eBay has partnered with Square to provide its U.S. sellers with access to business financing of up to $100,000.
Starting in Q3, merchants on the site can apply for a loan as small as $500 and up to $100,000 to help with everything from payroll and inventory to equipment and marketing, according to Scott Cutler, Senior VP of Americas at eBay.
Square Capital, the lending arm of Square, will use information about eBay sellers, such as their transaction history, to make lending decisions and determine a seller’s eligibility. The company will email eligible sellers invitations to apply for a loan starting in Q3. The Utah-based Celtic Bank will issue the loans.
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Small business lending is an increasingly competitive area in fintech. PayPal has a program called Working Capital and provides loans to merchants based on their sales history. Amazon also offers this service for sellers, and began extending credit to small business owners in 2011.
To simplify the end-to-end flow of payments on its platform, eBay also will begin rolling out Apple Pay on its Marketplace Platform this fall. This will enable customers to use the payment option on iOS and Safari to make purchases from sellers participating in the initial phase of the managed payments flow.
