Merchant Cash Advance Blacklist

If you default on a Merchant Cash Advance naturally or by breach of contract, there is virtually no chance you will be able to obtain a Merchant Cash Advance in the future. 2008 was a particularly brutal year for Merchant Cash Advance firms. Not only had the recession weakened the most aggressive players but merchant fraud was abundant. 90% of the time this business is conducted by phone. Being vastly easier to obtain than a loan, many merchants rigged the process to get funding from multiple firms at the same time. Some would “go out of business” only to obtain more funds under a different name.

Merchant Cash Advance providers have stuck by their mantra of providing a simple process to their clients and have created solutions to prevent fraud. Industry groups such as the North American Merchant Advance Association provide a live database exchange of clients in default. A merchant’s most sensitive information is not revealed but public information such as legal name, dba, owner name, business address, and phone numbers (to name a few) are all stored in the database. Live funding activity is also shared in some capacity. For instance, if you apply to funding firm A and funding firm B at the same time but are funded by firm A today, then Firm B will automatically be alerted not to fund you.

These deterrents and live databases are not broadcast to the public and thus some businesses try to obtain additional advances after having defaulted on one already. If you are a merchant and you are trying to hide the fact that you currently have an advance or defaulted on one previously, you will not be successful in obtaining funds from another firm.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.