Plastiq Platform Offers Real-Time Short-Term Financing for SMBs

B2B payments platform Plastiq, which was built with instant access to working capital, has announced a new short-term financing program to allow small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs) working capital to keep growing, a press release emailed to PYMNTS said.

Called Plastiq Short-Term Financing, it will let SMBs apply for the funds, get fast decisions and activate a credit line, reportedly in real time, in the manner where a business pays vendors.

SMBs, while they are a $9 trillion Total Addressable Market in the U.S., haven’t seen short-term financing in an easy-to-get manner yet, according to Plastiq.

“Our new solution breaks down the bottlenecks associated with funding growth. Many small businesses struggle to pay for large expenses because of a lack of liquidity and access to  working capital that is more readily accessible to large businesses and corporations. By facilitating the financing process, small businesses can keep cash on hand to remain flexible and responsive to changing market conditions,” said Eliot Buchanan, Founder and CEO of Plastiq.

The release says the short-term fnancing with Plastiq will offer SMBs the ability to get instant decisions and extend payments by 90 days, pay back flexibly, receive competitive and easy-to-understand rates, and get better cash opportunities.

Plastiq CEO Eliot Buchanan told Karen Webster recently that B2B payments had been changing, along with the world for the companies looking to let SMBs access cash.

Read more: Plastiq CEO: Capital From SPAC Deal Offers ‘Prudent’ Strategic Advantage

He said capital had been a commodity not too long ago, with cheap interest rates and various SMBs were able to get by on a blend of their owners’ personal credit cards. But this was before the pandemic, which threw supply chains into chaos and saw many companies rapidly bleeding cash.

Plastiq and other companies have a platform model, which can offer a real-time path toward business efficiency. Buchanan said that kind of thing is needed because SMB owners could be overlooking some basic facts — like how suppliers want to be paid sooner and buyers want to be paid with terms.