[Skytop]

I received the same promo ad that many of you got from DeBanked from Aquila last month via e-mail.

The ad boasted they'd be paying 15+ points on my trash can. Actively looking for garbage paper. First thought is it's too good to be true, but why not submit an inquiry. We have plenty of declines, and are always looking to monetize anything we can within reason. Thryve was filling this need for us paying 10 on YSC deals, but the good approvals had stopped entirely - causing me to look around. (I hate signing ISO agreements I won't use)

I submitted an inquiry to Aquila and was told they were on a temporary onboarding freeze from a generic mailbox. The online ISO Application was pretty standard, and I received an e-mail saying they did their due diligence and everything was in order but the freeze was still in effect - from a generic mailbox.

Today I get an e-mail showing a customized Landing Page Link ala Kabbage with really nothing else, saying Deals through January would pay 10 and the link.

Called - E-mailed - NOTHING. It is impossible to get a human over there. Unsure of procedure I sent along a merchant I have good rapport with and asked him how it was going. He completed the basic questionnaire, linked his bank account, and then..... He sent me the following picture:

OutofCash.jpg

If you can't see it - it's a computer screen that says "We are unable to offer funding at this time. Please check back the next business day"... Wait what?!


Do any of you guys have any insight on this company? Is it amateur hour? Any experiences you could share? I know they're in San Francisco and are all about that fintech - but that's about it.

Appreciate it,
Alan

[HDF]

Their claims and offerings were outrageous from the start. I wouldn't bet on a horse that can't get out of the gate.

[WestCoastFunding]

From their website:


"Aquila is a data-driven, small business cash flow management platform for owners that don't have time or budget for a high-end CFO.

Aquila's mission is to collect and analyze the financial transactions of small businesses so that business owners can get an edge unavailable anywhere else online.

Aquila's software allows small businesses and their owners to survive the cash-flow surprises that arise during daily business operations."

Also, from their testimonial page:

"The Aquila team are simply amazing. They are constantly checking my bank account for problems. In September they saved me over $1,000 in fraudulent charges and overdrafts. Their team checks in with me daily. They notice that I am about to have cash flow issues that a part of the business seasonality in the floral industry. They were able to match me with a cash flow partner that helped me acquire the financing I needed to launch my new coffee shop next to my flower shop. I trust Aquila and will be looking to grow my business with their support.

Dawn Kersting Owner Camelot Flowers, IN"


So, essentially, they just have some software they use to "monitor" bank accounts and when they "project" a cash flow issue they send out the file to a funder.

In other words, they are brokers pretending to be funders. And they slickly use "cash flow software" to keep access to merchants' accounts. What a hustle.

[Michael I]

something really fishy is up with these guys and i will love to know more about it

[WestCoastFunding]

something really fishy is up with these guys and i will love to know more about it

Yeah, they're stealing clients.

[Sean Cash]

I received the same promo ad that many of you got from DeBanked from Aquila last month via e-mail.

The ad boasted they'd be paying 15+ points on my trash can. Actively looking for garbage paper. First thought is it's too good to be true, but why not submit an inquiry. We have plenty of declines, and are always looking to monetize anything we can within reason. Thryve was filling this need for us paying 10 on YSC deals, but the good approvals had stopped entirely - causing me to look around. (I hate signing ISO agreements I won't use)

I submitted an inquiry to Aquila and was told they were on a temporary onboarding freeze from a generic mailbox. The online ISO Application was pretty standard, and I received an e-mail saying they did their due diligence and everything was in order but the freeze was still in effect - from a generic mailbox.

Today I get an e-mail showing a customized Landing Page Link ala Kabbage with really nothing else, saying Deals through January would pay 10 and the link.

Called - E-mailed - NOTHING. It is impossible to get a human over there. Unsure of procedure I sent along a merchant I have good rapport with and asked him how it was going. He completed the basic questionnaire, linked his bank account, and then..... He sent me the following picture:

OutofCash.jpg

If you can't see it - it's a computer screen that says "We are unable to offer funding at this time. Please check back the next business day"... Wait what?!


Do any of you guys have any insight on this company? Is it amateur hour? Any experiences you could share? I know they're in San Francisco and are all about that fintech - but that's about it.

Appreciate it,
Alan

My understanding of their model is that funds are only released to a merchant once their predictive algorithm detects a cash flow pattern that indicates the merchant can handle the funding. So that could be the day they apply or 2 months later. It's a waiting game. That was the gist of the system as I interpreted their explanation to me. Don't quote me on that though.

[John Galt]

I'm not sure of that. They funded a client of mine that was not a citizen or resident for 30K in Ariz.

[WestCoastFunding]

When they talk about "matching" with funding partners, doesn't this just make them a broker?

[WestCoastFunding]

My understanding of their model is that funds are only released to a merchant once their predictive algorithm detects a cash flow pattern that indicates the merchant can handle the funding. So that could be the day they apply or 2 months later. It's a waiting game. That was the gist of the system as I interpreted their explanation to me. Don't quote me on that though.

