[TStein]

Can you ethically ask a merchant to sign that , with the verbal promise that they won't charge it all and just 299 .

Great point, in most cases...I would say no. Our company is built on integrity and I've always spoken out against putting merchants in bad situations on DF in the past. If our underwriting team gauges that their is a risk that the business is on its way out, or a cash advance will have a negative impact...we'll pass. Simple as that.

So in this case, the merchant applied on our website. Our underwriter declined the file because it was out of our parameters. We sent it to the usual suspects (YSC, PEARL, CH) only to have CH provide the sole offer.

The merchant got funded 1 day before applying with us. They run a school and were looking to buy a bus for Summer Session to bring on an additional group of students. The company that funded her before (surprise) took a large fee and she didn't net enough to buy her bus.

She had an plan to use the capital for and a guaranteed revenue stream once she received the money to buy the bus. CH funded her, and per our follow-up she had the bus and already paid off the original advance.

Is this a rare case? Yes. But the merchant was actually knew how to run a business and in this case, the advance worked out perfectly.

--Anyhow... have a good weekend and I will see you all Monday!