events
ETA Expo Recap
May 3, 2013
Recap of the ETA Expo as it pertains to Merchant Cash Advance:
- Just about every funder has an ACH program or is working on implementing one.
- Many funders are licensed lenders or are working to become licensed in the states where it may be necessary. There actually seemed to be a lot of excitement about this. Funders are finding comfort in being subject to state mandated regulations as it probably raises their legitimacy and it will make their businesses easier to value when trying to raise money or sell.
- The ACH repayment market will be larger than the split-funding market this year. There’s no doubt in my mind about this. That means that ACH funding is now the primary protocol behind Merchant Cash Advance.
- Almost everyone is working hard to build up their technology. I got a personal demo of RetailCapital’s ISO/Agent system in addition to Capital Access Network’s new CapTap. Both are great. Capital Stack also has a beautiful platform.
- Stacking is the issue of 2013 as I heard that word uttered probably every 30 seconds for a whole week. I know the NAMAA folks are talking about it but I don’t know what the consensus is. It’s important to keep in mind that many funders aren’t NAMAA members and that affects NAMAA’s ability to dictate policy. Capital Access Network, the largest funder in the industry isn’t even a member.
- Speaking of NAMAA, they refaced their website and it looks A LOT better. I see only 14 members listed but it’s my understanding that there are closer to 20 of them.
- Factor rates are all over the place. Swift Capital has a new 1.099 program, which has got to be the first one to fall under the 10% threshold aside from Amex’s Merchant Financing. Higher risk deals however still operate in the 1.49 and up range. There is no one-size-fits-all product anymore.
- There were several direct lenders walking around that I had never heard of and they are apparently doing significant monthly volume. More and more people are getting into the funding business.
- It’s exhausting trying to keep up with the news surrounding On Deck Capital. They are on a very deliberate path and what we keeping seeing and hearing is them just checking things off on their to-do list. I bullet-pointed my theory on DailyFunder in response to a few posts.
- Discover and Priority Payments threw great parties.
- New Orleans has a lot of charm.
Make sure to check out my updates and photos that I’ve finally posted from the ETA Expo on DailyFunder and feel free to add your own if you were there.
Dozens of photos from the show
Also read: Soul Mates: Merchant Cash Advance and Silicon Valley VCs
Follow us at the ETA Expo
April 30, 2013May 3, 1:00am: I underestimated how easy it would be to make frequent updates. Wednesday was fantastic. I uploaded a couple dozen photos and updates all at once earlier today over on DailyFunder. As soon as the show was over, I found myself on Bourbon Street at the Discover party followed by the Priority Payments party. Both were a great time.
My Recap of the show is up now: ETA Expo Recap
Soul Mates: Merchant Cash Advance and Silicon Valley VCs
Original story about On Deck Capital’s investment from Google Ventures and Peter Thiel
My theory on why On Deck Capital took a paltry $17 million from Google Ventures and Peter Thiel
Photos and updates from the ETA
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May 1, 1:00am: Great start to the show this evening. Merchant Cash Advance providers and alternative business lenders continue to have a very strong presence in the payments industry. The booths I saw include: RetailCapital, NextWave Funding, Merchant Cash Group, On Deck Capital, Capital Access Network, Strategic Funding Source, American Finance Solutions, Swift Capital, MotherFund, and Principis Capital. GRP Funding and Paramount Merchant Funding are also on the exhibitor list but I didn’t spot their booths yet. That’s pretty substantial and it omits the major presence of Merchant Cash Advance companies that aren’t exhibiting. I bumped into Merchant Cash and Capital and walked the floor a bit with David Rubin of Capital Stack.
I met the guys behind Super G Funding which lends money against residuals. They’re great guys and they have such a unique role in the industry.
I think every funder I spoke with was quick to mention that they do 12 month deals and either offer direct debit repayment or will have it soon. The ACH train has disrupted the split-funding market pretty severely though many funders continue to do big numbers via split.
