Find Me Funders
How the broker gets paid, and why it changes the offer
Commission is usually a percentage of what you take, and in many deals the broker can add a margin to the price the funder quoted them.
Drafted with AI assistance. Not yet independently checked. Nobody has verified the claims on this page against a source, so treat the figures and legal points as a starting point rather than as settled, and confirm anything you are about to act on. How we check things.
How does the broker on a merchant cash advance get paid?
Most advances are sold by independent brokers, often called ISOs, who are paid commission as points on the funded amount — typically by the funder, sometimes deducted from your wire, occasionally both. Many funders quote brokers a buy rate and allow them to sell above it, keeping the difference. That means the price you were quoted may include a margin set by someone paid on how large and how fast the deal is, not on how well it fits you.
The model
Funders originate a large share of their volume through independent sales offices rather than their own staff. The broker finds the business, collects the application and bank statements, shops the file to several funders, and presents an offer.
Compensation is almost always a percentage of the funded amount, described in the trade as points. It is paid at funding. Structures vary: paid by the funder out of its own margin, deducted from your wire as a disclosed fee, or a combination.
Ask directly which applies to your deal, and ask whether any broker fee is coming out of the money wired to you. That is a fair question and the answer should be a number.
Buy rate and sell rate
This is the mechanic worth understanding. A funder may quote the broker a buy rate — the price at which it will fund the deal — and permit the broker to present a higher price to you, keeping the difference as additional compensation.
Where that applies, the number in front of you is not simply the funder's assessment of your risk. It includes a margin chosen by an intermediary. You are entitled to ask: "Is this the funder's rate, or does it include a spread you added?" You may not get a straight answer. Asking still changes the conversation, and asking in writing changes it more.
The incentives this creates
Commission on funded amount means the broker is paid more when you take more. Payment at funding means they are paid whether or not you can carry it. And nothing in the structure pays them to tell you that a bank line, equipment finance or factoring would be cheaper.
None of that makes brokers dishonest, and good ones are genuinely useful — they know which funders take which files, and they can save weeks. It does mean their interests and yours diverge on three specific questions: how much you take, how fast you sign, and whether you should take one at all. Weigh their advice on those three accordingly.
Where the calls come from
Brokers buy lists. New UCC filings are public records at the Secretary of State, so a business that took an advance three months ago is identifiable, along with when it funded and who funded it. That is why the offers start arriving shortly after your first deal, and why they intensify around the point where a renewal or a second position becomes plausible.
Regulation, as of 2026
Some states now regulate brokers in this market. New York's Commercial Finance Disclosure Law places obligations on providers of covered commercial financing and reaches brokered transactions; Virginia and Utah have enacted registration and disclosure requirements touching brokers of sales-based financing; other states have added their own. Requirements differ by state and change, so check the current rules with your state regulator rather than assuming.
Separately, the Federal Trade Commission has brought enforcement actions in the small business financing market under Section 5 of the FTC Act concerning how deals were marketed and collected.
The renewal is where the economics concentrate
A first advance is a transaction. A renewal is where the compensation gets interesting, and where the arithmetic is hardest to see.
The mechanic is that the outstanding balance of the current advance is paid off out of the new one. You are quoted a larger purchase price and hear a larger number, but the money that reaches your account is the new price minus the old balance minus fees.
The part worth noticing is that the cost embedded in the old balance has already been charged. Paying off $27,500 of a purchased amount is not the same as paying off $27,500 of principal, because a share of that $27,500 was cost, and the new deal now prices the whole thing again. Ask directly whether any portion of the unearned cost on the existing balance is being discounted on payoff, and get the figure.
What a renewal offer should show you
Ask for these five lines, in dollars, on the same page:
- The payoff figure on the existing advance as at the funding date.
- Any discount applied to that payoff for early retirement.
- All fees on the new deal.
- Net new cash to the account.
- Total to be delivered on the new deal.
Line four divided into line five minus line four is the cost of the new money, and it is usually a different number from the one on the term sheet. Brokers call at the point in the schedule where a renewal becomes possible because that is when the file is worth the most to them. That is not a reason to refuse. It is a reason to ask for the five lines.
Four questions to ask any broker
- Are you the funder or a broker, and which funder is this offer from?
- How are you paid on this deal, by whom, and how much — is any part of it deducted from my wire?
- Is the price you quoted the funder's rate, or does it include a margin you set?
- How many funders did you send my file to, and what did the others offer?
The fourth is the most revealing. A broker who shopped the file properly will happily tell you. A broker who sent it to one relationship has made a choice on your behalf that you did not know was being made.
Where this applies
Related questions
How does the broker on a merchant cash advance get paid?
Most advances are sold by independent brokers, often called ISOs, who are paid commission as points on the funded amount — typically by the funder, sometimes deducted from your wire, occasionally both. Many funders quote brokers a buy rate and allow them to sell above it, keeping the difference. That means the price you were quoted may include a margin set by someone paid on how large and how fast the deal is, not on how well it fits you.
Which funding products does this apply to?
Merchant Cash Advance. Each has its own page listing the funders in this directory that offer it and what each one publishes about its terms.
Are the figures here quotes?
No. Every worked example is labelled illustrative and exists to show the arithmetic. What a particular lender charges is on that lender's page, where it publishes it at all.
Who writes this?
The Find Me Funders research desk. Some drafting is AI-assisted, and every page that is says so at the top, including whether a person has checked its claims yet.
How do I know a figure here is right?
Where a page carries the green notice, its claims were checked against the sources listed at the end and a reviewer is named. Where it carries the amber one, nobody has verified it yet and you should confirm anything you plan to act on.
Are the examples real deals?
No. Every worked example is labelled illustrative and exists to show the arithmetic. What any particular lender charges is on that lender's page, where it publishes it.
Why do you never say what a typical rate is?
Because we cannot source it. A market average assembled from lenders who do not publish prices is a guess with a decimal point on it. Where a lender publishes a figure, we show that figure and say where it came from.
Is this financial or legal advice?
No. It is general information about how these products work. Outcomes depend on your contract and your state, and a lawyer or accountant licensed where you are is the person to ask about your situation.
Can I reuse this content?
Quote a paragraph with a link back. Do not republish whole articles.