Answer
What are the requirements for a merchant cash advance?
Deliberately minimal — which is the point, and the problem. What funders check and what they ignore.
Usually three to six months in business, $10,000 to $15,000 a month in deposits or card volume, and a business bank account. Credit scores in the 500s are commonly accepted and some funders set no minimum. Approval often takes hours.
What funders actually check
| Requirement | Typical threshold | Why they care |
|---|---|---|
| Time in business | 3 to 6 months | Enough deposit history to model your receipts |
| Monthly revenue | $10,000 to $15,000+ | The remittance has to be collectible daily |
| Deposit consistency | Regular, not lumpy | Gaps in deposits are the main risk signal |
| Business bank account | Required | It is the collection mechanism |
| Card volume | Sometimes required | For split-withholding structures |
| Personal credit | Often 500+, sometimes none | A weak signal here, weighted lightly |
| Existing advances | Usually must be disclosed | Stacking is prohibited by most contracts |
| NSFs and negative days | Few, ideally none | The strongest predictor of a failed debit |
The two things that actually get you declined
- Negative days and NSFs. Funders read three to six months of bank statements and count the days your balance went negative. This predicts a failed debit better than any credit score, and it is the most common reason for a decline in this market.
- Undisclosed existing advances. They appear in your bank statements as regular debits, and they appear in the public UCC filings. Concealing them ends the application and, if discovered after funding, can be a breach.
What you will be asked for
- Three to six months of business bank statements — the core document
- A completed application with ownership details
- Merchant processing statements, if card volume is part of the structure
- A voided check or account details for ACH
- Driver's licence and sometimes an EIN letter
Before you meet these requirements, check these
The requirements above are easy to meet, which is why so many businesses end up here. Two of the cheaper alternatives have requirements that are barely harder:
| Option | What it requires | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice factoring | That you invoice creditworthy businesses. Your own credit barely matters. | 1% - 5% per 30 days |
| Equipment financing | A specific resaleable asset and roughly 600 credit. | 7.0% - 30.0% APR |
| CDFI or SBA microloan | A written plan and 2 to 8 weeks of patience. | 8.0% - 13.0% APR |
| Merchant cash advance | Deposits and a bank account. | 40% to 350%+ effective |
If any of the first three fit, the cost difference is not marginal — it is frequently five to twenty times.
Questions people actually ask
What credit score do you need for a merchant cash advance?
Many funders work from around 500, and some set no minimum at all, because they underwrite your deposit history rather than your credit file. A low score raises the factor rate rather than causing a decline.
How long does merchant cash advance approval take?
Often hours, and funding the same or next business day. That speed is the entire value proposition, and it is what you are paying for. If your deadline is not genuinely that tight, almost everything else in the market is cheaper.
Can I get a merchant cash advance with only 3 months in business?
Frequently yes -- three months of deposit history is a common minimum. Be aware that being eligible this early usually means being offered the highest factor rates, because the funder has very little history to model.