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Your customers want more. As they raise their expectations for new products and services, the ability to implement solutions quickly can be a game-changer. 

At Pipe, we understand the importance of speed and efficiency. We‘ve designed our implementation process to help partners launch embedded financial products as quickly as possible. To see how that implementation process works, we’ll look at the launch of Priority Capital, a working capital solution powered by Pipe inside Priority’s unified commerce software suite.

In a competitive economy, time-to-market is critical. Companies that can quickly implement and integrate new solutions gain a significant competitive edge. Lengthy implementations result in wasted tech resources, lost revenue opportunities, and delayed customer satisfaction and retention. 

Traditional implementation processes—taking anywhere from six weeks to six months—become an expensive and tedious process. Building a new financial product in-house takes even longer, pulling resources away from your core focus. Depending on your team's expertise, it may not even be possible without bringing on experts in capital markets, risk, and compliance.

This is where embedded Capital-as-a-Service, like Pipe Capital, comes in. Our embedded offerings can help you avoid strained resources and the risk of falling behind competitors, all while making you a go-to solution for your customers. 

Our partnership and implementation process is designed from day one to help you launch a new financial product quickly and seamlessly. Here’s how we do it:

Our journey begins with a comprehensive consultation to understand the specific needs and goals of our partner. Every software company is unique; our expert tech team and highly experienced revenue team will help identify the perfect fit for you and your customers. This step is crucial in tailoring our solution to meet their unique requirements and setting the stage for a successful implementation.

Unlike competitors who can take months, our Pipe-hosted pilot can launch within a week, with no engineering resources needed. This pilot phase allows our partners to quickly see the benefits of our solution in action without a significant up-front investment. Get real-time feedback and see how our outstanding activation strategies work for your unique customer base.

For partners looking to unlock higher funnel metrics quickly, our Embedded UI offers a seamless integration option. This option allows you to embed our proven user experience directly into your software with minimal engineering investment, so your customers can access capital seamlessly, without ever leaving your platform. While the Embedded UI can be embedded quickly and easily, it’s also customizable, allowing you to match the UI with your brand for a smooth, native experience.

For those seeking full customization, our API solution allows you to build your own user experience, powered by Pipe’s infrastructure, through a few simple API calls. We provide dedicated engineering resources to ensure a smooth and efficient integration, empowering our partners to design their own capital offerings with maximum flexibility.

Case Study: Priority’s Success with Pipe

To illustrate the effectiveness of our fast implementation process, let’s take a closer look at 

As a leading provider of unified commerce solutions, including payment processing and banking services, Priority wanted to expand their product suite to include capital. They knew access to capital was a significant barrier for many SMBs. They’d previously offered capital from other providers but weren’t satisfied with the results. While they have a large team, they also knew building a capital product in-house would pull focus and resources away from their core competency, so they started looking for a new fintech partner.

Priority launched a Pipe-hosted pilot, allowing them to quickly assess the appetite of their customers and gain user feedback without tying up engineering resources. Based on the ease of implementation, NPS feedback, and activation rates, Priority quickly moved to the Embedded UI, allowing customers a more seamless, native experience inside Priority’s platform.

Looking back at a successful launch, Priority was able to deliver a brand new product to their customers in weeks, with minimal engineering resources needed. Within just the first two months of launching the embedded UI, Priority saw:

Advantages of Pipe’s Fast Implementation

The success of Priority Capital isn’t a coincidence. Our fast, frictionless embedded financing offers several advantages:

Our fast implementation process ensures that partners start benefiting from our solutions almost immediately. This time to impact is a critical differentiator, enabling businesses to quickly adapt and thrive.

With extensive expertise and numerous tests conducted to optimize user experience and funnel metrics, Pipe offers unparalleled know-how from day one. Our activation options, including SMS, direct mail, ads, and white-labeled sales support, result in superior conversion rates. Our expert team also manages all capital markets, risk, and compliance needs, so there’s no added burden on your team and no risk or capital investment for your company.

Pipe Capital is not only easy for your customers to use, it’s also easy to launch. With no engineering needed for the Pipe-hosted pilot and minimal needs for the Embedded UI, you can be up and running in weeks without distracting from the work your team is currently doing. 

From marketing materials to technical assistance, Pipe provides comprehensive support to ensure a smooth and efficient implementation. Our partners benefit from complete marketing materials, including email, landing page, and sales deck content, simplifying the process.

