Merchant Cash Advance (MCA)
A purchase of future card sales repaid through a daily holdback on card batches — the classic fast-funding product.
A merchant cash advance (MCA) is a purchase of future receivables focused on card sales. The funder advances a lump sum and repays it by taking a daily holdback — a percentage of each day’s card batches — until the fixed total payback, priced by a factor rate, is satisfied. It is one of the oldest fast-funding structures for card-heavy businesses.
Its strengths are speed and flexibility: funding can be quick, and because repayment is a share of sales, a slow day sends less. The trade-offs are predictability and cost — a daily holdback is harder to plan around than a fixed weekly remittance, and factor-rate pricing can be expensive, especially if the deal gets stacked.
Because "MCA" gets used loosely for very different products, judge any specific offer on the mechanics: is repayment a true daily card holdback or a fixed ACH pull, what is the total payback, and what happens in a soft week. Many operators compare classic MCAs against weekly-remittance alternatives before deciding.
Frequently asked
Is a merchant cash advance a loan?
Typically no. An MCA is usually structured as a purchase of future card sales at a discount, not a loan with accruing interest. Read the agreement to confirm the structure.
How is MCA repayment collected?
Classically through a daily holdback — a percentage of each day’s card sales — until the total payback is met. Some newer products use a fixed weekly ACH remittance instead.
What are the alternatives to an MCA?
Fixed weekly-remittance working capital, a business line of credit, or a term loan, depending on your revenue pattern, timeline, and how much predictability you need.
Related terms
The percentage of daily card sales a merchant cash advance funder withholds toward repayment; it rises and falls with your sales.
A financing structure where a funder buys a set amount of your future sales at a discount today — a sale, not a loan.
A decimal multiplier (like 1.30) applied to the funded amount to calculate total payback — it is not an interest rate or APR.
Funding repaid as a set remittance tied to your revenue and cash flow rather than a fixed bank-style monthly loan payment.
Taking a second (or third) advance on top of an existing one, so multiple remittances hit the same deposits at the same time.
See a real offer for your business
Connect your business bank, get a decision in minutes for qualified files, and review transparent total payback before you sign. Quickie funding is a purchase of future receivables — not a consumer loan.