Ask for them on the first call, while the merchant is still engaged, and make the ask small and specific: the last four months as PDFs from online banking, sent to one address, today. Deals die here because the request arrives by email after the call has ended, is vague about what is wanted, and asks a merchant to do unfamiliar admin with nobody on the phone to unblock them.
Between "yes I am interested" and a file you can submit sits one task the merchant has to do alone, and it is where most of the loss happens. Everything about how you ask should be aimed at shrinking the gap between the ask and the documents arriving.
The strongest version is asking while you are still on the phone and staying on it. "Log in now and I will wait" converts far better than any follow-up email, because the merchant is engaged, the request is fresh, and you are there when they cannot find the download button.
| Ask | Result |
|---|---|
| "Send over your statements when you get a chance" | Vague, unowned, arrives never |
| "I will email you a list of what we need" | Moves the work to a channel they will not open |
| "Last four months, PDF from your online banking, to this address — can you do it now while I hold?" | Specific, small, and supervised |
Distinguish between cannot and will not. A merchant who does not have online banking set up needs a different route — a bank login through the funder’s secure portal, or a trip to a branch, and a diary date. A merchant who is unwilling is usually protecting something in the statements, most often positions they have not mentioned, and that is worth finding out now rather than after you have submitted.
On the first call, while the merchant is still engaged, and ideally while you stay on the line. The drop-off between an ask made on the phone and one made by email afterwards is the largest single loss in the process.
Four is the standard ask and covers most funders. Some will take three, and a file with six is stronger where the business is seasonal, but four months of complete PDFs is the request to make.
Usually because they think it is a credit check or a fishing expedition, which one sentence about pricing solves. Where the reluctance survives that explanation, it is often positions or negative days they have not mentioned — which you need to know before you submit, not after.
No. Underwriters want the bank-generated PDF with every page present. Screenshots and photographs read as concealment even when they are only convenience, and they colour how the rest of the file is read.
Ask for all of them. A single account showing part of the revenue understates the business and produces a smaller offer or a decline, and an account discovered later damages your standing with the funder.
We will tell you straight up if we cannot help you. No commission deals, no free trials, no chasing you for three weeks.