Merit Business Funding

Best for: Businesses with at least 12 months of history, $20,000 or more in monthly bank deposits and a 575+ FICO that need $500,000 or less within a day or two and want payments that ease off when sales slow.

Not for: Owners who want to see the price before applying, need money for longer than 12 months, or qualify for a bank line, term loan or SBA loan, which will almost always cost less.

Lender List verdict: Merit Business Funding is a bank-owned merchant cash advance funder with low entry bars, a soft credit pull and no prepayment penalty. Its factor rates are unpublished; a six-month advance runs roughly 109% APR at a typical 1.30 factor rate (about 38.5% to 174% across the industry range).

Merit Business Funding at a glance

Merit Business Funding advances up to $500,000 against future sales, repaid over 3 to 12 months.

What is Merit Business Funding?

Merit Business Funding is the merchant cash advance brand of Meridian Bank, a Malvern, Pennsylvania bank founded in 2004 whose parent reported $2.6 billion in assets at the end of 2025. The legal seller is Meridian Equipment Finance LLC of Exton, PA, which trades as Merit Business Funding and filed for the name as a trademark in 2022.

Its only product is a revenue advance: Merit buys part of your future sales at a discount and funds deals itself, whether they arrive directly or through brokers. Equipment financing up to $300,000 sits with a sister brand, Meridian Equipment Finance.

How the Merit Business Funding revenue advance works

A Merit Business Funding advance is repaid from a share of your sales over roughly 3 to 12 months, with no interest rate and no fixed end date.

• Remittance: a percentage of daily or weekly sales, set from your cash flow and your industry's margins.
• Collection: automatic ACH debits from your business bank account, or a split of daily card receipts.
• Slow periods: smaller sales mean smaller remittances; stronger sales finish the advance sooner.
• Funding speed: possible within one business day of a complete application.

Merit Business Funding rates and fees: what it really costs

Merit Business Funding does not publish its factor rates or fees; you see the total payback only in your offer. The amount you owe is fixed at signing, so paying faster raises the effective APR and paying slower lowers it.

• Charged: the discount built into the purchase price (factor rate); other fees are not disclosed
• Not charged: interest; a prepayment penalty
• Not published: factor rate range, holdback percentage, origination or ACH fees, any early-payoff discount

Worked example: Merit gives no rate, so we use 1.30, the midpoint of the 1.1 to 1.5 factor-rate range SCORE describes as typical. At 1.30, a $50,000 advance costs $15,000 ($65,000 repaid). Remitted over six months (126 business-day debits) that is $515.87 a day and roughly 109% APR. Stretched to 12 months, the daily debit falls to $257.94 and the APR to about 55%. At the ends of the range, a six-month advance runs about 38.5% APR at 1.1 and about 174% at 1.5. If sales halve for a month, the debits shrink and the payoff date moves out, with no extra charge.

Merit Business Funding requirements

Merit Business Funding asks for $20,000 in monthly deposits, 12 months in business and a 575 guarantor FICO, checked with a soft pull.

You also need a signed application under 30 days old, a U.S. business with current sales, rent or mortgage paid up, and no open bankruptcy or one dismissed in the past year.

Merchant cash advance rules that protect you

Merit Business Funding appeared on the Virginia SCC's sales-based financing registrant list (as of June 27, 2024), under Meridian Equipment Finance LLC.

• Virginia: providers must register with the State Corporation Commission and disclose the finance charge with a specific offer; deals above $500,000 are exempt.
• Texas: Merit says a Texas rule effective September 1 does not apply to it because it is bank-owned, and it still funds Texas businesses.
• Not published: Merit does not state its stacking policy, whether it uses confessions of judgment, or whether it files a UCC lien. Ask for all three in writing.

Pros and cons

Merit Business Funding's strengths are bank ownership and a soft pull; its weakness is unpublished pricing.

Pros

• Owned by Meridian Bank, an FDIC-insured bank with a Nasdaq-listed parent
• Soft credit pull only, with a 575 FICO floor
• Up to $500,000 from bank statements alone
• Remittances fall when sales fall
• No prepayment penalty; renewals possible at the halfway mark

Cons

• No published factor rate, fee schedule or holdback range
• Typical MCA pricing puts the effective APR far above loans
• Requires $20,000 a month in deposits, which rules out very small shops
• Terms max out at 12 months
• Few independent customer reviews and no BBB profile found

Merit Business Funding alternatives on Lender List

The closest Merit Business Funding alternatives are National Funding, OnDeck, Biz2Credit and Lendio.

• National Funding — working capital up to $500K with daily or weekly ACH and terms up to 24 months
• OnDeck — a term loan with a published average APR, if your FICO is 625+
• Biz2Credit — revenue-based funding that starts at a 600 FICO
• Lendio — a loan marketplace to compare several offers at once
• Browse all merchant cash advance funders on Lender List

Frequently asked questions about Merit Business Funding

Merit Business Funding is a bank-owned direct funder of revenue advances up to $500,000.

Is Merit Business Funding Legit? Yes. Merit Business Funding has operated since 2022 as a trade name of Meridian Equipment Finance LLC, owned by FDIC-insured Meridian Bank. It appeared on Virginia's SCC registrant list (as of June 27, 2024), and we found no regulatory actions (searched 2026-10-27). It has no BBB profile, so read the contract closely.

Is Merit Business Funding a Direct Lender or a Broker? Merit Business Funding is a direct funder, not a broker. It buys your future receivables with its own bank-backed capital. It accepts deals from brokers and ISOs, so if one introduced you, ask whether a broker fee is included in your price.

What Happens If My Sales Drop? Your Merit Business Funding remittances shrink. Merit takes a percentage of sales, so a slow stretch means smaller debits and a later payoff, with no added cost. Merit does not publish a reconciliation process, so ask in writing how and when daily debits are adjusted if sales fall.

Who Owns Merit Business Funding? Meridian Bank owns Merit Business Funding through Meridian Equipment Finance LLC. The bank is based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, was founded in 2004, and its holding company, Meridian Corporation, trades on Nasdaq under MRBK and reported $2.6 billion in assets at the end of 2025.

Does Merit Business Funding Do a Hard Credit Check? No. Merit Business Funding checks credit with a soft pull, so applying leaves your personal score unchanged. The guarantor needs a 575 FICO or better, but Merit weighs credit alongside bank deposits, time in business and sales trends rather than relying on the score alone.

Can I Get a Second Advance From Merit Business Funding? Yes. Merit Business Funding can offer another advance once you have repaid half of your current balance and your sales have been steady or growing. Each renewal is a new purchase with its own factor rate, so compare the new total payback against other offers.

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.