BOSTON, April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Lendica, an embedded AI lending, and EBizCharge, a top-rated provider of payment solutions, proudly announce a transformative collaboration aimed at introducing a groundbreaking embedded business credit solution for small and medium-sized enterprises in the U.S.
The new service, called the iBranch, is a cutting-edge financing solution that enables businesses to borrow money from Lendica without having to switch to a different platform. The innovative service represents a fusion of Lendica’s cutting-edge AI credit underwriting and EBizCharge’s all-in-one suite of payment solutions. This synergy facilitates a seamless and efficient financing process, allowing businesses to access fast and low-cost funding without the need to transition to a different platform.
As an industry leader, EBizCharge aims to seamlessly connect payments through its dynamic and comprehensive software. By integrating payments and financing through this new partnership, companies are empowered to grow and scale faster. This all-inclusive approach streamlines operations and enhances overall efficiency for businesses.
Leveraging the growing trend of embedded lending popularized by industry giants like Amazon, Shopify, and Square, the iBranch is set to become a key player in meeting the credit needs of small and mid-sized businesses. Embedded business loan origination is projected to experience a staggering 125% year-over-year growth, reaching an annual origination of $500 billion by 2030.
“We’re excited to partner with EBizCharge, an industry leader in payment solutions software. This is a mutually beneficial partnership, as we can use our AI credit underwriting to offer fast and low-cost financing solutions for businesses,” Jared Shulman, CEO and co-founder of Lendica, expresses his enthusiasm about the partnership. “Traditional small business credit is very expensive, with the average borrower paying 61% APR. Our embedded lending programs can dramatically lower rates to our customers we’re excited to bring them to market with a leader in the space.”
Jerry Shu, the company’s CTO/Co-founder, adds that the power of AI-driven credit underwriting shines with rich, embedded datasets that banks and non-bank lenders struggle to process. This is especially useful for instant decision transactions such as B2B Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) and other shorter term cash management tools.
“EBizCharge is the ultimate platform for payment solutions. With the iBranch, we’re adding financial power to our platform, allowing our customers to access credit without leaving the EBizCharge platform,” said Matt Rogers, VP of Strategic Alliances at EBizCharge.
Lendica enhances the financing experience for businesses, offering features such as instant decisions, fair pricing with low rates and fees, and no credit impact, providing flexibility even in cases of rejection. This strategic alliance is expected to significantly impact the payments sector by offering customers unique access to fast, affordable capital sources that support growth and can help businesses scale directly from the EBizCharge platform.
To learn more about Lendica and its transformative potential for your business, please visit www.golendica.com. Stay connected and follow us on LinkedIn.
BOSTON, Jan. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Lendica, an embedded AI lending company, and CSG Forte, a CSG® (NASDAQ: CSGS) company and a leader in complete and customizable digital payments, announce a strategic partnership to deliver an embedded business credit solution to small and medium sized US companies.
Lendica and CSG Forte’s offering, called the iBranch, is an embedded financing service that enables SMBs to borrow money from their software vendors instead of traditional financial institutions.
Embedded lending, popularized by software companies such as Amazon, Shopify, and Square, has become a growing source of credit made available to small businesses. It is estimated that embedded business loan origination is growing at roughly 125% year over year and will hit an annual $500bn origination by 2030.
CSG Forte is partnering with Lendica, a leader in embedded lending solutions, to bring the solution to its Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partners and their merchants.
“Traditional small business credit is very expensive with the average borrower paying 61% APR.” shares Jared Shulman, CFA, Lendica’s CEO/Co-founder. “Our embedded lending programs, when implemented effectively, dramatically lowers rates to our customers by leveraging private datasets for more effective underwriting and better sales channels to cut customer acquisition costs.”
Jerry Shu, the company’s CTO/Co-founder, adds that the power of AI-driven credit underwriting shines with rich, embedded datasets that banks and non-bank lenders struggle to process.
The benefits of embedding lending extend beyond happier and healthier borrowers. ISVs benefit as well, earning a portion of the fee revenue generated from their embedded lending program and experience enhanced customer loyalty.