Pipe’s fast implementation process sets us apart from the competition, ensuring our partners can start benefiting from our solutions almost immediately. With extensive expertise, ease of use, and comprehensive support, Pipe is the ideal partner for businesses looking to thrive in a rapidly changing market.

Ready to experience the benefits of Pipe’s fast implementation process? Visit 

 to discuss how we can help your business achieve its goals.

Fast, easy implementation sets Pipe Capital apart from other embedded offerings. Find out how Priority Capital launched quickly with Pipe.

See how Pipe's fast, easy implementation helped Priority launch a new capital product to it's customers quickly. 

How Pipe's fast implementation powered the successful launch of Priority Capital

Picture this: You’re a small business owner juggling multiple roles, and in a pinch, you use your personal credit card to cover an urgent business expense. It feels harmless, but this simple decision can have a bigger impact than you may realize. Mixing business and personal finances doesn’t just stress out your bookkeeper—it can also lead to significant tax, financial, and even legal issues. Let’s explore why keeping business and personal finances separate is crucial and how it can impact your business in unexpected ways.

The importance of keeping business and personal finances separate

Maintaining a clear distinction between personal and business finances is essential for small businesses, especially those structured as LLCs or corporations. One of the primary benefits of these structures is limited liability protection. This protection safeguards your personal assets from business debts and liabilities. However, if you commingle your funds, you risk "piercing the corporate veil," a legal term that means the courts could hold you personally liable for your business’s debts. Mixing funds can undermine that legal protection, exposing your personal assets to business liabilities.

Tax season can become a nightmare when personal and business expenses are mixed. For one, it complicates your tax filings, making it harder to track and document deductible business expenses. This not only increases the risk of inaccuracies in your tax returns but also raises the likelihood of an audit. Incorrect filings can lead to penalties, fines, and additional interest charges, which could otherwise be avoided with proper expense management.

When personal and business expenses are mixed, it’s easy to overlook legitimate business deductions or mistakenly claim personal expenses as business ones. This jeopardizes your tax compliance and often leads taxing bodies like the IRS to disallow deductions out of a lack of confidence that they are truly business expenses, which can be very costly.

Maintaining separate finances enhances your business’s credibility. Banks, investors, and vendors often scrutinize your financial records before entering into partnerships or granting credit. A clean separation between personal and business finances signals that you manage your business professionally and responsibly. This can lead to better financial opportunities and terms and a stronger reputation in your industry.

Fun fact: Bookkeeping is the only word in the English language with three pairs of double letters in a row. Less fun fact: bookkeeping exists and it's something small business owners need to think about. While commingling doesn’t 

impact your bookkeeping, that’s definitely a major area of impact. This is the stuff of nightmares for bookkeepers and accountants! 

When personal and business expenses intermingle, bookkeeping becomes a daunting task. It becomes challenging to track the financial health of your business, leading to messy, inaccurate records. This disorganization can affect everything from financial statements to budgeting and forecasting, ultimately making it harder to make informed business decisions.

Mixing funds can muddle your cash flow management, making it difficult to track your business's true cash inflow and outflow. This confusion can lead to liquidity issues, where you might not have enough cash on hand to cover operational expenses or unexpected costs. Clear and accurate cash flow management is crucial for maintaining financial stability and planning for growth.

Should your finances be audited, having mixed personal and business expenses will complicate the process. Tax authorities will scrutinize your financial records more closely, leading to a time-consuming and stressful audit experience. Clear, separate records can streamline the audit process and minimize potential issues.

Clear financial records are essential for accessing financing and attracting investors. If your financial statements are unclear or inaccurate due to mixed expenses, it may hinder your ability to secure loans or investments. Investors and lenders seek transparency and accuracy, and commingling funds can undermine their confidence in your business. 

While many businesses struggle to assemble the financial documentation to access financing, Pipe simplifies the process. With underwriting based on revenue rather than piles of paperwork, Pipe makes it easy for small and growing businesses to access working capital exactly when they need it.

The benefits of keeping finances separate

Tax preparation becomes more straightforward when business and personal finances are kept separate. You can easily track and categorize business expenses, capturing all eligible deductions and excluding personal expenses. This simplification reduces the risk of errors and potential audits.

Separate finances provide a clearer picture of your business’s financial health. Accurate records allow for better budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis. This clarity helps you make informed decisions and plan effectively for the future.

When it comes to valuing your business for potential sales, mergers, or investments, clean and accurate financial records are essential. Investors and buyers look for transparency and well-maintained records, and separating finances enhances the value and appeal of your business.

