SMEs To Benefit From eProdigy’s PayPal Integration

Small businesses are attracted to alternative lenders largely due to their ease and speed at which they can approve SME applicants and hand over funds. One FinTech holding company hopes to provide an even faster process for small business borrowers thanks to its integration with key tools used everyday by these companies.

According to reports, eProdigy, which acts as the holding company for multiple alternative lenders, revealed Tuesday (April 14) that it has integrated the feeds of Quickbooks, PayPal and Authorize.Net into its lending approval process. This integration, reports said, means eProdigy’s lenders can more quickly assess a company’s ability to repay funds thanks to new access to businesses’ financial data.

eProdigy says the tool means lenders can base their decisions off more than just a credit score.

“Technology can play a huge role in determining whether or not to extend credit to a give company,” said eProdigy CEO David Rubin. “The most innovative systems in the industry are tapping into data sources that weren’t available previously, yet provide critical insight into the creditworthiness of a given business entity.”

This insight, he added, can come from shipping volumes and even social media feeds. The information can now be combined with hard data from PayPal or Quickbooks accounts, allowing lenders to gain a “deeper picture” of the risk a business borrower poses for lenders, Rubin said.

The firm added that its ability to work with Quickbooks and PayPal are part of eProdigy’s goals to offer a five-minute, paperless decision to SME applicants through the streamlined analysis of the most data possible.

eProdigy is part of the expanding alternative finance industry, allowing businesses to access working capital they need to operate their businesses from sources other than major banks. Recent research from TradeUp revealed that more than $8.6 billion in small business loans stemmed from an online platform like eProdigy in 2014. The report added the convenience of these online alternative financing options, highlighting that many businesses receive a decision on their application within days, let alone the five minutes eProdigy hopes to take to offer approval.