All Posts

Are you aware of what SMBs are saying about their confidence for survival within 2 years, what credit cards they use, and which ones they use first?

In one of the more notable COVID-relief fraud cases to hit the lending industry, a California business loan broker has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for orchestrating a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.

Block’s latest quarter was a reminder that embedded lending is no side hustle anymore. While top‑line headlines fixated on guidance and mixed revenue trends, two things stood out for our world: Square Loans kept scaling originations, and Bitcoin revenue cooled from last year’s pace. Meanwhile, Shopify Capital posted a sizable quarter of its own, a competitive signal for platform‑native business funding.

Since its founding in 2018, Cloudsquare has operated as both a Salesforce implementation partner and software platform provider. But over time, it became clear that the biggest impact came from one thing: delivering the end-to-end platform that lenders actually needed.

“We continue to see strong demand from both consumers and businesses seeking bankruptcy protection... Overall volumes are steadily climbing back toward pre-pandemic levels,” said Michael Hunter, VP at Epiq AACER.

GoDaddy’s Q2 2025 Earnings; Louisiana Mandates New Disclosures for Revenue-Based Financing; Shopify’s Q2 2025; Bankruptcy Court Ruling Redefines Merchant Cash Advances; BlackRock’s $1 Billion Bet on LendingClub’s Marketplace; Lenders Remain Bullish on Manufacturing & Construction Equipment

One of the largest website builder platforms, which has many apps and plugins, has launched Wix Checking and Wix Capital for its clients. This is long overdue, as I wrote about the lack of financing offered by Wix and GoDaddy a couple of years ago. I discuss this in the video and another recent story of embedded lending, explaining how it affects the market and what you should be doing in this evolving market.

In an industry where speed, precision, and trust define success, Funder Intel has quietly launched something that’s already changing the game behind the scenes. It’s called the Funder Matching Tool, and it’s not another marketplace or gimmicky lead-gen form. It’s a performance-first, underwriting-guided matchmaking engine that connects business loan brokers to compatible funders in seconds. And it’s already working.

The timing is fraught: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is close to finalizing new rules meant to secure people’s access to their own financial data. Many see JPMorgan’s move as an attempt to undercut those reforms and cement control over the digital rails of American banking.

Enova's small business lending, including business units OnDeck and Headway Capital, has reached a new record, with small and medium-sized business (SMB) offerings constituting approximately two-thirds of the company's loan portfolio. SMB revenue alone increased by 30% year-over-year to a record $326 million, and SMB originations hit a record $1.2 billion in Q2.

Recent moves by Square in the United Kingdom and Wells Fargo in the United States show how revenue-based financing is gaining global traction, and how it’s helping everyday entrepreneurs succeed faster, smarter, and with less risk.

A recent PYMNTS Intelligence report reveals that over half of SMBs use both personal and business credit cards. Younger firms frequently carry balances, signaling cash flow pressure. While high limits attract larger SMBs, smaller ones want credit-building tools and relevant perks.

Below, we extracted the top Alternative Financing Lenders per CNBC from their list in alphabetical order and provided a summary of what they do according to their website.

Heron, a startup using AI to automate workflows in business lending, equipment finance, and insurance, has raised $16 million in Series A funding led by global software investor Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors Y-Combinator, BoxGroup and Flex Capital. The Series A will support Heron's next phase of expansion, helping the company scale its AI-driven solutions to more segments.

The new wave of brokers entering the space? Many are hungry, motivated… and totally lost. They don’t know how to source quality leads, structure a deal, or build lender relationships. This is your opportunity to...

Paul's fraud scheme involved 42 separate loans across 17 institutions, indicating that individual lenders may have lacked the systems to identify patterns of suspicious activity that would have been apparent when viewed collectively.