MCA glossary

Repayment collected by scheduled debit from the merchant’s bank account rather than as a split of card receipts.

Previously generated lead records resold weeks, months or years after the merchant originally applied.

The annualised cost of financing, accounting for the repayment schedule as well as the amount charged.

The mean end-of-day balance across the statement period, and the primary measure of remittance capacity.

A security interest covering substantially all of a business’s assets rather than specific identified collateral.

The contract between a broker or ISO and a funder governing submissions, commission and conduct.

A state requirement that a firm brokering commercial financing register with a regulator before doing so.

The factor rate a funder offers a broker, before the broker adds their own margin.

The federal law governing commercial email, requiring accurate headers, a clear opt-out and honouring it promptly.

The federal agency with rulemaking and enforcement authority over consumer financial products, and over small business lending data under Section 1071.

A card transaction reversed at the cardholder’s request, returning funds and usually incurring a fee.

A funder recovering commission already paid, typically when a merchant defaults early in the term.

The share of qualified merchants who accept an offer and fund.

Assets a secured party can claim if the obligation is not met.

State legislation requiring standardised cost disclosures to a business before it signs a financing agreement.

A contractual clause in which a merchant agrees in advance to entry of judgment against them on default, without a hearing.

A single new advance used to pay off two or more existing positions, replacing several remittances with one.

The share of purchased leads that reach an actual conversation with the merchant.

Total acquisition spend divided by the number of deals that actually funded from it.

The price paid to acquire a single lead record, before any consideration of whether it converts.

A contractual window in which a merchant can remedy a breach before default consequences apply.

The degree to which a business’s revenue depends on a small number of customers.

Adding contact details to a record from a third-party database rather than collecting them from the person directly.

A name a business trades under that differs from its registered legal entity name.

The business whose assets a UCC filing attaches to — the party that granted the security interest, not necessarily a business behind on a payment.

A funder’s refusal to make an offer on a submitted file.

A merchant’s failure to meet the terms of the advance agreement, most commonly repeated missed or returned remittances.

The share of advances that fail to be repaid in full under their original terms.

The number of separate deposits into a merchant’s account in a statement period, as distinct from the total deposited.

The federal registry of numbers that may not be contacted for telemarketing purposes.

Calling a lead twice in quick succession, on the basis that a second ring shortly after a missed first is answered noticeably more often.

The federal tax identifier assigned to a business entity.

Lead records sold to a single buyer, ideally with no expiry on that exclusivity.

A multiplier applied once to an advance amount to give the total repayment — a $50,000 advance at 1.40 means $70,000 repaid.

Selling outstanding invoices to a third party at a discount for immediate cash.

A service company that files a UCC-1 on a funder’s behalf and is named as the secured party itself, so the funder’s own name never appears on the record.

The earliest outstanding advance against a merchant, with priority over any that follow.

The party that deploys the capital in a merchant cash advance and carries the risk of repayment.

The percentage of daily card sales or bank deposits a funder takes until the advance is repaid.

A firm that sources merchants and places their files with funders, earning points on funded volume without deploying its own capital.

Screening phone numbers against lists of known TCPA plaintiffs before dialling them.

A pre-qualified merchant connected directly to a broker by phone rather than delivered as a record.

The signed form capturing the merchant’s business details, requested amount and authorisation to pull information.

A state-level analogue to the federal TCPA, frequently with its own definitions, restrictions and private right of action.

Days on which a merchant’s bank account carried a negative balance.

A returned payment caused by insufficient balance in the merchant’s account.

Confirming a phone number by texting a code mid-application that the applicant must enter to submit.

An informal classification of merchant quality, from A paper — strong revenue, no positions, long trading history — down to C or D.

A commitment by the business owner to be personally liable if the business does not meet its obligations.

The set of merchants a broker is working, grouped by stage from first contact through to funded.

The broker or ISO commission on a funded advance, expressed as a percentage of the funded amount.

An individual outstanding advance against a merchant, counted in order — first position, second position, and so on.

The standard of permission required for certain marketing calls and texts to wireless numbers under the TCPA.

Sending a lead record to the buyer at the moment of submission rather than in a scheduled batch.

A court or regulator determining that a transaction structured as an advance was, in substance, a loan.

The contractual process by which a merchant can have their remittance adjusted when actual receipts fall short of what was projected.

A new advance to a merchant who already has repayment history with the funder, usually once a meaningful share of the existing advance is repaid.

A portion of a contract sum withheld until work is completed and accepted, common in construction.

Funding repaid as a percentage of ongoing revenue rather than on a fixed schedule.

A funding arrangement in which a new funder makes periodic payments toward a merchant’s existing positions rather than paying them off outright.

A distribution method in which each incoming lead is assigned to one client in rotation.

The state office that holds a state’s business entity and UCC filing records, and the office a UCC-1 is filed with.

The Dodd-Frank provision requiring lenders to collect and report demographic and pricing data on small business credit applications.

The party named on a UCC-1 as holding the security interest in a business’s assets — on an advance filing, usually the funder.

The timetable on which a payment processor or marketplace pays out a merchant’s takings.

Lead records sold simultaneously to multiple buyers, typically three to five.

The elapsed time between a lead being generated and the first outbound contact attempt.

A merchant taking an additional advance while an earlier one is still outstanding, so multiple remittances draw on the same receipts.

A completed merchant file sent to a funder for underwriting.

A list of contacts that must be excluded from outreach — opt-outs, complaints, known litigators, existing customers.

Multiple parties each funding a portion of the same advance and sharing the returns and the risk proportionally.

Federal law restricting calls and texts to wireless numbers, with statutory damages of $500 to $1,500 per violation.

How long a merchant’s entity has been trading, measured from formation or from first revenue depending on the funder.

The full amount a merchant repays, calculated as the advance multiplied by the factor rate.

Contact lists compiled from UCC filings, identifying businesses that have previously taken secured funding.

A query run against a state filing office’s UCC index to find the financing statements naming a particular business as debtor.

A public notice filed with the secretary of state recording a secured party’s claim against a business’s assets.

A filing that releases or amends an existing UCC-1, most often recording that a secured party’s claim has ended.

A funder’s assessment of whether a merchant’s receipts can absorb a daily remittance, and on what terms.

A legal cap on the interest rate that may be charged on a loan.

Confirmation from the merchant’s bank of account ownership, standing and sometimes balances.

An automated HTTP request that pushes a record into a receiving system the moment it is created.

The cash a business needs to fund day-to-day operations — payroll, inventory, supplier payments — as distinct from long-term investment.