Practical steps to keep business and personal expenses separate

Open separate bank accounts and credit cards

One of the simplest and most effective ways to separate your finances is by maintaining distinct bank accounts and credit cards for personal and business use. This clear separation makes tracking business transactions, managing expenses, and preparing for tax season easier.

Create and enforce policies regarding what constitutes a business expense. Clearly define guidelines for what expenses are allowable and ensure that all employees adhere to these policies. This helps prevent accidental mixing of personal and business expenses.

If personal funds are used for business expenses, it’s essential to document these transactions thoroughly. Ensure timely reimbursement and maintain detailed records of the reimbursement process. This documentation helps keep your financial records clean and accurate.

Keeping your business and personal finances separate is more than a matter of neatness—it’s crucial for protecting your business’s legal and financial health. By avoiding the pitfalls of commingled expenses, you safeguard your limited liability protection, ensure accurate tax filings, and maintain a professional image. Take immediate steps to separate your finances and consult a financial advisor or accountant to tailor a solution that fits your needs.

For small businesses, commingling business and personal expenses can be a costly mistake. Here's why, and what you can do about it.

Commingling business and personal expenses can increase your tax bill, impact your decision-making, and put your personal assets in jeopardy. Here's why, and what you can do about it.

Why mixing business and personal expenses can mess up more than your bookkeeping

Here’s why mixing business and personal expenses can mess up more than your bookkeeping

Here's why mixing business and personal expenses can mess up more than your bookkeeping

Many SMBs face challenges managing their spending effectively, which has a direct impact on their profit margins. While larger corporations have access to spend management tools and have had processes in place for years, many of these resources have not been available or have been too cost-prohibitive for smaller businesses. Without proper controls in place, expenses can quickly spiral out of control, cutting into profitability. 

Here, we’ll outline five spend management tools and strategies SMBs can implement today to better control their spending and improve their bottom line. From leveraging business charge cards to implementing budgeting tools, these strategies can help you take control of spending and manage your expenses in the most profitable way possible.

A solid budget is the backbone of any business’s financial plan. Some business owners bristle against a budget, seeing it as a restrictive money diet that tells them how to spend their money. In reality, 

 and ensure resources are allocated toward initiatives that drive growth–putting those resources toward what you actually want to accomplish rather than whatever pops up as urgent at the moment.

Forecasting tools help SMBs predict future financial trends and adjust their budget accordingly, keeping their spending aligned with business goals. By forecasting future revenue, for example, you’ll know how much you can invest in growth and identify any shortfalls where you may need to secure working capital. 

A realistic budget should be based on historical data and projected revenues. Rather than starting from wishful thinking, determine how much you currently spend in each category, determine how future trends and growth will impact your available funds, and decide which areas of spending may need to increase or decrease. This exercise can be eye-opening, as you may be unaware of how much certain items are costing you or where your profits are leaking out if you haven’t had a visible budgeting process. 

You can create a budget with the tools built into your accounting system or a purpose-built tool like Float. Many vertical platforms–like 

 for restaurants–have built-in budgeting tools. 

Budgeting tools allow you to track actual performance against your budget, highlighting any deviations and helping you make informed adjustments. Staying within budget prevents overspending, while accurate forecasting helps avoid cash flow shortfalls. Both practices make you more aware of your financial position, helping you increase profit margins and improve cash flow.

2. Implement a clear expense approval process

Without a defined expense approval process, unnecessary spending can get out of control, particularly in growing businesses with multiple employees making purchasing decisions. This can lead to overspending, impacting the company's budget and profit margins. 

Keeping spending in check and ensuring that you stay on budget requires controls around who can spend money for the company, how much, and on what items. 

An example of these kinds of controls would be setting a dollar limit on travel expenses (which could vary by card depending on the needs of the individual employee) and requiring that expenses over a certain dollar amount require approval from the business owner. Clearly outlined policies prevent ambiguity, and consistent enforcement ensures that all expenses are properly vetted before being made.

A clear policy helps you stay within your budget by preventing unnecessary or unauthorized expenses. As your company grows–along with the number of employees who need to make purchases–this process prevents the owner or CEO from having to have a hand in every single transaction. This results in better cash flow management and improved financial oversight.

An integrated accounting system connects your spend management tools directly to your financial reporting. This not only offers a full financial picture but also saves time and reduces errors. With an accounting system like QuickBooks or Xero, business owners can automate the categorization of expenses, issue faster invoices, and streamline tax reporting.

