A merchant cash advance is one of the most realistic ways to get business funding with bad credit, because the funder decides mainly on your business bank deposits and how steadily they arrive, with your credit score as one input among several. A revenue-based funder buys a share of your future sales and collects it from the account those sales flow into, so the question it is answering is whether your sales can carry the payment. A low score still shows up in the offer, usually as a smaller amount, a higher factor rate or a shorter term, but on its own it rarely ends the conversation. Getting matched through Today Capital Group does not need a hard credit pull. Below is how funders judge a merchant cash advance for bad credit, how a weaker score changes the offer, what tends to block approval more than the score does, and which other options fit when.
Why a merchant cash advance fits bad credit
A bank term loan is a promise to repay a fixed sum over several years, so the bank's best evidence is how you have handled debt in the past, which is exactly what a credit score summarizes. A merchant cash advance works differently. The funder pays you a lump sum in exchange for a set amount of your future sales and is repaid from your daily or weekly deposits until that amount is collected. Its best evidence is the business bank account itself. Four months of statements show what the business brings in, how evenly the money arrives and whether there is room for a payment, which says more about the next six months than a score built largely from older personal accounts.
The Federal Reserve's 2026 Small Business Credit Survey report on employer firms shows the effect. The survey rates a firm medium or high credit risk when the owner's personal score is below 720 or the business score is below 80. Among those applicants, 70% at online lenders and 66% at finance companies were approved for at least part of what they asked for, compared with 61% at small banks and 54% at large banks. Owners with weaker scores also tend to apply where the odds are better, with 49% of medium- and high-risk applicants going to an online lender against 19% of low-risk applicants. Merchant cash advance applicants as a group were denied only 12% of the time, one of the lowest rates of any product in the survey, while business lines of credit were denied 24% of the time and SBA loans and lines 40%.
Funders use "bad credit" loosely, so it helps to know where you sit. Experian's guide to credit score ranges puts base FICO Scores from 300 to 579 in the poor range and 580 to 669 in the fair range. Owners searching for bad credit business loans can be anywhere in those two ranges, and funders see files from both. Every funder sets its own thresholds and they vary widely, so a low score narrows your options rather than closing them.
What funders read on your statements when credit is weak
When the score is low, the bank statements carry even more of the decision. An underwriter starts with your average monthly deposits from sales, after taking out transfers between your own accounts, loan proceeds and owner deposits, since none of that is money the business earned. Then come the details that show whether a daily or weekly payment fits, such as how evenly deposits arrive from month to month, how often the balance gets close to zero, any overdrafts or returned items, and payments already going to other funders. We go through each of these, and what funders generally ask for, in our guide to merchant cash advance requirements and how to qualify.
A clean account can offset a weak score to a real degree. For example, a business with $45,000 in steady monthly deposits, a balance that stays positive and no other advances will usually see more offers than a business with the same score and higher but erratic revenue, because the first one makes the payment easy to picture.
How a low score changes the offer
With a weaker score, the terms of the advance are what usually change. A funder taking on more risk balances it with the parts of the offer it controls, and four of them tend to move together.
- The amount is often a smaller share of your monthly deposits at first, so the funder has less outstanding while it gets to know the account.
- The factor rate, which sets the total payback before you sign, is usually higher, which means more cents paid per dollar received.
- The term is often shorter, so the advance is collected over a few months rather than most of a year.
- Payments are more likely to be daily on business days than weekly, which keeps each payment small and lets the funder see your sales as they come in.
The example below shows the same business, with about $40,000 a month in sales deposits, under two credit profiles. The figures are illustrative only and are not a quote or an offer, since real terms depend on the funder and on everything in your file.
| Stronger credit (example) | Lower score (example) | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount received | $50,000 | $30,000 |
| Factor rate | 1.30 | 1.40 |
| Total payback | $65,000 | $42,000 |
| Cost in dollars | $15,000 | $12,000 |
| Term | About 9 months | About 6 months |
| Payments | 39 weekly payments of about $1,667 | 126 business-day payments of about $333 |
In this example the second offer costs 40 cents per dollar instead of 30, is smaller and clears sooner, and it still puts $30,000 in the account within a day or two of choosing it. The payments take a similar share of monthly sales in both cases, which is what the funder is aiming for. Our guide to how factor rates work shows how to turn any factor rate into the total payback and the payment, so you can compare offers in dollars. Once you have paid down part of an advance on time, that record sits on your statements for the next funder to read, which helps when you ask for a renewal or apply again.
What blocks approval more than a low score
When businesses are turned down, a low score is only one of several reasons. In the same Fed survey, 30% of applicants who did not get all they asked for cited a low credit score, about as many as cited weak sales (29%) and fewer than the 37% who said they already carried too much debt. For a revenue-based funder, the things below usually weigh more than the score itself.
- Very low monthly deposits leave too little room for a payment, whatever the score.
- Irregular deposits, such as one strong month followed by two thin ones, make it hard for a funder to size a payment that fits every week.
- Many days with a negative balance suggest the account cannot carry a daily or weekly debit without bouncing.
- Returned items and NSF fees show payments already failing, and a run of them in the latest month draws more attention than a single one months ago.
- Several open advances take shares of the same deposits, so each one lowers what the next funder can offer, and our guide to MCA consolidation explains how those payments can be combined into one.
