Notes on Specialty Finance

After reviewing Q2 2026 data, I'm seeing significant shifts in the merchant cash advance market. Institutional capital deployment reached $1.25 billion, approval rates hit 84 to 91 percent, and small businesses are increasingly choosing alternative financing. Here's my analysis of what these trends mean for the industry.

Most allocators who say they hold private credit hold direct lending. I work a different corner of the category. Short duration commercial receivables purchased under UCC Article 9 sits inside specialty finance and behaves nothing like a three to seven year corporate loan. Ali Barkhordar writes from Ultimate Business Capital in Sheridan Wyoming.

Every week I see the same assumption repeated: the business used cash flow financing because the bank said no. I have been in this market long enough to know that framing is wrong more often than it is correct. The bank did not decline them. The bank does not offer this product. Those are two different statements and the distinction matters at the level of the operative legal document.

A look behind the curtain at how I evaluate deals. I explain why my merchant cash advance underwriting ignores FICO and focuses entirely on daily cash flow and renewal strength.

I break down the automated payment collection process in merchant cash advance. Learn about the direct bank withdrawals and credit card splits I use to secure MCA transactions.

I co-funded a $699M real estate operator's MCA. The frame I used to bring to underwriting was wrong. Here's what I learned by watching him work.

I pulled the Q1 numbers this week. Five sectors are leading non-bank capital demand across the country, and they're the same five sitting on my desk most days. Here's what I see when I read these files.

I have been reviewing files for a long time. The use case for cash flow financing has changed. It used to be emergency capital for a slow month or a surprise expense. Now I open a file and the entire growth plan is built around it. New hires, new locations, inventory orders. This is the primary way most small businesses on Main Street are growing now. Not bank loans. Not SBA. Cash flow financing. When did this happen?