Chris has been writing about small business topics since 2003. In 2015, he joined Merchant Maverick, where he writes about business financing, payment processing, and demographic trends in entrepreneurship. Chris has been featured in Fox Business, ABC News, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates, Newsweek, BizJournals, and other publications. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Writing Arts from SUNY Oswego, and a Masters of Science in Interactive Media from the University of Central Florida. He currently resides in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
Despite tightening interest rates, companies founded or co-founded by women netted over $36.3 billion for the year ending in October, down from 2021’s $42.6 billion.
In Merchant Maverick’s inaugural data report on The Best States In Which To Survive Recession, our analysis found that the states in the best condition to mitigate the effects of a recession aren’t where you might expect. Most of them, as it turns out, are in the Heartland.
Stripe Payments is a powerful tool for some businesses that want to sell online, but it can easily be overkill for others. See whether the customizable checkout, extensive integrations, advanced invoicing, and recurring billing features are right for you.
GOBankingRates talks to banking expert Chris Motola about the benefits of credit unions.
Financial expert Chris Motola tackles why credit card rates dipped in 2020 in this article with GoBankingRates.
Business expert Chris Motola talks with Yahoo Finance at the height of the pandemic about the impact of government shutdowns on small businesses.
Loans expert Chris Motola discusses the paradox of obtaining credit cards with a high credit limit when building credit in this article from Medium.
Headway Capital offers business lines of credit to qualified merchants. Headway Capital might be convenient for merchants who need a small credit line to capitalize on business opportunities or other working capital needs. Be cautious about the high APR and additional fees.
Equipment financing is the use of a loan or lease to purchase or borrow hard assets for your business. This type of financing might be used to purchase or borrow any physical asset, such as a restaurant oven or a company car. How does it work? What types of equipment financing are available? Get the answers to your questions in our equipment financing guide.
Fundbox is a business lender that specializes in offering lines of credit to small businesses. Merchants access this line by connecting either their business checking account or accounting software to Fundbox’s platform, and a credit decision is returned in three minutes or less. Fundbox requires a credit score of at least 500 and three months’ time in business.
BlueVine is an online lending service that’s suited for small businesses. It offers SBA/PPP loans, term loans, lines of credit, and invoice factoring. BlueVine is one of the most accessible invoice factors available and a good choice for B2B businesses.
Accion is a nonprofit company that offers small business loans for a variety of different purposes. It is a good option for startup and small businesses with relatively low credit scores that may not qualify for other loan options. But do note that Accion’s APR can potentially be high.
Fora Financial is an alternative small business lender offering merchant cash advances and short-term loans. Despite the potentially high origination fee, Fora Financial’s offerings are competitive with other funders that offer short-term financing.
OnDeck is a hugely prolific online small business lender and offers two types of business loans: short term loans and revolving lines of credit. Despite potential drawbacks, if you need a fast loan or don’t qualify elsewhere, it’s hard to beat OnDeck.
Mobile payment technology involves making a payment through a phone or tablet. Understanding your mobile payment options will help you as you make point of sale and payment processor purchasing decisions. When we first wrote this article a decade ago, mobile payments were just starting out, and we wrote things like, “Consumers have yet to catch […]
Apple Pay, along with other digital wallets, is becoming widely adopted. Apple users are notoriously brand loyal, so once they start to use Apple Pay, they tend to stick to this particular digital wallet. If you don’t yet take digital wallet payments, is it time to provide that convenience to your customers and start taking them?
The company has a solid reputation and ethical business practices. While I doubt it can give you the level of personal attention you’d get from a smaller processor, the competitive rates, fair contract terms, and state-of-the-art technology might be enough to make up for it, depending on the needs of your business.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
