Seven Percent of Small Businesses Use MCAs on a Regular Basis

According to the latest Small Business Credit Survey taken by the Federal Reserve, 7% of businesses with less than 500 employees use merchant cash advances on a regular basis. This was up from 6% the previous year.

For businesses that applied for financing, 12% applied for an MCA, up from 9% the previous year. Forty-eight percent of those applicants said that they got fully approved for one and 12% said they were declined. This contrasts with last year’s figures of 33% and 9% respectively. These charts are compared below while the full 2026 survey report can be viewed here.

It should be noted that the 2026 data reflects a survey conducted from September 2025 – November 2025 for that trailing 12 month period and the 2025 data reflects a survey conducted September 2024 – November 2024.