationships with processors that will “meet-or-beat” your current costs.

  • You Need to Provide Paperwork Quickly. Compared to other options, there is very little paperwork needed to get a Merchant Cash Advance. This means every piece of information required is going to be important to the final decision. If you want to arrange a funding quickly, make sure you complete the Merchant Agreement as well as other paperwork requested by the provider. Typically, this might include credit card statements, landlord verification and other related documents.

  • Be Available. If you are seeking fast decisions, many providers should be able to help you. But this means they will need to reach you quickly to help verify all submitted documents are in order. You will need to be available during this process, and it helps to have a fax machine available to speed up communications.

Having all of the above is not a guarantee that you will receive a Merchant Cash Advance in 72 hours. But these key points do make getting a Merchant Cash Advance in 72 hours a possibility.

Warning: Proceed With Caution
While it is true that a Merchant Cash Advance is a quick and simple approach to handing working capital needs, do be careful. Be sure that you know 100% what you are getting into. We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: READ YOUR CONTRACT.

A reputable provider does not hide things from you…there is a transparency to how it all works. You will know what amount of cash the business will receive, the amount of future credit card receipts the business will sell, and what percentage of daily credit card sales go to the Merchant Cash Advance provider. You should eliminate guesswork.

If it takes a little more time for you to weigh your options in an effort to make the decision wisely, it is always in your best interest to wait. While a Merchant Cash Advance can often be arranged in 72 hours, prudence dictates that you should never sacrifice complete understanding for speed. And you should always consider all alternatives available whenever making a financial decision.

What do you think? Is timing typically an important issue when you are seeking working capital for your business?