Funding FAQ

A merchant cash advance is the purchase of a portion of your future card-based revenue at a discount. Funders typically size the advance as a multiple of your average monthly card-processing volume — so a property running $80,000 a month in card receipts is likely to qualify for a larger advance than one running $20,000. The funding partner will use your actual merchant-processing or bank statements to calculate a realistic range.

Yes, that is the core structural benefit for seasonal properties. Because repayment is taken as a percentage of card receipts rather than a fixed monthly installment, the daily draw shrinks automatically when occupancy falls. A lodge that pulls 70 percent of revenue in summer and 30 percent in winter pays more in summer and less in winter without renegotiating any terms.

SBA 7(a) and 504 loans typically take 60–120 days from application to funding, and CMBS refinancing can take even longer. A property improvement plan imposed by a flag, or a time-sensitive capital project, may not accommodate that timeline. A merchant cash advance can often be approved and funded in days, though the cost of capital is generally higher, so weigh speed against long-run cost for your specific situation.

Independent hotels, motels, B&Bs, boutique properties, and extended-stay operators are all considered. Funders look primarily at your card-processing history and cash flow, not at whether you carry a franchise flag. Independent operators often find MCA more accessible than brand-affiliated financing programs precisely because there is no corporate approval layer involved.

We're a referral service, not a lender — once a funding partner has your bank or merchant-processing statements in hand, it will tell you its own decision and funding timeline directly. Complete documents are the biggest lever you have over how fast that conversation happens.

Starting a request requires nothing beyond the short intake form. To finalize an offer, most funders ask for three to four months of business bank statements or merchant-processing statements, a government-issued ID, and basic property information (type, room count, approximate monthly card volume). The funding partner will tell you exactly what applies to your situation.

A merchant cash advance is not a loan — it's the purchase of a portion of your future card receipts, repaid as a percentage of your card settlements rather than a fixed monthly payment. Traditional hospitality financing — an SBA loan, a CMBS refinance, or a bank term loan — typically carries a lower cost of capital but a much slower approval process, often requiring appraisals, environmental reports, and weeks or months of underwriting. An MCA trades a higher cost for speed: approval leans on card volume and deposit history rather than real-estate collateral, and funding partners are generally built to move faster than a bank or CMBS refinance.

No. Submitting the short request form does not affect your credit score. If you move forward with a specific funder after it reviews your statements, that funder will explain its own credit-check process before asking you to authorize anything further. Many hotel MCA funders weigh card volume and bank deposit history more heavily than a credit pull.

Some funders will underwrite against the combined card volume of multiple properties if they share common ownership and the entity structure supports it — which can support a larger advance than any single property would qualify for alone. Others prefer to underwrite each property separately. Bring bank and merchant-processing statements for every property you want considered, and the funding partner can tell you which approach it takes.

A factor rate is a decimal multiplier — commonly in the 1.1 to 1.5 range — applied to the advance amount to calculate total repayment, rather than accruing daily or monthly the way an interest rate does. As an illustration only: a factor rate of 1.28 on a $60,000 advance means $76,800 in total repayment. Because a factor rate doesn't change based on how quickly you repay, it isn't directly comparable to an APR — ask the funder to show the total repayment in dollar terms before comparing offers.

It depends on the funder. Some agreements include an early-payoff or prepayment discount that reduces total cost if you clear the balance ahead of schedule — useful if a strong peak season lets you retire the advance faster than expected. Others charge the full factor-rate amount regardless of timing. Confirm this before signing, since it materially affects the true cost of two otherwise similar offers.

Some funders offer a renewal once a meaningful share of an existing advance — often around 50–75% — has been repaid, sized against your current card volume. Taking on a second, separate advance while one is still largely outstanding (stacking) is generally discouraged: the combined holdback percentages can meaningfully reduce the cash available to run the property. Mention any existing advance on your application so a funding partner can see what's realistic.

Most funders look for a minimum operating history, often around six months, under the current ownership or operating entity — a newly acquired property's prior-owner card-volume history doesn't always transfer. A property inside that window with strong early card volume can still present a qualifying case; a funding partner can give you a realistic read once they see your statements.

Most funders want to see statements for an account held in the operating entity's legal name, separate from personal accounts or unrelated properties. An account that mixes activity from multiple properties or doesn't match the applying entity typically slows underwriting because the funder can't cleanly verify that property's card volume and deposits.

Yes. Card volume and occupancy shift with the season, and a property that doesn't qualify during a slow shoulder-season stretch may present very differently heading into peak months. There's no penalty for reapplying, and sending a new request won't affect your credit score.