Haha. So they are essentially brokers that monitor merchant bank accounts using underwriting software and when it shows they are able to service debt they shop it out to funders. Or as they call "matching partners". I don't see a single thing on their website that makes it sound like they are funders. Just simply a virtual or automated CFO service. Not even CFO but specifically cash-flow monitoring. I give them an "A" for finding a new way to broker in a fundamentally dishonest way. Again, nothing on their site indicates they're direct funders.

Or do I have it wrong?

[CreditGuy]

I don't think you're wrong, but I think it misses part of the benefit to Aquila in the transaction, which is that they are aggregating transaction level data on a broad range of business without taking the credit risk that other actual lenders/funders have to take. That kind of data is very valuable in creating transaction classification and scoring models.

[Skytop]

I'm not sure of that. They funded a client of mine that was not a citizen or resident for 30K in Ariz.

Would you mind elaborating on the process? Did your nonresident alien client just do all the work through a co-branded landing page or did you submit a package to an e-mail?

Did you negotiate terms, upsell, options etc?

Did you get paid on that deal?

[GMFunding]

The first deal I funded with them was on contracts with verbiage/text that referred to them directly as the funder.

[Lmonus]

Guys just stop it already - i see these sad posts all day everyday. Sign up with someone who wont waste your time...

Lior Monus
CFG Merchant Solutions
Direct: 516-319-5826
Lmonus@cfgms.com

[soscap]

I don't think you're wrong, but I think it misses part of the benefit to Aquila in the transaction, which is that they are aggregating transaction level data on a broad range of business without taking the credit risk that other actual lenders/funders have to take. That kind of data is very valuable in creating transaction classification and scoring models.

That data is priceless. These guys are pretty smart if that's what they're really doing.... fundomate, and Syndimate do the same

[John Galt]

I did not fund the first deal. Aquilla and MFS were on the account, when I got there. I then signed with Aquilla in order to get that market. I just funded the same client for 70K through another fund to consolidate and reduce payments.

[Aquila]

Hello Everyone,

This is Taariq Lewis, founder & CEO of Aquila. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. It's great to see clearly what the industry is thinking about what we're doing.

What we've learned: We are the new kids on the daily funding block. We have a long way to go and lots of work ahead of us. We apologize to those who call and don't get an answer, but we are accessible. We are best responsive via email at underwriting@aquilacashflow.com because the phones are always overloaded and we all ship code to our platform everyday.

Who we are: We're a small engineering and datascience team. We care about the brokers in this industry after spending 6 frustrating months as an ISO and learning that the ISO business is a hard one. we are here to help and fund businesses. We are here to unlock the value of bank performance data for the entire daily funder industry.

Thanks to everyone who commented. Here are my responses for those below and those reading.

I received the same promo ad that many of you got from DeBanked from Aquila last month via e-mail.

If you can't see it - it's a computer screen that says "We are unable to offer funding at this time. Please check back the next business day"... Wait what?!

Alan

Alan, we're in San Francisco and we're FinTech. Yes. We're going to fix that page as it's terrible communication about what we do and how we got to that answer.

How we work: We never hard decline a merchant. We always decline to fund immediatley. We are a datascience and data processing company. We analyze all the income and debt on the company to determine whether we can fit. This is why we ask for DecisionLogic upfront. When a merchant account doesn't match the box, we should have a much more clearer explanation and better offer of insight, but we are getting there.

Their claims and offerings were outrageous from the start. I wouldn't bet on a horse that can't get out of the gate.

HDF, those claims are not outrageous and we are paying ISOs those rates.

From their website:

So, essentially, they just have some software they use to "monitor" bank accounts and when they "project" a cash flow issue they send out the file to a funder.

In other words, they are brokers pretending to be funders. And they slickly use "cash flow software" to keep access to merchants' accounts. What a hustle.

We're not pretending WestCoastFunding. We were ISO's before we were funders. We are no longer brokers. We are funders and we do not share/shop our broker merchant accounts. It's much more profitable for us to be funders than brokers and that's why we are funders. No. we are not stealing clients. This is a small industry and you'd see that pretty fast if that was our process.

My understanding of their model is that funds are only released to a merchant once their predictive algorithm detects a cash flow pattern that indicates the merchant can handle the funding. So that could be the day they apply or 2 months later. It's a waiting game. That was the gist of the system as I interpreted their explanation to me. Don't quote me on that though.

Thank you Sean. Yep. That's what we do. If you are an ISO, login http://https://aquilacashflow.com/users/sign_in and check your ISO Dashboard for the column tht says "Available Financing Today". That's a daily column that calculates the amount of additional debt your merchant can carry. We look for a baseline of $5,5000 in additional debt. We track that daily. If you see that number is $120,000 and you don't have a deal with us, then shop that deal and get that merchant funded. We're giving you free daily insights into your merchant credit availability. Does any other funder give you that data for free? Will you make more money if you knew that for all your merchants, everyday?

