Most declines come down to eight things: negative days, low average daily balance, too many existing positions, inconsistent deposits, insufficient time in business, a restricted industry, an unrealistic ask, or an incomplete file. Roughly half are properties of the merchant and cannot be fixed. The other half are properties of how the file was prepared and placed, which is entirely within a broker’s control.
A high decline rate is expensive twice — the rep time on files that go nowhere, and the standing you lose with funders who start treating your submissions as low quality. Both are worth attacking.
| Reason | Fixable by you? |
|---|---|
| Negative days across the statements | No |
| Average daily balance too low for the ask | Partly — resize the ask |
| Too many existing positions | No |
| Inconsistent or lumpy deposits | Partly — provide context |
| Under the time-in-business floor | No |
| Restricted or high-risk industry | Partly — placement |
| Ask unrealistic against revenue | Yes |
| Incomplete or illegible file | Yes |
Negative days, existing positions and time in business are facts about the merchant. What you control is finding them out before you submit rather than after — a decline you predicted costs a phone call, one you did not costs a submission and some credibility.
This is also where qualifying properly on the first call pays for itself. Three questions — how many positions, any negative days, how long trading — filter most of the files that were never going to fund.
Negative days in the bank statements, followed by an average daily balance too low to service the requested remittance and too many existing positions. Those three account for a large share of declines and none is fixable by the broker after the fact.
Yes, on roughly half of them. Unrealistic asks, incomplete files, missing context and wrong placement are entirely within your control. Split your declines into fixable and not, count them, and the ratio tells you whether the problem is your process or your lead qualification.
It varies by funder and by how much of the receipts the existing remittances already consume. Two is common and placeable; four or more narrows the field sharply. What matters more is disclosure — a position found in the statements after you submitted costs the deal and some standing with that funder.
Ask the funder for the specific reason, consider whether another funder takes that profile, tell the merchant plainly what the obstacle was, and diary the ones that failed on time in business or a single bad month. Those become fundable later and almost nobody follows up.
Yes, and it is the cheapest one to eliminate. Missing months, missing pages or screenshots instead of statements read as concealment even when they are only carelessness, and they colour how an underwriter reads everything else in the file.
We will tell you straight up if we cannot help you. No commission deals, no free trials, no chasing you for three weeks.