Quickpay Expands Commercial Finance Footprint With Full Skope

Funding solutions provider Quickpay has teamed with Full Skope to expand its commercial finance offerings.

The companies say their partnership, announced Tuesday (Feb. 28), will leverage Full Skope’s expertise and lending technology to offer businesses a better experience with factoring.

“With the use of Full Skope’s technology, Quickpay Funding will be streamlining their underwriting process and ensuring their clients get approved, funded, and back to running a successful business in the fastest and most efficient way possible,” the companies said in a news release.

In addition, the collaboration will work to expand Quickpay’s footprint into other types of lending, offering businesses even more funding options including factoring, working capital loans and equipment financing.

The partnership is happening at a time when small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are having a hard time finding financing, as Enigma Technologies Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer Scott Steinberg told PYMNTS recently.

“Interest rates are rising across the board and affecting the entire industry,” Steinberg said. “The cost of capital is going up, the opportunity cost of that money being invested is going up, and so small businesses are being hit with much higher interest rates.”

There’s pressure on lenders as well. Although delinquencies had not changed, there is a “perceived” risk of lending to SMBs that has been growing, causing lenders to be more conservative in their underwriting efforts.

Steinberg noted that overall approval rates are starting to creep downward, although they haven’t dropped dramatically so far. Even some alternative lenders (like Upstart) had begun suspending SMB lending efforts altogether.

“There may be some major changes ahead as people pull out — and there will unfortunately just be less funding available,” Steinberg said.

Recent research by PYMNTS backs these statements up. The PYMNTS and NCR report “Digital Banking Rises To Meet SMB Needs,” showed a scramble among SMBs for new sources of working capital from non-traditional sources.

“The pressure to find the right working capital solution is increasing, with one survey finding that big banks’ approval rate for business loans dipped to just below 15%, a 10-month low,” the study said.

“Alternative lending saw the biggest increase at nearly 2%, meaning small businesses are increasingly looking to FinTechs and digital-first offerings to deal with cost pressures.”

Smaller businesses need capital to cover costs, including — a bit ironically — the digital tech that helps with efficiency and operational improvements. According to the study, nearly a quarter of SMBs are worried about finding affordable funding, creating an existential threat for many.

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