Articles by deBanked Staff
NerdWallet CEO: ‘Distribution is King’
May 7, 2026During NerdWallet’s Q1 earnings call, CEO Tim Chen took a question about the company’s vertical integration strategy.
“High level, the cost of launching financial products is decreasing rapidly, as everything from software to call centers to capital markets is getting more efficient,” Chen said. “Meanwhile, the cost of distribution is going up. That means now more than ever, distribution is king.”
With this in mind, the company is going hard on distribution.
“…we have decided to be more aggressive in placing our long-term bets,” Chen said. “We believe our brand and distribution moats represent a growing advantage as less powerful brands struggle to reach consumers efficiently, while AI simultaneously reduces the cost of offering financial products.”
Chen also said that it’s getting harder for single-product companies to continue competing.
“While this environment is increasingly challenging for newer entrants and single-product companies, our trusted brand leaves us in a strong position to capitalize on our massive consumer reach and distribution network.”
NerdWallet offers both consumer and smb products.
“SMB revenue was 25 million, down 15% year over year, driven primarily by organic search revenue declines in SMB products, partially offset by revenue growth in loan originations,” said John Lee, NerdWallet’s CFO of the first quarter. This downward trend as a result of the changing organic search environment has been a recurring theme for the last few quarters.
New York State Bill Seeks to Criminalize Invoice Factoring, Merchant Cash Advances, and More
May 6, 2026A Senate Bill in New York hopes to rewrite the state’s criminal usury laws to include invoice financing, revenue-based financing, merchant cash advances, retail installment contracts, “or any transaction that in substance functions as the advance of funds in exchange for a future payment or obligation, regardless of the label assigned to such transaction.” S10127, introduced by Senator Rachel May (D), says that the purpose is to ensure “that businesses cannot evade New York’s longstanding usury laws by re-labeling high-cost financing products as services or other non-loan transactions, and to apply existing civil and criminal interest rate protections to covered financing arrangements.”
Any product that falls under these definitions would be deemed criminal if its all-in cost exceeds 25% per annum or the equivalent rate for a longer or shorter period. Depending on the circumstances it would either be considered a Class E felony punishable up to 4 years in prison or a Class C felony punishable up to 15 years in prison.
The bill has merely been introduced and has not yet made its rounds through the legislature. It can be viewed here.
Equipment Finance Lender Solicited Syndication into Fake Deals for 30 Years
May 6, 2026A criminal complaint charging Western-New York-based Woodhill Capital Corp CEO Richard Teplitsky with running a ponzi scheme since 2018 is even more sinister than it looks. That’s because during an interview with the FBI, Teplitsky revealed that he has been offering investment opportunities into fake equipment finance deals for thirty years.
“Teplitsky stated that at some point in time, probably around the mid-1990s, Woodhill did not have enough money coming in from borrowers to make the payments that were due to Woodhill’s investors,” the criminal complaint says. “At that point, Teplitsky started to create fictitious loan documents fraudulently representing to investors that their money was being used to fund loans. In fact, many of the funds being provided by investors were not being used to fund loans to borrowers, but instead were being used to pay the amounts owed to previous investors.”
Despite high interest rates, Teplitsky allegedly said that the risky nature of the deals resulted in a default rate of nearly 50%. He paid the investors anyway.
The scheme snowballed over time with most of the deals over the last ten years being completely fake. As of March 2026 Teplitsky estimated there were 170 – 190 investors that were owed tens of millions of dollars with only 5-10% being a result of real deals. The full complaint can be viewed here.
Broker Fair 2026 Room Block is FULL
May 5, 2026Hotel rooms for Broker Fair 2026 taking place on June 1 in New York City have SOLD OUT. But don’t worry, there’s still tickets left to the event itself! You can register for it right here!
Shopify Capital: $1.4B in Business Loans and MCAs in Q1
May 5, 2026
Shopify’s business loan and merchant cash advance offerings continue to increase. This follows a consistent decade-long rise with no down years. In Q1, the company originated $1.4 billion in business loans and merchant cash advances, up from $821 million YoY. Based on the weight of the respective receivables, the product mix is roughly 82% loan-based and 18% MCA.
Of the loans it originated in 2025 that still have an outstanding balance, 10.8% were more than 6 months behind on their original payment schedule as of March 31, 2026.
Delinquency chart in in the Q1 docs:
RBFC Response to New CFPB Small Business Lending Rules
May 4, 2026Last week, the CFPB updated its final Section 1071 small business loan data collection rules to improve the usefulness of the data and to reduce the burden on covered parties. As part of that, merchant cash advances were finally excluded from the reporting requirements.
The Revenue Based Finance Coalition (RBFC) had advocated strongly for some of the changes that made it into the final version. In a public statement, the RBFC offered this feedback on the news:
“The final 1071 Rule is an important step in the right direction. It reflects an evenhanded approach to sales-based financing and recognizes that these products are fundamentally different from traditional credit. The rule properly focuses on financing arrangements that clearly fall within the scope of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. We’re pleased to see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acknowledge that whether a product constitutes credit depends on its specific structure.
The new framework provides important clarity for responsible providers and the small businesses that rely on flexible, performance-based financing. The Revenue Based Finance Coalition remains focused on advocating for fair, clear, and appropriate regulation of sales-based financing, with a top priority of ensuring that our members can continue to provide businesses with the capital they need to grow and thrive. This clarity will help support continued innovation and responsible access to capital for small businesses across the country.”
The Section 1071 label comes from its statutory section number in the 2010 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Merchant Cash Advances Excluded From CFPB Small Business Loan Data Collection
May 1, 2026Merchant Cash Advances are now excluded from the CFPB’s small business loan data collection requirements. In the final rules filed by the agency on April 30th, the previous proposal to exclude MCAs from Section 1071 is now deemed approved and final.
“Since MCAs are not covered credit transactions under this final rule, no MCA providers will be required to report,” the docs say. The rationale is discussed across the 314 pages that comprise the final decision. However, the agency did leave open the possibility to reconsider the inclusion of MCAs years down the road.
But for now after more than a decade of debate and confusion over the matter, MCAs will not be considered a covered credit transaction for the purpose of Section 1071 of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. You can read the final rules here.
The OppFi / BNC National Bank Deal and Bitty
April 29, 2026
OppFi, a publicly traded fintech lender, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire BNC National Bank in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $130 million. OppFi says that “the transaction unites two complementary, market-leading businesses, combining OppFi’s sophisticated online lending platform with BNC’s national bank charter and diversified banking infrastructure to create a stronger, more diversified financial services provider.”
As deBanked readers may be aware, OppFi also owns 35% of Bitty, a small business finance provider, a detail reiterated in the official bank acquisition announcement. Viewed through that lens, there appears to be a natural synergy between Bitty and BNC. BNC, for example, offers SBA loans, equipment financing, working capital loans, and more. Headquartered in Glendale, AZ, the announcement notes that BNC has “a particular strength in business financing and SBA lending.”
OppFi stands to benefit in several ways from the arrangement, including gaining “access to BNC’s stable, low-cost deposit base, which carries a cost of less than 2%.”
“BNC will continue normal operations as a community banking division within OppFi Bank, and will continue to be led by Dan Collins and the existing BNC management team,” the companies state. “Todd Schwartz will lead the combined company as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman. Michael Vekich will serve on the board of directors of OppFi Bank.”