Through this partnership, CSG Forte’s diverse range of ISV partners and their merchants, including those in industries like field services and property management, can benefit from an innovative, embedded lending experience. For example, property management merchants may leverage this easy-to-use solution to access capital for building repairs and needed supplies or to engage in professional services to promote their business. The easy access to affordable capital empowers merchants and elevates their potential for future growth.
There are five major companies serving the embedded lending space: Lendica, Lendflow, Parafin, Jaris, and Kanmon.
Based on our experiences embedded lending products over the past several years, we have found the top five categories that companies (Vertical SaaS, POS, ERP, Marketplace, eCommerce, etc) look for when making their embedded lending decision.
These categories include
Speed and ease of installation
Product design and functionality
Loan products, approval rates, and terms
Ongoing costs to market the product to their customers, and
Continuous platform improvement
We compare all five companies and conclude that Lendica, Lendflow, and Parafin have advantages in the following categories.
Best embedded solution: Lendica
Best embedded broker: Lendflow
Best alternative to Lendica: Parafin
Easy to Install
The first step to consider is the cost to install your embedded lending solution. There are explicit and implicit costs to be aware of. The embedded lender may offer the installation for free, such as Lendica, and generate its revenue on success (i.e earning fees for good loans). Be warned that some solutions, Lendflow for example, will charge upwards of $1,200 per month to install the service.
The implicit cost is typically much higher. Some embedded lending solutions, such as Kanmon, can be quite labor intensive to install. Companies seeking to embed lending products should be aware of the development time spent to build the integration. Lendica’s embedded lending product is designed to be “off-the-shelf” with the ability to customize. Partners can actually install Lendica with just a few lines of code and it can be activated in minutes. To demonstrate, we bought a Tesla with Lendica in just a few minutes.
Based on our analysis of integration time and explicit cost, we estimate that most software companies can be up and running, at scale, with Lendica 10 times faster and most cost effective than most other embedded lenders.
Lendica’s industry leading embedded lending solution is 10x better than the market.
Simple to Use
An important next step to consider is the product design and use. Aesthetic appeal in software isn’t just about good looks—it can greatly influence user behavior. An appealing, modern interface attracts customers and entices them to explore further. Lendica’s product is visually engaging and designed with user experience in mind. This ensures customers feel comfortable and attracted to the software, thereby increasing the probability of continued usage and loyalty.
Ease of use is another significant determinant when choosing software solutions. The ability for users to understand and navigate the product efficiently without needing extensive training or support is crucial. The more questions your customers ask, the most expensive the embedded solution becomes as it requires servicing and updates. With an intuitive interface and features, Lendica significantly reduces the learning curve for new users. This accelerates the adoption process, saving software companies valuable time and resources, and leading to quicker returns on their investment.
Design is a difficult category to quantify, so we invite you have a look at Lendica’s product and decide for yourself.We estimate that, aside from a design advantage, the intuitive and inviting nature of Lendica’s product can dramatically increase conversion by more than 10x compared to other embedded lenders.
More Customer Approvals
There are two factors that the decision-maker should consider as it relates to approvals: product mix and underwriting strength. More products equate to more approval opportunities, catering to a broader range of customer needs. Lendica’s approach in offering four funding products demonstrates its understanding of varied customer profiles and their unique requirements. Unlike some platforms such as Jaris and Parafin, which only offer merchant cash advances, Lendica ensures flexibility and inclusivity by providing a broader product mix.
Lendflow, although not a direct lender themselves, does offer customers a wide variety of funding products through its broker network. End customers that are interested in a loan will share some data with Lendflow which will in turn market their business file to its audience. It should be noted that while this does widen Lendflow’s product offering, it does dramatically increase the costs to the end-customer.
Strong underwriting methodologies are key to the success of any lending platform, as they contribute to lower rates by reducing defaults. Lendica’s AI-powered underwriting engine incorporates partner platform data, thereby gaining a more detailed and accurate understanding of risk. This information-driven approach leads to a robust underwriting process and therefore industry-leading approval rates. Parafin, although focusing on only one funding product, does tend to use platform data to make underwriting decisions similar to Lendica.