- A very new business has only a few months of history for the funder to judge, and minimums differ from one funder to the next.
The funders we work with generally look for at least a year in business and about $20,000 a month in deposits. If you are not there yet, apply anyway, because some funders work with newer or smaller businesses and we will tell you plainly what is realistic for your file.
Soft credit checks, hard pulls and your score
Credit checks come in two kinds. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes a hard inquiry as the check a lender usually runs after you apply for credit, and says it affects your score because most scoring models look at how recently and how often you apply. Soft inquiries, which include prescreening by prospective lenders and checks you run on yourself, do not affect your scores and are visible only to you.
Getting matched through us does not need a hard credit pull. Most funders prequalify from your bank statements and a soft pull. A funder may run a hard pull in final underwriting, and if it does, you know before it happens. Even then, myFICO says one additional inquiry takes less than five points off most people's FICO Scores, and that hard inquiries stay on the report for up to two years but only count toward the score for one. Five separate applications in a week can mean five hard inquiries, each one visible to the next lender. If you have read ads for funding with no credit check at all, our post on business loans with no credit check explains what those ads usually mean.
Other small business funding for bad credit, and which fits when
Several other products also weigh credit lightly, and which one fits depends on what the money is for and how soon you need it.
Revenue-based financing fits when you need working capital in days, from $5,000 to $2,000,000, and your deposits are steady. It is typically funded in one to two business days, repaid from daily or weekly sales and usually needs no collateral.
Equipment financing fits when the money is for a truck, oven, lift or machine, because the equipment secures the deal and gives the funder something to rely on besides your score. Auto and equipment loans had the lowest denial rate in the Fed survey at 11%, and offers typically come back in one to two business days.
A line of credit fits some owners with weaker credit, especially those whose deposits are strong and whose cash needs come and go. You draw what you need up to the limit, up to $250,000, and repay weekly or monthly on what you have drawn, so it works well for recurring gaps such as payroll in a slow month.
SBA and bank loans usually need better credit, along with tax returns, a personal financial statement and a debt schedule, and they take weeks. They offer the longest terms and lowest rates, which makes them worth planning toward as your score recovers. The SBA's loans page notes that even owners with bad credit may qualify for startup funding, and its microloans of $50,000 or less, made through nonprofit intermediaries, are one place newer businesses can look. Our guide to small business loan requirements sets out what each kind of lender asks for, and our comparison of a merchant cash advance and a business loan covers how the two are structured and repaid.
How to get business funding with bad credit through us
One application sent to the right funders gets a fairer reading than several sent to whichever funders came up first in a search, because each funder has its own thresholds and some specialize in files like yours. Our guide to choosing among merchant cash advance lenders covers what separates one funder's terms from another's.
- Gather your last four months of business bank statements, and if your sales are split across accounts, note which deposits are business revenue.
- Fill in our short application and add the statements, either as uploads or by connecting your bank read-only.
- Your file goes to the funders in our network whose requirements fit your business, and most of them prequalify from the statements and a soft pull.
- Offers come back side by side, and our team goes through the amount, the factor rate, the total payback in dollars, the payment and the term with you before anything is signed.
- Once you choose an offer, most applicants are funded within one to two business days, and some the same day.
There is nothing to pay to apply or to see offers, and you are under no obligation to accept one.
Start your application with your last four months of bank statements on hand, or call us at (818) 351-0225 to talk through your file first.
Questions about merchant cash advances for bad credit
Can you get a merchant cash advance with bad credit?
In many cases you can, because revenue-based funders decide mainly on your business bank deposits, so a score in the fair or poor range usually narrows the offers and raises the cost rather than ruling you out. In the Federal Reserve's 2026 Small Business Credit Survey, merchant cash advance applicants were denied 12% of the time, and applicants rated medium or high credit risk were at least partly approved 70% of the time at online lenders.
Does applying for a merchant cash advance hurt your credit?
Applying usually does not hurt your credit, because most funders prequalify from your bank statements and a soft pull, and soft inquiries do not affect your score, so getting matched through us leaves your score where it was. A funder may run a hard pull in final underwriting, and you know before it happens, and myFICO says one extra inquiry takes less than five points off most people's FICO Scores.
Do merchant cash advance companies check credit?
Most do, usually with a soft pull that shows the funder your score, open accounts and any late payments or collections without affecting your score, and some run a hard pull before final funding. The credit check is one input among several, and your deposits, daily balances and existing advances usually carry more weight in the decision.
Can I get a business loan with a 500 credit score?
A bank or SBA loan is hard to get at 500, but a merchant cash advance is often possible, because revenue-based funders weigh deposits and their consistency more than the score, and equipment financing can work too because the equipment secures it. The funders we work with generally look for about a year in business and about $20,000 a month in deposits, and if you are not there yet it is still worth applying, since some funders work with newer or smaller businesses and we will tell you what is realistic.
How much can I get from a merchant cash advance with bad credit?
Funders size an advance mainly from your monthly deposits and how much of them already goes to other funders, so the amount depends more on your revenue than on your score, although a lower score often means a smaller first offer. Revenue-based financing through the funders we work with ranges from $5,000 to $2,000,000, and applying once is the quickest way to see the offers your file can get.
