[Cfairbank]

carl i have an issue with all lenders that take direct applications . they do not know the market and will sell the merchant that it is the best option for them . That is where a honest broker is way more ethical then any lender can ever be .
i have moved a merchant with 500 credit off a 6 month term to a 18 month term at a cheaper factor to a lender that put more weight on the time in business . same with moving a guy to a lender that didnt hold his industry against him . not every lender is for every file.
now we can take it further , i have had an argument with bob shaw in the past as he believed taking any merchant to cash advance (even a lenders ) with out first trying the different type of financing is unethical .
100 people on this site will have 100 different guidelines on what is the right way to do business .

You are right -- I wish more lenders would do a "suitability test" before placing a deal on their product -- you are exactly right, that is what the "good actors" on the broker side do and there are many many great brokers. If you know our company well, any online or strategic partnership applications we receive (non-ISO), we conduct that suitability test before we even offer our product -- and many of them are better suited elsewhere (e.g. SBA, factoring, etc.), and we'll place them there even though it hurts our bottom line.

This is why I focus so much on suitability. Even ISOs that work with us know that we reject applications if we don't view our product as "suitable" for the business -- we don't send ISO files anywhere else, but won't place people on our capital if it doesn't make sense.[/U]