Built-in Marketing
The ongoing marketing efforts towards the end customers in the embedded lending space can indeed pose significant costs and time expenditure. Companies considering embedded lending should assess the marketing budget to nudge the customers towards the product.
We believe Lendica is the only embedded lender directly address this concern by integrating a unique in-app marketing engine. This feature serves a dual purpose – it substantially reduces the associated marketing costs and concurrently enhances customer engagement. Lendica’s built-in marketing engine eliminates the need for separate, costly marketing initiatives. Instead, it delivers relevant, targeted messages and prompts within the app interface itself, keeping customers informed and engaged, which ultimately fosters a deeper relationship with the user. Importantly, these features are customizable and can be turned on/off as directed.
Lendica offers free trials to its customers, embedded right into their everyday workflow.
Lendica also offers in-app campaigns, including free trials, designed to entice potential customers and provide them an opportunity to experience the product first-hand. This proves to be a powerful conversion tool – customers can get up to $10,000 free to try – and comes at no cost to the partner.
The goal of these in-app marketing features is to improve the per-dollar conversion by 100x any other embedded lender. We believe that this is currently the case.
Continuous Innovation
When you embed a lending product, you are not just betting on a great service today, but rather a great service for years to come. For that reason, Lendica remains focused on continuous innovation.
Each new feature Lendica develops is guided by three fundamental questions. First, will it enhance the customer’s embedded experience? Second, can it reduce the costs per conversion for the partners? And third, does it have the potential to change how small businesses access financial services? These considerations ensure that Lendica’s enhancements not only serve immediate needs but also propel the future of small business financial success.
Choosing Lendica is not simply a choice for today; it’s an investment in a service that evolves and adapts to future needs. The rapid progression of the fintech industry necessitates a responsive and proactive approach to innovation. Lendica embodies this by continually improving its services to meet and exceed the changing needs of customers and partners. As such, the decision to embed Lendica’s lending product is a commitment to long-term growth and transformation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the future of embedded lending clearly lies in services that are fast, efficient, user-friendly, and innovative. Lendica is at the forefront of this evolution, with its quick and easy installation, sleek product design, improved loan approval rates and terms, reduced marketing costs, and soon-to-be-unveiled AI enhancements. It’s not just about providing a service but creating an ecosystem where businesses can flourish with minimal barriers and maximum support. While competitors may offer pieces of the puzzle, Lendica brings them together, presenting a complete picture that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is why we confidently say Lendica provides a 10x advantage. Embrace the future of embedded lending with Lendica, and experience a seamless financial journey tailored to your unique business needs.
Hansa, a novel, free tool designed to help small business owners maintain accurate and consistent financial data, had recently been on the lookout for an embedded lending platform to offer loans to its customers. After considering Lendica and Lendflow, two major providers in the industry, Hansa ultimately decided to partner with Lendica. In this article, we will explore the reasons behind this decision and why Lendica’s solution proved to be the better choice for Hansa and its customers.
Fully Embedded Solution
One of the primary reasons Hansa chose Lendica over Lendflow is the fully embedded nature of Lendica’s solution. Lendica’s platform seamlessly integrates with Hansa’s existing systems, allowing for a streamlined and user-friendly experience. This means that small business owners can access instant digital loan products directly through Hansa’s platform without having to navigate through multiple websites or applications. Lendica’s application can be pre-populated with Hansa’s customer data making it even easier for small businesses to access capital in these trying times.
Lendica’s iBranch embeds lending anywhere.
Secure Data Transfer
In today’s digital age, data security is paramount. Lendica’s platform ensures that the business data exchanged between Hansa and financial service providers is securely transmitted, maintaining the privacy and integrity of sensitive information. On the other hand, Lendflow’s embedded web form was unable to offer the same level of data security, which is a critical factor for businesses dealing with financial data.