By automating processes, businesses reduce the likelihood of mistakes that can lead to financial discrepancies. This accuracy helps identify cost-saving opportunities that might go unnoticed, such as overspending in certain categories or workflow inefficiencies.

Real-time reporting also provides insights into cash flow, enabling businesses to respond swiftly to challenges. With immediate access to accurate financial data, you can make informed decisions about spending and investments, which is crucial for maintaining healthy profit margins.

4. Leverage early payment discounts and flexible payment terms

Many vendors offer discounts if you pay their invoices early. For example, a 2% discount for payments made within ten days can significantly reduce the cost of goods over time.

Some vendors will also let you negotiate longer payment terms, 

 and providing financial relief. By extending the due date for payments, you can retain cash for longer periods, giving you more flexibility to cover other expenses or invest in growth opportunities.

Discounts and flexible terms help lower the cost of goods sold (COGS) and improve cash flow, enabling SMBs to free up capital for other strategic initiatives that increase profitability. While some vendors are happy to work with you on terms and offer discounts, there’s another way to gain these benefits, even when vendors aren’t offering them: business charge cards. 

5. Business charge cards for spend tracking and management

Many SMB owners lack access to working capital and rack up high interest payments using personal credit cards to fund growth. Business charge cards are powerful financial tools designed to help businesses access working capital without costly interest while also tracking and managing expenses. Unlike credit cards, they’re paid in full each billing cycle, so no debt is accumulated, and no interest is paid. 

Charge cards clearly distinguish between personal and business expenses, making it easier to generate detailed spending reports for tax preparation and auditing purposes. Their built-in expense tracking capabilities allow businesses to see exactly where their money is going, ensuring greater transparency across the company.

Business charge cards offer rewards like cash back, flexible payment terms, and streamlined expense reconciliation. These features allow you to access working capital when you need it to smooth out bumpy cash flow, take advantage of early payment discounts and other time-sensitive offers, and create your own flexible payment terms with vendor bills.  

Effective spend management is critical for SMBs looking to boost their profit margins. By using tools like business charge cards, implementing budgets and approval processes, integrating accounting systems, and leveraging vendor discounts, you can improve your business’s financial health and better manage cash flow.

Learn five spend management strategies to help your small business reduce costs and improve profit margins.

5 Spend Management Strategies to Boost Your SMB’s Profit Margins

5 spend management tools and strategies to improve your SMB’s profit margins

If you’re weighing multiple options or are currently working with an embedded partner and wondering if it makes sense to switch, here are a few reasons Pipe stands out from the crowd.

With Pipe Capital, launching a new product offering is incredibly fast and straightforward. Our seamless integrations help you accelerate your growth and your customers’ access to the capital they need. Choose from Pipe-Hosted, Embedded UI, and full API options and leverage Pipe’s expertise to transform your financial ecosystem and drive revenue growth effortlessly. We’ll manage all risk and capital markets, so you can launch without financial investment or risk to your business. Our expert team will walk you through integration and support your go-to-market launch to help you get the best possible results.

We achieve a 9.4% first month activation rate for our vertical SaaS partners through:

Our partners report significantly higher activation rates compared to other embedded options, thanks to our tailored underwriting models, expert GTM support, and dedicated revenue team. Our underwriting models can be trained to your customer base—and are based on business performance, not FICO scores—allowing us to serve more of your customers than many competitors. With our comprehensive launch playbooks, you'll achieve optimal customer activation through personalized strategies, including email, direct mail, in-product banners, and more. 

Offer a seamless experience your customers will love

Merchants give Pipe a 92 net promoter score

By embedding with Pipe, you give your customers access to frictionless financing that feels native to your platform. Pre-approved offers, flexible and transparent payment terms, and merchant-friendly support are all reflected in our outstanding NPS score (average NPS is 44 for financial services and 30 for banking according to 

Pipe distinguishes itself through three key advantages:

: Typically require 1-3 months or longer for frontend development and API integration.

: Multiple options let you find the perfect balance of speed and customization. Our Pipe-hosted pilot can launch within a few days with no engineering lift. The Embedded UI provides a quick route to unlocking higher funnel metrics, while our full API solution lets you take complete control of the user journey on top of Pipe’s infrastructure.

: More rigid and less user-friendly in terms of integration and customization options. Pre-qualifications that are not indicative of final approvals and subject to additional credit checks.

: Select the embedded option that works best for your timeline and resources, with zero engineering lift for Pipe-hosted. We also offer multiple revenue flow options like Split Pay and FBO, so you choose the right experience. 

