Lightspeed Capital

Best for: Retailers and restaurants that already run card payments through Lightspeed Payments, want cash in a few business days without a credit check, and prefer repayments that shrink on slow days.

Not for: Businesses not on Lightspeed Payments, anyone who wants to shop rates before an invitation arrives, or owners who can qualify for a bank line or SBA loan. A 17% flat fee repaid in about six months is expensive money.

Lender List verdict: Lightspeed Capital is a simple, no-credit-check cash advance for Lightspeed merchants, and repayment is highly flexible in slow months because nothing is owed on days without card sales. The cost is steep: Lightspeed's own 17% fee example works out to roughly 48% to 66% APR depending on how fast you repay.

Lightspeed Capital at a glance

Lightspeed Capital is a merchant cash advance for Lightspeed Payments users, priced as one flat fee and repaid from a share of daily card sales.

What is Lightspeed Capital?

Lightspeed Capital is a merchant cash advance from Lightspeed Commerce, the Montreal point-of-sale company, for retail and hospitality merchants processing cards through Lightspeed Payments. Lightspeed buys a slice of your future card receipts for a lump sum and funds advances itself.

U.S. merchants gained access in October 2021. Lightspeed had $118 million in advances outstanding at the end of fiscal 2026 (March 2026) and expects more than 35% growth in fiscal 2027.

How the Lightspeed Capital merchant cash advance works

Lightspeed Capital takes a fixed holdback percentage of each day's card sales, 11% in Lightspeed's example, until the advance plus its flat fee is repaid.

• Offer: You choose from several amounts on a slider and can take less than the maximum shown.
• Repayment: An ACH debit from your business bank account after each card batch settles, so the account must hold enough to cover it.
• Speed: Review takes one to three business days; funds can arrive in two.
• Limits: One open advance per location; renewals after part of the balance is repaid.

Who gets an offer

Lightspeed Capital is invitation-only: Lightspeed screens Lightspeed Payments accounts every month and emails or messages merchants that qualify.

The review weighs card volume, overall business performance and how long you have processed with Lightspeed. United Capital Source reports a six-month payments history is needed; Lightspeed itself publishes no minimum. Offers stay open for 30 days and are then re-scored. Higher, steadier card volume is what moves the offer up.

Lightspeed Capital rates and fees: what it really costs

Lightspeed Capital charges one flat fee instead of interest; Lightspeed's own example is $3,400 on $20,000, a 17% fee (a 1.17 factor rate).

• Charged: the flat fee, collected inside your daily remittances rather than upfront
• Not charged: interest, late fees or any other fees, per Lightspeed
• Not published: the fee range, holdback range and maximum advance

Worked example: take $25,000 at the same 17% fee and you owe $29,250, a $4,250 fee. At 11% of $1,500 in daily card sales you remit $165 a day, so with sales every day you finish in about 178 days (about 5.8 months). That is roughly 66% APR. If you only trade on weekdays, payoff stretches to about eight months and the APR falls to roughly 48%. If one month's sales halve to $750 a day, payments drop to $82.50 and payoff slips about 15 days, with no added fee.

Lightspeed Capital requirements

Lightspeed Capital runs no credit check; you need an active Lightspeed Payments account and an invitation.

Lightspeed decides from your processing data.

Pros and cons

Lightspeed Capital's strength is payments that stop when sales stop; its weakness is a high fee.

Pros

• No credit check and no collateral
• Nothing owed on zero-sales days
• Fixed total cost: repaying slowly never adds fees
• Funds in as little as two business days
• You can borrow less than the full offer

Cons

• Invitation-only; you cannot apply without an offer
• A 17% fee repaid in under six months means an APR above 60%
• Fee is not reduced if you pay off early
• Only for Lightspeed Payments merchants; no published maximum or fee range

Lightspeed Capital alternatives on Lender List

The closest Lightspeed Capital alternatives are Square Loans (up to $500K), Shopify Capital (up to $2M) and Stripe Capital.

• Square Loans — the same sales-share model for Square sellers, up to $500K
• Shopify Capital — larger offers, up to $2M, for Shopify stores
• Stripe Capital — flat-fee advances for Stripe processors
• Parafin — embedded advances offered through marketplaces and platforms
• Browse all platform-embedded capital or merchant cash advance providers on Lender List

Frequently asked questions about Lightspeed Capital

Lightspeed Capital is a legitimate, Lightspeed-funded cash advance for its payments customers, with no credit check and no fixed term.

Is Lightspeed Capital Legit? Yes. Lightspeed Capital reviews are backed by a solid parent: Lightspeed Commerce, founded in 2005 and publicly traded as LSPD, funds the advances from its own balance sheet and has offered them in the U.S. since 2021. It appeared on Virginia's June 2024 sales-based financing registrant list. Trustpilot rates Lightspeed overall 3.7/5 from 2,526 reviews.

What Is Lightspeed Capital? Lightspeed Capital is a merchant cash advance from Lightspeed, the point-of-sale company, for retailers and restaurants that process cards with Lightspeed Payments. You get a lump sum for one flat fee and repay it from a fixed share of daily card sales, with no deadline.

Is Lightspeed Capital a Loan or a Merchant Cash Advance? It is a merchant cash advance, not a loan. Lightspeed buys part of your future card receipts, so there is no interest rate, no repayment deadline and no minimum payment. The trade-off is a flat fee, 17% in Lightspeed's example, that does not fall if you repay quickly.

Is Lightspeed Capital a Direct Lender or a Broker? It is a direct funder. Lightspeed and its affiliates provide the advances and pay for them from Lightspeed's own balance sheet, not through a broker or partner bank. A Lightspeed entity collects your remittances by ACH, and the Capital team handles questions.

What Happens If Sales Drop? Your payments drop with them. Lightspeed Capital takes a fixed percentage of each day's card sales, so a slow day means a smaller debit and a day with no sales means none. The fee never rises; payoff simply takes longer, which lowers the effective APR.

How Do I Get a Lightspeed Capital Offer? You wait for one. Lightspeed reviews Lightspeed Payments accounts monthly and notifies eligible merchants by email or in-app message. Lightspeed says the application takes a few minutes. Each offer lasts 30 days; if you don't accept, your account is re-scored. Eligibility questions go to capital.sales@lightspeedhq.com.

Does Lightspeed Capital Check Credit? No. Lightspeed Capital does not run a credit check and applying does not affect your personal credit score. Eligibility comes from your Lightspeed Payments volume, processing history and business performance rather than your FICO score. No collateral is required either.

Can I Pay Off Lightspeed Capital Early? Yes. You can make extra manual payments at any time with no prepayment penalty. Because the flat fee is fixed, though, paying early saves nothing: you owe the same total, and United Capital Source notes there are no early-payoff savings.

Last verified 2026-10-26. Pricing and terms are provider-stated or third-party-reported and vary by offer; confirm with the lender before applying.