Instant Decision Making
Hansa’s primary goal is to provide small business owners with a seamless experience when seeking financial assistance. Lendica’s platform offers instant decision-making capabilities, allowing customers to receive loan offers in real-time. This not only saves time for business owners but also helps them make informed decisions quickly. In contrast, Lendflow’s solution could not provide instant decisions, which may lead to delays and hinder the overall user experience.
Customization and Scalability
Lendica’s platform is highly customizable and scalable, allowing Hansa to tailor the lending experience to the specific needs of its customers. This flexibility ensures that the platform can grow and adapt alongside Hansa’s user base, providing continued support and resources to small business owners. Lendflow’s solution, however, lacked the same level of customization and scalability, potentially limiting its effectiveness in meeting the diverse needs of Hansa’s customers.
Conclusion:
After a thorough evaluation of both Lendica and Lendflow, Hansa has confidently chosen Lendica as its embedded lending platform partner. Lendica’s fully embedded solution, secure data transfer, instant decision-making capabilities, and customizable platform offer a superior lending experience for small business owners. By partnering with Lendica, Hansa reaffirms its commitment to providing top-notch financial support and resources to its customers, empowering them to grow and succeed in today’s competitive business landscape.
BOSTON, Feb. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Lendica, a Boston-based financial software company, announces new integrations for its growing line of embedded finance products.
Background
Lendica is an embedded finance company that is building an automated lending machine. The company embeds instant-decision, B2B payment and lending products to promote faster funding and better rates. Lendica has added Shopify and Salesforce integrations to its growing list of digital headquarters, defined as ERP, POS, Marketplace or other applications where operators spend the majority of their time managing their business.
The Boston-based fintech has spent the last several years building software to automate all functions of the lending ecosystem. Lendica’s iBranch, short for integrated branch, is a full-service lender made accessible directly from a business’s digital headquarters. Lendica’s underwriting software, Lens, allows applicants to seamlessly share data – several times more than traditional lenders can process – and uses advanced modeling to quickly and more accurately predict default. The company is growing more than 10% month over month and adding new integrations in industries like chemicals, food and beverage, and restaurants.
Lendica’s Co-founder/CEO, Jared Shulman, CFA, spent time at a private credit hedge fund researching fintech and marketplace lenders. “Five years ago, we began to observe a sea change in borrower behavior.” shares Shulman, “Businesses had noticeably shifted their borrowing preferences away from banks and towards software businesses like Amazon and Toast. We founded Lendica to optimize the borrowing experience for small and medium-sized businesses from the comfort of their favorite operating software.”
Enter Salesforce and Shopify
Lendica’s integrations are now available from two of the largest business applications – Shopify and Salesforce. Customers can use Lendica’s PayLater and FundNow products to delay payments to their vendors or speed up collection from wholesale accounts with just a few clicks.
These B2B lending transactions can be critical for businesses looking to scale during economic slowdowns. This is especially the case for businesses with complex supply chains like manufacturers, wholesalers, and CPG brands – many of which experience top line growth but still need better access to capital. Ascent Solutions, an ERP built on Salesforce with several hundred startup and SMB customers, is an early embedded-finance adopter.
“We work with customers that have grown from fledgling startups to publicly traded companies,” explains James Gaines, CTO at Ascent Solutions. “In advance of rapid growth phases, good funding sources are not always readily available for many companies. Lendica’s Salesforce integration was easy to install and has a beautiful UI—we’re excited to add it to the Ascent Financial Package (AFP). Soon, business leaders will be able to leverage fairly-priced financing products directly from Ascent Solutions in Salesforce with the click of a button.”
Lendica’s proprietary underwriting engine is behind the seemingly simple, instant-decision loan offers. “Business datasets are chaotic,” states Jerry Shu, Lendica’s Co-founder/CTO. “The power of Lendica’s Lens is its ability to input many different datasources and fit them to a universal schema, or Token. This allows us to underwrite a business based on their real-time revenues and costs instead of bank balances and transactions. Lendica can be plugged into any operating software, whether Salesforce, Shopify or an independent ERP, and leverage the same Token.”
