Is Pearl Capital taking aim at North American Merchant Advance Association (NAMAA)?

**Industrycityusa** · 06-12-2014, 10:12 AM

Breaking News!

http://cashadvanceanonymous.com/

Pearl capitals founders Launce a self-contradictory Organization taking a direct shot at NAMMA and Pearl Capitals very own business practices, Recently they put forward the "Merchant Cash Advance Anonymous" (MCAA) organization whose mission statement reads as follows:
The Merchant Cash Advance Anonymous group has created this group in order to provide resources for business owners who find that they are unable to stop applying for merchant cash advances to the detriment of their business, their relationships, and their self-esteem. On the pages of our website, business owners will be provided with advice on how to reclaim their business’s cash flows, and resources they can reach out to in order to get more help for treating the underlying issues causing them to abuse their finances. If you or someone close to you is showing signs of an addictive behavior, please do not hesitate to get them the help they need.

They use the slogan "MCA can be abused" and continue with many ideas that seem to take a direct assault on the MCA business practice.

**JayBallentine** · 06-12-2014, 10:25 AM

Is it April 1st?

**Industrycityusa** · 06-12-2014, 10:50 AM

Weirdest part they seem to advise merchants how-NOT-to-take advances. Yippie !!! Great way to reward the hundreds of hard working Brokerage Houses that spend Millions on marketing and send Pearl countless amounts of files... Reward us with a BIG Thanks with risking our livelihoods. Are you guys not thinking? This site may make the Page1 on GOOGLE's page and put our entire business at risk.

Thank you! Myor and Abe!

**isaacdstern** · 06-12-2014, 10:52 AM

Is this site trying to mimic AA?

**CO1** · 06-12-2014, 10:53 AM

Its a great way to get leads!

**JSL23** · 06-12-2014, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by CO1

Its a great way to get leads!

That's why they're doing it!!

Reminds me of Vegas/AC and gambling sites putting up posters and ads for Gamblers Anonymous everywhere.... What a ****show that place is

**JSL23** · 06-12-2014, 10:59 AM

The site is hilarious..... I wonder if members will go to meetings, take 12 steps, chant mantras...

**MCNetwork** · 06-12-2014, 11:05 AM

Wow someone had a lot of free time on their hands! Looks like an SNL spoof! I wonder how they can monetize this?

**Sean Cash** · 06-12-2014, 11:18 AM

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=8118604

**Industrycityusa** · 06-12-2014, 11:29 AM

Mr. Stern whats your take? let us know if you see a submission spike on your end?

**isaacdstern** · 06-12-2014, 12:02 PM

For the first time in my entire life I am speechless

**MCNetwork** · 06-12-2014, 12:12 PM

We're witnessing the mental breakdown of some industry veterans. If the Feds see this site, it will be more ammunition for them to introduce regulation in the MCA industry. I believe it was created by someone with a serious axe to grind against Pearl.

**Sean Cash** · 06-12-2014, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by MCNetwork

We're witnessing the mental breakdown of some industry veterans. If the Feds see this site, it will be more ammunition for them to introduce regulation in the MCA industry. I believe it was created by someone with a serious axe to grind against Pearl.

The feds can't introduce regulation in this space. Only legislators can. There is no regulation on the agenda so everyone needs to stop freaking out about it. Everyone who is so concerned about negative practices should work to self-regulate.

**isaacdstern** · 06-12-2014, 12:34 PM

well said Sean!

Originally Posted by sean bash

The feds can't introduce regulation in this space. Only legislators can. There is no regulation on the agenda so everyone needs to stop freaking out about it. Everyone who is so concerned about negative practices should work to self-regulate.

**Jared_Weitz** · 06-12-2014, 02:06 PM

Got to be honest here, I don't think they are doing this.......

**CASHCASH** · 06-12-2014, 02:23 PM

Maybe I am missing something on the site, but where does it say anything about this being associated with Pearl? Or is that just an assumption?

**MCNetwork** · 06-12-2014, 02:32 PM

Sean posted a snapshot of the group on Linked In and it listed the names of Pearl officers.

**CASHCASH** · 06-12-2014, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by MCNetwork

Sean posted a snapshot of the group on Linked In and it listed the names of Pearl officers.

Oh, I didn't realize they were the same group, I thought it was just something similar. Thanks for clearing that up.

**meirhurwitz** · 06-12-2014, 03:35 PM

We have been asked by some of our friends and competitors what we were thinking when we launched the MCA anonymous site. Some have suggested that we are attacking our own industry and the ISO's who are the life blood of our company. Those who believe that are near sighted and we believe their uncontrolled behavior is the greatest risk our industry faces. We have all watched closely the Payday industry grow rapidly, make a lot of money and then crash and burn. Payday is similar in some ways to MCA in the rate of return charged and use of the ACH system. We are all fooling ourselves if we think that the regulators that have choked Payday by putting pressure on banks to shut down their ACH lines will never turn their attention to MCA if we are viewed as predatory abusive lenders. Do you really believe that if MCA suffers from the same bad press and public abuse that Payday does that banks will continue to service their ACH accounts? We have already seen a number of MCA companies shut down by their banks without reason. In addition the press if following MCA closely with the predicted IPO plans of Ondeck and Lending Club. OnDeck has gone a very long way in legitimizing our industry. Google and Deutchbanc have both embraced MCA through OnDeck. We all stand to gain from the legitimization of MCA. A recent article by Bloomberg comparing origination practices in MCA to the bad cowboy days for subprime mortgages and discussing the role of ex cons in origination for the OnDeck securitizatoin is just a taste of what is to come if we don't reform ourselves.

Some of the key differences that we need to highlight are:

Merchants are smart and savvy business people that shop around for the best rate and should be allowed to make their own decisions about what is best for their business. They are not helpless consumers living from paycheck to paycheck.

