Lending Tree: “The merchant cash advance market is a strong market that is growing”

“The merchant cash advance market is a strong market that is growing,” said Lending Tree CFO Jason Bengel during the company’s Q4 earnings call.

Small business financing has become an increasing priority for the financial services referral platform.

“…we have continually invested in additions to our small business concierge sales force, allowing us as well as lenders on the network, to help a greater number of business owners find the best loan options for them while guiding them through the often complex process of completing their application through to funding,” said Lending Tree CEO Scott Peyree.

Though Lending Tree is considered a platform, they describe themselves as a business loan broker, one with a name that helps lenders reach merchants they would otherwise never be able to connect with.

“A lot of our small business lenders, for example, they do not even write direct to merchant,” Peyree said. “They write loans through brokers like us. Deep API logged-in access for us to get their loan information, these consumers do not even know that these companies exist, outside of talking to us to get a loan.”