Articles by deBanked Staff
Is Factoring Dying?
September 22, 2026Commercial Factor, the International Factoring Association’s official quarterly magazine, just published an op-ed by the president of a California-based business financing firm, Greg Salomon. He titled the article, Is Factoring Dying? Salomon was an IFA board member from 2021 – 2024.
While the article should be read in its entirety to be fully appreciated, he made several notable references to the competition that the factoring industry has faced that are shared below:
“Much to our chagrin, merchant cash advances have become ubiquitous among small businesses. Supply-chain finance programs offered by large buyers reduce the need for suppliers to factor invoices. Fintech platforms embed credit directly into B2B marketplaces. Automation and AI reduce the need for manual invoice verification.”
“First, banks expanded small-business credit after the 2008 financial crisis, increasing their use of SBA programs and making credit more accessible. This reduced demand for factoring among companies that could now qualify for bank lines of credit. Second, online lenders filled the speed gap. Platforms like OnDeck, Rapid, and Forward Financing, along with about 5,000 MCA brokers to the main MCA platforms, offer fast, unsecured and secured loans—something factoring historically provided more slowly and with more paperwork. As we have painfully experienced, merchant cash advances offer simplicity and speed, even if at a very high cost. Many small businesses chose MCAs over factoring because they required less documentation. Third, many factors, like Goodman Capital, led by Skylar Lane, have experienced eroded ‘debtor quality’ due to Early Pay supply-chain finance lenders like C2FO and SAP Taulia.”
Salomon also cited regulatory pressure on factoring.
“States including California, where I am based, as well as New York, Utah, Virginia, Connecticut, and Florida, have implemented commercial finance disclosure laws requiring APR-style transparency for factoring and MCAs. While some updated practices mandated by the states have led to greater transparency and professionalism, they have pushed some lenders out.”
NYC Touts its Revenue-Based Loan Program
September 17, 2026“Traditional loans don’t work for all businesses, especially those businesses whose revenues change with the seasons,” said Kenny Minaya, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services. “That’s why the NYC Future Fund offers loans starting at $25,000 with lower interest rates and flexible repayment options that adjust with your revenue.”
Since Minaya and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the city’s new revenue-based financing initiative in March, Minaya has touted it as one of New York’s signature small business lifelines.
In a conference hosted by the Dominican American Chamber of Commerce this past July, Minaya told the audience that the Mayor and he had launched the revenue-based loan program themselves. “This is a program for small businesses whose revenues fluctuate throughout the year,” he said.
On the official website that explains the benefits, it says “Unlike a traditional term loan, a revenue-based loan enables better cash flow management as principal repayments are based on a percentage of monthly revenue instead of fixed payments. When revenue is higher, payments increase, when revenue is lower, payments decrease.”
Marketing for the program does not disclose an APR, but instead refers to two separate costs, an “annual interest rate” and a “3% origination fee.”
Mid-year Signals in SMB Financing
September 15, 2026This year has been a roller coaster. Here are some of the big mid-year headlines to consider about the direction of where things are going:
| 9/14/26 | Enova: Withdrew its application to acquire Grasshopper Bank |
| 8/28/26 | Stripe: Withdrew its bid to acquire PayPal |
| 8/14/26 | Lendio: Macro-market conditions were difficult in Q2 |
| 7/29/26 | LendingTree: SMB Lending Business Softened in Q2 |
| 8/25/26 | Intuit: Revenue growth continues to be driven by working capital loans to small businesses |
| 8/6/26 | Nerdwallet: [SMB] loans is growing year-over-year |
| 8/5/26 | Shopify: [Shopify] Capital was a larger driver this quarter |
| 7/30/26 | Lightspeed: MCA business expanding |
| 9/15/26 | Forward Financing: Inks $1.8B forward flow agreement |
| 8/18/26 | Clearco: Secures $100M |
| 7/27/26 | InterVest Capital: acquires Kapitus |
| 7/16/26 | Forward Financing: Secures $525M |
| 7/10/26 | Spartan Capital: Secures $160M |
| 6/15/26 | Fora Financial: $130M Securitization |
| 6/8/26 | Byzfunder: announces $170M inaugural ABS |
| 5/27/26 | Mulligan Funding: $100M ABS |
| 5/12/26 | Credibly: $260M securitization |
DailyFunder Surpasses 14 Years in Existence
September 14, 2026
The DailyFunder forum, the largest online small business finance community, recently surpassed 14 years in operation. The forum has generated more than 215,000 posts and has more than 18,000 members. It has regularly surpassed two million page views per year.