Customers can apply in minutes, and payments are automatically handled as revenue flows through your platform. Our multi-draw structure lets them take exactly what they need, returning for additional advances as needed. 

a large number of customers, they have a steep drop-off from additional checks. Pipe offers

with no additional credit checks, with 98% of pre-approvals translating to full approval.

Partners benefit from our extensive expertise. We've conducted numerous tests to optimize user experience and funnel metrics from day one. Our tailored underwriting evolves with each partner, while our models continuously learn from partner interactions and direct business. For partners, this translates into more addressable customers, higher conversion rates, and more advances executed.

: While competitors are limited to email campaigns, Pipe offers a range of activation options, including SMS, direct mail, ads, and white-labeled sales support, resulting in superior conversion rates. Our Go-to-Market team is here to help ensure the success of your launch and beyond.

: Launch a branded card offering powered by Pipe’s underwriting and integrated UI. Your customers can apply in as little as a few minutes and benefit from unlimited virtual cards, unlimited 1.5% cash back rewards, spend insights, and more. We take care of all the compliance, risk, capital markets, and heavy lifting.

: This feature enables customers to connect additional payment sources, providing valuable insights into wallet share percentages and incentivizing customers to utilize a partner for more of their payment volume. These insights help partners accelerate payment revenue, increase their share of wallet, and improve customer engagement and retention.

Partner with Pipe to offer your customers the financial tools they need to grow and thrive. Experience the difference with fast, seamless integration, outstanding activation rates, and exceptional customer satisfaction.

See why partners are choosing Pipe over other embedded capital providers, and why merchants choose Pipe too. 

Learn why Payfacs, vertical SaaS, and other platforms are choosing Pipe as their embedded capital partner. 

See what sets Pipe apart from other embedded finance partners

Why Pipe? See what sets Pipe apart from other embedded finance partners

Why Pipe?

Connect with Luke on LinkedIn to keep the conversation going.

Luke Voiles

At Pipe, we’ve always believed that the real measure of success isn’t just about having a great product—it’s about how much capital gets into the hands of real business owners. If business owners aren’t choosing to utilize their capital access, for whatever reason, there’s no benefit to them or our partner platforms. That’s why we’re so proud of the high attach rate we’ve achieved with our embedded capital offerings. But what exactly does that mean? 

Simply put, the attach rate measures the percentage of merchants who activate a pre-approved or pre-qualified capital offer after it's presented to them. This metric is critical because it shows us that we're providing real value that merchants are eager to use. While many embedded capital providers see attach rates in the 1-3% range, Pipe’s vertical SaaS partners currently see a 13.1% attach rate within the first month.

A smooth user experience is non-negotiable. That’s why we’ve designed Pipe’s platform to be 

as frictionless as possible when it comes to integration

. Each integration option—whether it's Pipe-hosted, turnkey embedded UI, or custom API—ensures that our partners can implement the solution without significant development resources, minimizing costs and maximizing speed to market so the focus can stay on what really matters—helping merchants grow. After all, when they grow, you grow, and when you offer them something they truly want and need, you build your brand into a go-to platform for them.

For the merchants themselves, we’ve made accessing capital as easy as a few clicks. They don’t have to jump through hoops or leave the platform they’re already comfortable with. This kind of seamless experience isn’t just nice to have—it’s essential for driving higher attach rates because it builds on the trust merchants already have in your platform and removes the complexity and friction of getting capital. And it’s made possible by the way we underwrite.

Traditional lenders often overlook businesses that don’t fit into neat boxes, but we see things differently. By shifting our focus away from traditional credit scores and toward real-time data like revenue and cash flow, we're opening the door for a wider range of businesses—many of whom might not have had access to this kind of financing before.

Many small businesses may not have years of history—or the accounting and support staff to wrangle piles of paperwork—but that doesn’t mean their businesses aren’t worthy of access to capital. By measuring the actual transaction patterns, our models can pre-approve merchants for the capital they deserve without many unnecessary friction points.

This approach isn’t just about inclusivity (though that’s a big part of it); it’s about recognizing the true potential of businesses that might be overlooked by the old guard. And it’s paying off—by offering capital to more merchants, our partners are seeing a boost in attach rates that reflects the real demand out there.

Success doesn’t happen in a vacuum. That’s why we go the extra mile to support our partners with content that educates and engages their merchants. We don’t just drop a capital offering into a platform and hope for the best. Instead, we equip our partners with everything they need to explain the benefits of embedded capital in a way that clicks with their audience.

