Swift Prepaid, Bitty Pair Up For Virtual Merchant Cash Advances

Payments company Swift Prepaid Solutions and small business financier Bitty Advance are collaborating on technology to accelerate small businesses’ access to merchant cash advances.

In a press release issued Tuesday, Swift Prepaid said it will integrate its prepaid services to enable Bitty small business customers immediate access to virtual funds after they secure a merchant cash advance. The funds can then be uploaded to a mobile wallet, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay.

Swift Prepaid is also supporting Bitty’s ability to provide immediate access to cash advances that are uploaded to business debit cards.

Their collaboration links Bitty to Visa Direct functionality, allowing it to brand virtual and physical prepaid and debit cards linked to a business account.

“New and growing small businesses often need fast access to capital that supports basic needs like inventory purchases, payroll and marketing,” said Edward Siegel, CEO of Bitty Advance, in a statement. “Our new partnership with Swift [Prepaid] enables us to provide competitive instant funding options to these small business borrowers while seamlessly integrating Swift’s solutions into our branded customer journey.”

Patrick Crosson, Swift Prepaid vice president of sales, emerging markets, added that financiers like Bitty need compliance and scalable solutions to meet their customers’ needs as they look beyond traditional lenders.

While the merchant cash advance may often come with a negative reputation, B2B FinTech players have been working to rethink the role of the solution as alternative finance continues to evolve.

Even so, last month New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood opened an investigation into the SMB lending market with a particular eye on merchant cash advance players. The probe centers upon whether some companies have deployed predatory practices or fraud, Bloomberg reported at the time, citing an unnamed source.