The merchant cash advance sub-forum remains the most popular, generating half of all posts since inception. Real estate lending and business lending are also very active.
The most active demographic on the forum is a business finance broker. Membership to the forum has been free since it was founded in 2012.
Upstart: Lending’s oldest truism is not true for us
September 10, 2026“At AI Day last year, I told you that lending’s oldest truism assumes the technology stays constant: that you can’t have growth, strong credit performance, and profitability all at once,” said Upstart CEO Paul Gu during the Q2 earnings call. “That’s not the case for Upstart. This quarter, we delivered all three: we grew, our credit performed, and we expanded margins. We didn’t have to trade one for another, and that combination — not any single metric in isolation — is the clearest evidence that our AI advantage is real and compounding.”
Upstart offers personal loans, auto loans, and home loans. The company said that it would double down in the second half of the year with the understanding that its “core personal loan” business is its “superpower” with “unusually strong margins.”
Upstart also received conditional approved by the OCC to establish its own bank. The company said that “the charter would allow Upstart to reduce operational, regulatory, and financial complexity for itself as well as for its third-party capital partners.”
Upstart is one of many fintechs in the process of applying for a bank charter or acquiring a chartered bank.
Quickbooks Capital Originated $1.9B in Business Loans Last Quarter
September 2, 2026Intuit’s Quickbooks Capital originated $1.9 billion in business loans for its 4th quarter in FY 2026, which ended July 31.
“In capital, revenue growth continues to be driven by working capital loans to small businesses,” said Sandeep Aujla, Intuit’s CFO during the quarterly earnings call. “Loan volume through QuickBooks Capital increased 54% to $1.9 billion this quarter. The Q4 deceleration in capital revenue growth is due to a deliberate increase in the mix of loans we sell through our forward flow partners, which have a lower revenue yield.”
Intuit is among the largest online small business lenders in the country.
deBanked’s Free Open Bar on Long Island – September 8
August 24, 2026deBanked is returning to Long Island for its annual FREE Open Bar this September 8th in Huntington. This event is open to brokers, funders, lenders, lead generators, tech companies, attorneys, collectors, bankers, investors, and more!
Crabtree’s is located at 330 New York Avenue in Huntington. Space is limited so make sure you register to attend early HERE.
Last year’s open bar in Huntington had a registered guest list of 300 people!
Soliciting Investments into an MCA or Business Lender on Behalf of Someone Else? Be Careful
August 19, 2026A recent civil lawsuit brought by the SEC against the orchestrator of an MCA funder-turned-Ponzi scheme came packed with claims against two other individuals who “acted as unregistered brokers.”
“The two were alleged to have solicited investors, explained the investment terms to those investors, vouched for the merits of the investment opportunity, facilitated the collection of investor funds, and received transaction-based compensation without ever registering as a broker-dealer with the Commission or associating with a registered broker-dealer,” the complaint alleges.
Unlike some syndication models, where investors pick and choose the individual deals they want to invest in, the defendants here told investors that the owner of the funding company would select which deals to fund with their money on his own. Investors were not entitled to know the names of the merchants due to confidentiality. Overall, the funder solicited at least 87 investors, raising at least $47 million, and promised fixed returns of between 22% and 53% on one-year investments and between 9% and 10% on shorter, two- to three-month investments.
The owner, who just pleaded guilty to wire fraud, misappropriated at least $11 million for himself—to pay gambling debts, personal credit card bills, home renovation expenses, and mortgage and car payments. He also used investor funds to pay earlier investors. While he did fund some deals, there were not that many. The scheme was able to go on for five years before collapsing in mid-2023.
The brokers who marketed the investment opportunity received commissions ranging from 5% to 25% of the amounts they brought in. They personally face claims that they violated Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act and should be enjoined.
The SEC complaint describes each of their violations “as a natural person not associated with a broker or dealer which is a person other than a natural person, made use the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce to effect transactions in, or to induce or attempt to induce the purchase or sale of, any security without being registered with the Commission as a broker-dealer.”