PEW's Payday Lending in America, Policy Solutions identified as one of the key evils of Payday that loans don't amortize but are due in one lump sum that is impossible to pay back. Shifting to installment loans in Colorado was a great solution for consumers because they managed to pay the loan back without being hooked forever.

MCA amortizes and liquidates over the life of an advance. It does not hook the merchant in an unrecoverable cycle of debt that they can never repay. The one exception is the Merchant who is a serial refinance junkie without every graduating to cheaper debt.

Getting hooked on continuous expensive money instead of temporary bridge capital is similar to an addiction. We need to recognize as an industry that while we can claim to fill a legitimate small business need for capital and be respected for it if we continuously fund a merchant that plainly can't afford serial financing and drive them out of business we will be acting as predatory financing companies.

The Gaming industry serves a less pressing need than financing small businesses and unlike Payday is not being forced out of business . It flourishes by accepting regulation and by having effective programs to identify and help gaming addicts.

We would like to invite other members of the MCA industry in creating a structure for eliminating the Merchant who should not be allowed to receive the serial advance when they plainly can't afford it.

**MCNetwork** · 06-12-2014, 04:36 PM

I understand the intentions but I don't understand the execution. The cashadvanceanonymous.com website comes across as too tongue-in-cheek to be taken seriously. It's more like a parody website. It could have been done a lot more professionally if you really wanted to help the industry and not hurt it.

**DirectMedia_Scott** · 06-12-2014, 04:43 PM

My personal favorite portion of this entire thing is what links they have listed under the "Resources" section:

It may be the case that a business owner is using MCA as a means of funding another addiction. If you suspect that you have a problem with a substance or behavior that is being supported by MCA, please look at these additional resources.

Alcoholics Anonymous

Gamblers Anonymous

Narcotics Anonymous

**funding pro** · 06-12-2014, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by meirhurwitz

We have been asked by some of our friends and competitors what we were thinking when we launched the MCA anonymous site. Some have suggested that we are attacking our own industry and the ISO's who are the life blood of our company. Those who believe that are near sighted and we believe their uncontrolled behavior is the greatest risk our industry faces. We have all watched closely the Payday industry grow rapidly, make a lot of money and then crash and burn. Payday is similar in some ways to MCA in the rate of return charged and use of the ACH system. We are all fooling ourselves if we think that the regulators that have choked Payday by putting pressure on banks to shut down their ACH lines will never turn their attention to MCA if we are viewed as predatory abusive lenders. Do you really believe that if MCA suffers from the same bad press and public abuse that Payday does that banks will continue to service their ACH accounts? We have already seen a number of MCA companies shut down by their banks without reason. In addition the press if following MCA closely with the predicted IPO plans of Ondeck and Lending Club. OnDeck has gone a very long way in legitimizing our industry. Google and Deutchbanc have both embraced MCA through OnDeck. We all stand to gain from the legitimization of MCA. A recent article by Bloomberg comparing origination practices in MCA to the bad cowboy days for subprime mortgages and discussing the role of ex cons in origination for the OnDeck securitizatoin is just a taste of what is to come if we don't reform ourselves.

Some of the key differences that we need to highlight are:

Merchants are smart and savvy business people that shop around for the best rate and should be allowed to make their own decisions about what is best for their business. They are not helpless consumers living from paycheck to paycheck.

PEW's Payday Lending in America, Policy Solutions identified as one of the key evils of Payday that loans don't amortize but are due in one lump sum that is impossible to pay back. Shifting to installment loans in Colorado was a great solution for consumers because they managed to pay the loan back without being hooked forever.

MCA amortizes and liquidates over the life of an advance. It does not hook the merchant in an unrecoverable cycle of debt that they can never repay. The one exception is the Merchant who is a serial refinance junkie without every graduating to cheaper debt.

Getting hooked on continuous expensive money instead of temporary bridge capital is similar to an addiction. We need to recognize as an industry that while we can claim to fill a legitimate small business need for capital and be respected for it if we continuously fund a merchant that plainly can't afford serial financing and drive them out of business we will be acting as predatory financing companies.

The Gaming industry serves a less pressing need than financing small businesses and unlike Payday is not being forced out of business . It flourishes by accepting regulation and by having effective programs to identify and help gaming addicts.

We would like to invite other members of the MCA industry in creating a structure for eliminating the Merchant who should not be allowed to receive the serial advance when they plainly can't afford it.

Are you ****ting me with this crap? YOU ARE THE PROBLEM WITH THIS SPACE. Don't put out some bull**** story about how you launched this site to protect business owners from predatory funding companies and to keep the regulation away form our industry. The problem is 1-3 month stacked advances in 2-5th positions with 1.30-1.50 rates. If you want to launch a new site to generate more demand for your company, that's great, but be a man and OWN IT.

**1StopFunding** · 06-12-2014, 08:01 PM

Pearl stacks on top of stacks and their rates are horrific! Did they really put up this site??? SMH

**JayBallentine** · 06-12-2014, 08:44 PM

Originally Posted by MCNetwork

We're witnessing the mental breakdown of some industry veterans.

I laughed so hard snot came out my nose... wow. lmao!

**Jared_Weitz** · 06-13-2014, 07:35 AM

I think everyone is looking at this a little too hard. There are tons of companies now who put out blogs weekly, boast large funding months, put themselves all over the internet and social media and are doing the same 2-5 position and stacking, and charging high rates and offering shorter terms. These same companies never receive this much grief guys. While I don't think it's smart to draw such attention to yourself while running this type of business model I do think Pearl's new idea was leaked early and therefore was not ready and shouldn't be judged yet. I think judgment should be on the final result of what's out there in the space and operational. I bet after this whole string it helped give insight and thus should yield a better result.

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