Nobody seemed to have an appetite for low FICO score deals (500s and below) except for Merchant Cash Group and Capital Stack which target the higher risk market intentionally. And when I say “don’t have an appetite for,” I literally mean when asking a funder if they do below 500 credit, the answer is some version of “HECK NO!!”
Overall tone, and perhaps its because opening night included open bar, but it was very optimistic. Most funders seemed intent on expanding and are eager to service as much business as possible. I definitely get that sense that there is a real focus these days on the bigger fish ISOs ($1 million+ in referral business a month). When newbie brokers enter the space, funders spend an enormous amount of resources developing them and many times they just don’t pan out. Either the brokers don’t have the capacity to do more than a handful of deals, or they just don’t “get it.”
If you’re a mom and pop ISO and you have just 1 or 2 deals a month, it’s more difficult these days to get time and attention from a funder. Capital is flooding into the industry and everybody wants partners that can produce volume. From a resource standpoint, the “1 and done” reps are not an efficient use of time.
Big ISOs have a lot of negotiating power at their disposal these days. In the last 7 years, it was good to be an ISO, then hard to be an ISO and now it’s good again. Many things in MCA have a weird way of going full circle. Hope to see you on Wednesday.
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Apr 30, 1:00am: 
Merchant Processing Resource will be publishing updates as often as we can from the ETA Expo in New Orleans. I am very excited to be down here. Earlier today I had the opportunity to eat beignets at Cafe Du Monde, visit the French Market District, and take a ride on the Natchez Steamboat on the Mississippi River. But starting Tuesday, it’s all business. A schedule of events can be found on the ETA’s website.
You can follow along with everyone else in town on twitter using #ETAExpo2013 or #ETAExpo13
and of course via the DailyFunder Merchant Cash Advance iPhone App.
Some pre-conference tweets:
ETA Expo 2013 on Twitter
pre-conference tweets
Storified by Sean M· Mon, Apr 29 2013 22:21:50
Here’s to learning, networking, and having fun!
– Merchant Processing Resource
https://debanked.com
It Got Said – Merchant Cash Advance – Friday Fun
April 26, 2013In honor of Friday, we’re having some fun…
Caught on twitter
And Also
Business Financial Services landed an $82 million credit line
A third industry captain will be joining DailyFunder’s CEO Corner early next week at the ETA Expo. Stay tuned! Read articles put out by two other MCA CEOs.
Sean of Merchant Processing Resource and the DailyFunder co-founders will be on the trade show floor of the ETA Expo next week. Considerable time will be spent at Merchant Cash Group‘s exhibit at booth #751 and a guest appearance at Strategic Funding Source‘s booth at #916. We’d love to see you there. Make sure you download the DailyFunder iPhone app as we will try to maintain a live blog of the events.
Merchant Cash Network Hosts MCA Info Session
April 20, 2013I recently had the opportunity to sit in on an informational session for small business owners hosted by New York City based ISO, Merchant Cash Network (MCN). On Wednesday April 10th, small businesses packed into a room at 1375 Broadway to learn about alternative financing with a focus on Merchant Cash Advance. MCN’s vast knowledge on the subject was obvious and I definitely believe these grass roots sessions are an excellent way to both educate the public and to bring businesses together to network. Great work guys!
Merchant Cash Group NCAA Contest Winners Announced
April 10, 2013
If you weren’t in this year’s NCAA bracket competition hosted by Merchant Cash Group, you missed out on a lot of fun!! But that’s okay, because well there’s always next year 🙂
From Heather at Merchant Cash Group:
“Merchant Cash Group had the privilege of hosting a NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge offering a top cash prize of $500.00. We invited people from all over the financial industry to join our friendly competition where even the losers walk away with a cool prize. The Brackets were shaken up severely with the Cinderella story of Florida Gulf College and the early elimination of some of the top schools, uh hum Kansas St, New Mexico and UNLV to name a few. By April 8th we were down to only one person (Billy Crowe) who had Louisville winning it all and with that made a come behind win with a 15 point spread.