Every partner is unique, so our go-to-market support is tailored to meet the needs of each partner and their merchants. Whether it’s nurture and lifecycle email campaigns and direct mail, white-labeled content marketing, or in-product messaging across your platform surfaces, we want to ensure your merchants are aware of their offer exactly when they need it and can activate it as easily as possible. 

If you really want a successful embedded financial product, an embedded go-to-market team is crucial. Our dedicated sales support and customer success teams work hand-in-hand with partners to onboard merchants and ensure they’re getting the most out of what we offer. While nearly everyone can self-serve through our funnel, there are always edge cases where merchants need a hand sorting out a bank account or a little extra clarity about a question they have. 

Seeing is believing, and our partners have seen the impact of seamless UI and go-to-market support in their numbers. Take Priority Capital, for example. After launching a new capital product powered by Pipe, they saw their attach rate increase by ~30% with Pipe’s tailored revenue team support, compared to a control group. For many SMB owners, accessing embedded capital this way is so easy, that they want to talk to a person to make sure it 

“Pipe’s dedicated GTM support team was first class in its proactive approach, providing tailored strategies that perfectly aligned with our product's needs. Our collaboration on deep market insights and hands-on guidance significantly streamlined the go-to-market process, making the product launch smoother and more effective.” - John Grebe, VP of Product Strategy at Priority. 

Ultimately, it comes down to more than just a good metric. The goal is to deliver real growth for small businesses through the platforms they use to run their operations every day. Another vertical SaaS partner not only saw an attach rate even higher than average, they also saw merchant revenue increase by an average of 15% in the first two months after taking an advance. SMBs need working capital, and they need platforms that will partner with them to make it more accessible.

Our high attach rates aren’t just numbers—they’re proof that when you make it easy for partners to deliver real value, everybody wins. By providing seamless integration options, innovative underwriting that expands access, and dedicated go-to-market support, we’re not just another embedded capital provider—we’re a true partner in growth.

Whether you're looking to enhance your platform’s offerings or help your merchants seize new opportunities, Pipe is here to help you unlock new levels of success. Let's connect and see how we can grow together.

 Average rate across our vertical SaaS partners in the US.

Pipe helps partners achieve attach rates well above industry average with a seamless user experience, tailored underwriting, and GTM support

See how Pipe helps partners achieve attach rates 4x higher than industry averages with one of the most merchant-friendly embedded capital solutions on the market.

How to achieve 4x higher attach rates with Pipe's embedded capital

This article was originally published on 

It’s hard to overstate the importance of small businesses to our economy. They account for nearly half the private sector jobs and almost as much of GDP. Keeping small businesses healthy is in the best interest of all of us, and yet many have a very difficult time accessing the capital they need to operate and grow. 

For these small businesses–with anywhere from a few employees to a few hundred–

 isn’t just a challenge; it’s also a necessity. They’re often at the mercy of seasonality and typically don’t have the kind of cash cushion that larger companies do. 

For the smallest of these companies, a dip in cash flow or the loss of just one or two team members can endanger their ability to operate and keep the doors open. The need for access to working capital is very real, but so is the struggle to get it. The one source that has historically worked for small businesses is starting to disappear. 

Traditionally, these small enterprises relied heavily on their relationships with local banks, credit unions, or Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). These institutions provided a lifeline, especially when the size, structure, or maturity of the business made it challenging to secure funding from larger lenders. Unfortunately, over the past decade and a half, these smaller community banks have experienced significant headwinds, leaving small businesses struggling to find the financial support they need.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, small banks faced numerous challenges, while larger counterparts benefited from government interventions. The crisis had an especially big impact on small banks, while subsequent government interventions like TARP and the Dodd-Frank Act disproportionately benefited larger financial institutions. It’s an eerie parallel to the trouble smaller businesses have in dealing with some of the burdens bigger companies can more easily handle.

With decreased profit margins and increasing compliance costs, small banks have not been able to devote the same level of resources to crucial functions like lending to small businesses. This regulatory response left small businesses that once relied on local banks at the mercy of large conglomerates, which often implemented one-size-fits-all lending policies that didn't cater to the unique needs of small enterprises. 

With many smaller banks sticking with what they know and working with a decreased risk appetite, there are fewer options for many businesses in need of funds. Fortunately, there are financing platforms that still understand what it’s like to run a small business and are quickly increasing their offerings.   

Trips to the bank are becoming less and less frequent as businesses accept more card 

 and manage more of their business life online. In fact, software platforms are becoming the new “watering hole” driving capital into small businesses. It’s here that small business owners run their businesses from end to end and get the support they need. 