I don't think you're wrong, but I think it misses part of the benefit to Aquila in the transaction, which is that they are aggregating transaction level data on a broad range of business without taking the credit risk that other actual lenders/funders have to take. That kind of data is very valuable in creating transaction classification and scoring models.

Yes, CreditGuy. And we're giving that data back to the brokers and to the merchants for free.

That data is priceless. These guys are pretty smart if that's what they're really doing.... fundomate, and Syndimate do the same

Thank you David. Congratulations on your leadership at SOS Capital. We are doing that, but we want to bring the value of that data back to the brokers and the merchants on our platform.

The brokers bring us the merchants and their bank accounts. We bring the brokers credit data that they can close more deals with the funders that will move fastest. We compete with other funders for access to the deals we can fund. We do this across 800 merchant accounts everyday. We never throw away a merchant so brokers never lose a deal. We expect that lots of brokers don't have this data.

Are we for every ISO? We may not be for every ISO. We started asking your C - F paper because we wanted to introduce ourselves to the industry by taking on your least "precious" paper. This way, the ISOs here don't feel betrayed as we launched on a rough platform that is still improving. If you have garbage, bring it to us. We shall take great care to monitor and analyze as soon as they are ready for more capital. If it's today, they'll get funded. If it's in 30 days, you'll know and you'll get the points. If it's in 60 days, you'll know and you'll get the points.

Other questions? Please share them here and I'll answer as I check in every few minutes.

Should I sign up to Aquila? YES! Sign up at https://aquilacashflow.com/isos/new and join our platform! It's free for you and your merchants and we fund new deals, everyday.

Thanks again,
Taariq Lewis
Aquila
https://aquilacashflow.com/

[GMFunding]

Just to comment from some first-hand experience, I would say these guys operate in a hybrid way similar to Kabbage, LoanMe, and Yellowstone or like.

The kabbage perspective, You enter very minimal info on the landing page which is then forwarded to an owner via email. The owner takes on the responsibility of completing the app and connecting the bank account.

The LoanMe aspect in that once the application is completed they handle the correspondence for the most part directly with the owner, they'll request paperwork or info from the broker if it's slow coming. Once the basics are completed the file is moved into underwriting where you await an answer which in most cases happens in a few hours. We don't have the option to control the rate, term or amount.

Yellowstone comparison basically just in the type of file they're willing to consider, the first deal we funded was a financial consulting firm with very volatile bank statements. We entered the info on a Friday and came back into the office Monday morning showing the deal had already been funded with no work from us. Luckily at the time we got it in before the end of the year so we earned 15 points on the deal.

If you're OK with taking your hands off the wheel a bit more in comparison to most options and you want to convert more of your lower quality paper than it can be worth it.

We personally reserve them as lower tier option when options are slight and it fits our model as the effort is minimal.

Taariq personally has been great to work with, at the beginning he and the team were near impossible to reach but since mid-December, the correspondence has been stepped up.

[cynthia]

Any new feedback on Aquila? Anyone have good funding experiences with them? Response time for approvals?
TY

[Karen37a]

I refused to do business and questioned them to death...then said see you in a year

I do not understand the business model but see certain companies in it and I know a few that funded with them

If i had to "guess " I would think its low low tier ... I did ask ...why would you want these,

I was planning on trying it.( because they seemed honest) 1 year later I called and said " if you really want these ill send them, I still never did... I almost feel guilty sending **** paper to someone

I am not sure of what data anyone would be looking for

[cynthia]

Thanks. I am also trying to find anyone that has funded with them lately and if they are indeed funding themselves. Seemed like there was a door left opened for them to send files outside to have competition from lenders for the file.

[fundingsmbs]

nobody has time to deal with "we have a long way to go" . It's 2018. If you aren't already doing it now, you are out of the market. I always have a concern from companies that can create an API and send leads all day long to another co API and cut out the broker.

[Sachip24]

"Called - E-mailed - NOTHING. It is impossible to get a human over there. Unsure of procedure I sent along a merchant I have good rapport with" - you did not get any type of answer or communication back to you so you sent a merchant of yours you have good relationship with as guinea pig? ...that could have backfired

[DiamondBL]

Great info- best of luck and looking forward to the growth of the vision

[Anthony@torro]

Off topic from Aquila, you mentioned in your original post that you were sending here, but approvals haven't been good which caused you to search elsewhere for alternative options. If you're no longer working with us, but open to giving me a shot at your business please feel free to reach out.

[abfunders]

gabriel@aquilacashflow.com
They maintain a link to the client's bank account - Once they're fundable, they let the MERCHANT know directly, and you get an email.
They also send a weekly report to the client if they want it one what they need to do to be fundable (NSFs, minimum monthly balances, etc) They want the D-F paper you can't get funded now, and you'll get 10 points later when/if they are fundable.