For businesses powered by Shopify, Lendica’s PayLater extension allows B2B wholesalers and distributors to offer seller terms at checkout. The easy to install tool adds flexible financing options right at the purchase point – often increasing order sizes and welcoming back repeat customers.
To learn more about Lendica’s Salesforce and Shopify integrations, please visit golendica.com. To learn more about Ascent Solutions, please visit ascenterp.com.
Greg Smith, the proud owner of three Cicis franchises in the Central Texas region, has been rocking and rolling.
Like many of his fellow Cicis franchisees, Greg has been watching sales steadily increase across his three locations. He’s been pleased to welcome in new customers and welcome back the regulars even more – so much so that he believes it may be time to upgrade. The first step was equipment. Greg, along with fellow Cicis owners, began by updating their Point of Sale set-up to the Plum POS bundle. At checkout, Smith came across the option to PayLater with Lendica.
Lendica’s B2B PayLater option was built to help small and medium sized businesses spread the upfront cost of certain purchases over several weeks. Greg followed the four step application and, in under two minutes, he was approved to pay his $4,616 bill in 5, 10, or 20 smaller installments. He opted for 10 weekly payments of just $470.
Once completed, Greg was directed to Lendica’s customer portal. He was pleased to find that, much to his surprise, his total credit available was $55,600 – far more than the small POS purchase. Since Greg’s business was in good shape and he had been managing his funds appropriately, Lendica was able to automatically qualify him for more capital without the need for an additional application. His credit facility was already available for use! Greg plans to use this line of credit to begin upgrading his stores and is working with the Lendica credit team on additional capital for his arcade renovations and acquisition of new locations.
“The experience with Lendica has been really great,” according to Greg. “The PayLater application was fast and simple and the rates were fair. The fact I can use Lendica for even more equipment and renovation is awesome, too. We’re looking for a partner that can take us to the next level and it seems like we’ve found it.”
Lendica is happy to provide instant, quality capital solutions for Cicis Pizza and many more franchise networks. To learn more, visit Lendica at golendica.com.
Lendica, a Boston-based software company, announces the roll out of instant-approval payment plans with Altametrics.
Altametrics, a leading provider of Enterprise Labor & Inventory Management Software Solutions for restaurants, is teaming up with the tech company to help customers easily purchase its newest line of PlumPOS equipment. Cici’s Pizza, a Texas-based pizza franchise powered by Altametrics, was the first to announce the option to their customers and it has been well received – more than 30% of its franchisees have discovered the option to spread the $5-10k purchases across several months instead of upfront.
“We applaud Altametrics for their focus on ease of use, customer support, and quality underwriting,” says Jared Shulman, Lendica Co-founder/CEO. “The Altametrics’ team, with strong support from Cici’s, aided in a two-week installation of our embedded software package and provided helpful insights to promote instant, risk-based decisioning. This is a win for the franchise owners, who can enjoy as low as 5% APR financing, and small businesses everywhere who can benefit from our suite of reliable, instant funding tools in action.”
Embedded finance, as described in detail throughout Lendica’s website, brings a promise for better financial tools. Small business owners may be the ultimate beneficiary. “Small businesses have more accessible data than ever before,” explains Jerry Shu, Lendica’s Co-founder/CTO. “The trove of intel that lives in the small business’s digital headquarters – our term for SaaS providers like Point of Sale, Enterprise Resource Planning, or eCommerce platforms – can be used by lenders to quickly build an extensive risk profile, or Lendica ID, and power robust analysis for instant credit decisions. Better data means better prices for small businesses across all regions and industries.”
Lendica has been quickly growing in the embedded finance space with a list of major partners seeking to adopt its technology. “We believe the future of banking is pretty simple,” says Shulman. “Give people the tools to finance their decisions from the places that inspire them.”
About Lendica
Lendica is a truly embedded finance company focused on smart lending. We provide simple and transparent funding solutions for businesses at the point of decision. Businesses today rely on many technology vendors to make and execute decisions – process payment, make deliveries, purchase inventory, manage invoice, etc. Lendica creates integrated technology which enables tech vendors to provide their clients instant access to capital and help them finance these decisions and grow their business.