If we look back just a few years ago, most software was horizontal. Payment platforms were for payments, scheduling tools were for scheduling, and payroll software was only for running payroll. Today, software is verticalized, allowing business owners to do everything in one place. For example, restaurant owners can use Toast (or, even more specifically, pizzeria owners can use Slice) to accept orders, process payments, run marketing, and more.  

Until recently, the missing piece has been capital. But fintech is changing that. Vertical software platforms hold the deep industry knowledge and transaction data they need to become the new community banks on a much more niche level. Let’s talk about what that looks like.  

 falls short for small businesses when it’s designed to fit much larger ones. For example, many traditional bank loans are based on credit scores, two or more years of financial statements, and some type of collateral assets. Even SBA loans require a minimum of 3 years of business history. For younger and smaller businesses, any one of these elements can be a barrier to accessing financing, whether they deserve it or not. 

Modern fintech makes it possible for financing to be underwritten directly from transaction data, reflecting a small business’s true ability to pay back the funds. I’ve seen this work very well with as little as six months of data, making it a much better fit for young businesses. With live revenue data as the basis for the decision, collateral is no longer needed to reduce risk, which is also a welcome change for small business owners. 

This kind of transaction data is exactly what vertical software companies have in spades. As the operating platforms helping SMBs run every day, they have the first-party data needed to successfully underwrite small business loans with very reasonable risk levels. All they’re missing is the expertise in capital and the right models for 

. This is where a fintech partner comes in. 

 connects businesses or consumers to financial services through non-financial platforms. In this case, vertical software platforms are the perfect connection point, allowing business owners to 

 in the same place where they run their operations and accept payments every single day. 

,fintech lenders can ingest all the underwriting data they need, eliminating most of the cumbersome manual application steps and cutting out the middlemen from the customer's perspective. They can access the capital they need on the platforms they’re already using. Not only that, but capital also becomes seamlessly connected to the tasks that require it, like accessing capital for inventory inside of your inventory management system or the capital to cover payroll inside of your payroll software. 

This is what it looks like when niche software platforms increasingly serve the roles traditionally played by community banks for their unique industries. With the help of embedded financing, likely built by fintech partners, they can offer financing solutions that are tailored not only to small businesses, but even to the specific industries they serve. As more vertical software adopts embedded finance, the need for small businesses to go to traditional financial institutions decreases. And as these platforms expand to offer broader services within their industries, they gain additional data points, allowing for even more tailored and bespoke financial solutions, all accessible in one place. 

Discover how embedded finance can transform software companies into the new community banks.

Discover how embedded finance can transform software companies into the new community banks, providing small businesses with seamless access to capital.

Will Embedded Finance Make Software Companies the New Community Banks?

Connect with Manpreet on LinkedIn to keep the conversation going.

Manpreet Dhot

For the smallest of these companies, a dip in 

 or the loss of just one or two team members can endanger their ability to operate and keep the doors open. The need for access to working capital is very real, but so is the struggle to get it. The one source that has historically worked for small businesses is starting to disappear. 

Traditionally, these small enterprises relied heavily on their relationships with local banks, credit unions, or 

Community Development Financial Institutions

 (CDFIs). These institutions provided a lifeline, especially when the size, structure, or maturity of the business made it challenging to secure funding from larger lenders. Unfortunately, over the past decade and a half, these smaller community banks have experienced significant headwinds, leaving small businesses struggling to find the financial support they need.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, small banks faced numerous challenges, while larger counterparts benefited from government interventions. The crisis had an especially big impact on small banks, while subsequent government interventions like TARP and the 

 disproportionately benefited larger financial institutions. It’s an eerie parallel to the trouble smaller businesses have in dealing with some of the burdens bigger companies can more easily handle.

 and increasing compliance costs, small banks have not been able to devote the same level of resources to crucial functions like lending to small businesses. This regulatory response left small businesses that once relied on local banks at the mercy of large conglomerates, which often implemented one-size-fits-all lending policies that didn't cater to the unique needs of small enterprises. 

With many smaller banks sticking with what they know and working with a decreased risk appetite, there are fewer options for many businesses in need of funds. Fortunately, there are financing platforms that still understand what it’s like to run a small business and are quickly increasing their offerings.

Trips to the bank are becoming less and less frequent as businesses accept more card payments and manage more of their business life online. In fact, software platforms are becoming the new “watering hole” driving capital into small businesses. It’s here that small business owners run their businesses from end to end and get the support they need. 