Now, while Billy is walking away with the Grand Prize all the other participants will be receiving a basketball bobble head trophy announcing to everyone that they in fact our bracket challenged. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the competition and I look forward to hosting more networking opportunities for our space. Below is the final standings and in the interest of saving ego’s please do not rag the losers to hard after all they are stuck with a bobble head.”
- Billy Crowe – PricewaterhouseCoopers Final Score: 111
- Heather Francis – Merchant Cash Group Final Score: 96
- Badger Morning – Merchant Cash Group Final Score: 80
- Sean Murray – Raharney Capital Final Score: 74
- Kara B – Merchant Cash Group Final Score: 73
- Jason Fullen – NVMS Final Score: 69
- Michael Bernier – SBS Capital Final Score: 59
- J. Mark Anderson – Business Funding USA Final Score: 50
- Scott Williams – Financial Advantage Group Final Score: 48
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My chances at bracket gold were dashed when New Mexico lost in the first round to Harvard. Harvard…
Thank you Heather for the fun and also I want to let everyone know that I will be spending some time at Merchant Cash Group’s booth during the ETA expo (#751) on behalf of MPR and DailyFunder. Merchant Cash Group is a great MCA company and I am honored to participate in their exhibit.
ETA Expo 2013 is Approaching
April 9, 2013
The ETA Expo 2013 in New Orleans is fast approaching. If you haven’t registered yet, you should probably go and do that over at http://www2.electran.org/am13/. This will personally be my first time to New Orleans and I am excited to meet and speak with a lot of you. Merchant Processing Resource and DailyFunder will be running a live blog to cover the happenings both big and small each day. So if you’ve got an iPhone and you haven’t downloaded the app yet, now is a good time to go and do that so that you can follow along.
David Rubin, a co-founder of DailyFunder will also be on site and we plan on having some fun giveaways.
So don’t forget plan your meet-ups, what to do, and who to see before you arrive. Talk about it on DailyFunder.
First Ever Small Business Community Chat: Join in!
March 28, 2013
The Small Business Community on Google Plus recently broke 1,000 members and to make the most of it, we’re kicking off the first ever Small Business Chat. The chat events will be held weekly, and each week it will cover a different topic.
The first chat will be on Tuesday, April 2nd at 8pm to 9pm EST in the Google Plus Small Business Community. Please RSVP HERE.
TOPIC:
Come meet and share with likeminded people about how you became an entrepreneur, what makes you tick, wild stories, personal strategies, and more! Thinking about going off on your own? Not sure if you have what it takes? Circle Up and have fun.
Fantasy Football Championship Begins Tomorrow
December 19, 2012
The MCA Industry Fantasy football league is finally drawing to a close. If you somehow missed the action this season, twelve companies came together to compete for a grand prize donation to a charity of their choice. Each company, in addition to several non-participants pledged funds to the prize. A total of $7,100 was raised!!!
In a winner-take-all format, the two teams competing in the championship this week are:
TakeCharge Capital – Newington, CT
Sure Payment Solutions – New York, NY
A winner will be declared next week. A big thanks to everyone that contributed. 100% of the funds will be donated to the winning team’s charity selection.
- Rapid Capital Funding – $1,000!
- Raharney Capital – $500
- Financial Advantage Group – $500
- Merchant Cash Group – $500
- Sure Payment Solutions – $500
- Meridian Leads – $500
- Merchant Cash and Capital – $500
- NVMS – $500
- United Capital Source – $500
- RapidAdvance – $500
- Capital Stack – $500
- Swift Capital – $250
- Strategic Funding Source – $250
- Entrust Merchant Funding – $250
- Paramount Merchant Funding – $250
- TakeCharge Capital – $100
– Merchant Processing Resource
https://debanked.com