Traditional lending falls short for small businesses when it’s designed to fit much larger ones. For example, many traditional bank loans are based on credit scores, two or more years of financial statements, and some type of collateral assets. Even SBA loans require a minimum of 3 years of business history. For younger and smaller businesses, any one of these elements can be a barrier to accessing financing, whether they deserve it or not. 

This kind of transaction data is exactly what vertical software companies have in spades. As the operating platforms helping SMBs run every day, they have the first-party data needed to successfully underwrite small business loans with very reasonable risk levels. All they’re missing is the expertise in capital and the right models for risk management. This is where a fintech partner comes in. 

, fintech lenders can ingest all the underwriting data they need, eliminating most of the cumbersome manual application steps and cutting out the middlemen from the customer's perspective. They can access the capital they need on the platforms they’re already using. Not only that, but capital also becomes seamlessly connected to the tasks that require it, like accessing capital for inventory inside of your inventory management system or the capital to cover payroll inside of your payroll software. 

See how risk teams leverage AI and machine learning to enhance product innovation and streamline underwriting.

See how risk teams leverage AI and machine learning to enhance product innovation, streamline underwriting, and provide tailored financial solutions for SMBs.

"

"How Risk Teams Drive Product Innovation in Fintech  "

How Risk Teams Can Help Drive Product Innovation

Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) play a pivotal role in driving innovation and economic growth. However, despite their significance, a staggering 53% of these businesses find themselves in a challenging predicament – they have "no current access to credit," according to a revealing statistic from 

. This glaring gap in credit access has broad implications, especially for businesses in the nascent stages of their lifecycle.

Traditionally, this lack of access to credit was directly linked to the nature of small business underwriting. Traditional business underwriting was heavily dependent on financial statements and bureau information that created a bias of more favorable outcomes for large & more established businesses. 

Young businesses often lack sophisticated accounting processes to create robust financial statements. Financial statements are a static information source that provides a point-of-time view of the business, which may not reflect the current financial situation. 

Early-tenure businesses tend to rely heavily on the owner's personal credit. The nature of small business credit needs drives higher & more volatile credit utilization leaving these small business owners with a knock on their personal credit as they build their business. This creates a deterrent in their access to credit and hence becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Post 2008’s Great Recession, as banks pulled back from small business lending, a wave of fintechs tried to solve this problem with underwriting algorithms that combined these traditional sources of information with bank cash flow information that was now available via opt-in methods like Plaid/Yodlee. After some initial success, scaling this business model became an issue due to several limitations. 

These early fintech efforts used algorithms that still relied heavily on traditional bureau data and did not fully solve the access issue for businesses with a low traditional credit footprint. They were primarily reliant on direct channels for customer acquisition, which led to high cost of acquisition and high fraud losses due to an adversely selected pool of applicants. In direct channels, with most of the information required to underwrite being available only at the time of application, pre-approved offers could not be served, and the conversion of applicants to actual funded loans was quite low.

, where capital solutions are integrated within the digital ecosystem of the business, is proving to be a game changer. 

In this model, the card processor and vertical software provider become the channel partners for the 

 Technology integration with these partners means that capital solutions can be provided to borrowers within the ecosystem that they leverage on a day-to-day basis to run their business, thereby bringing capital to their digital doorstep. This also provides lenders continuous & real-time access to revenue data of the business enabling pre-approved loan & other credit offers based on this information. 

Revenue data tends to be much more portable across industries & geographies than bureau data. Even a short revenue history can enable offers of capital, whereas a bureau score takes years to gravitate to a prime score. By tapping into revenue data and being in the 

for collection, businesses, especially those deemed "too risky" by traditional models, can be given access to capital more fairly. This shift not only reduces risk but also democratizes access to credit, providing a lifeline to the small and mid-sized businesses that are often left out of the traditional lending equation. 

Embedded finance also solves the “conversion” and “cost of acquisition” issues with direct channels. Since the offers are pre-approved, most of the applicants can be approved, unlike the direct channels that have a much lower approval rate. Given the limited information required to be collected from applicants, the customer experience is much more frictionless, driving higher borrower adoption.     

Over the next few years, I believe we’ll see an explosion of 

 and embedded capital products, allowing a much broader range of companies to thrive and grow with access to credit. 

Explore how embedded capital leverages unbiased data to democratize credit access for small and mid-sized businesses

Explore how embedded capital leverages unbiased data to democratize credit access for small and mid-sized businesses, overcoming traditional barriers.

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