- 17% of employer firms use MCAs regularly, up from 6% a year earlier.
- 212% of applicants sought an MCA, up from 9%.
- 348% of MCA applicants were fully approved, versus 33% in the prior survey.
The latest Small Business Credit Survey from the Federal Reserve finds that 7% of businesses with fewer than 500 employees use merchant cash advances on a regular basis, up from 6% in the prior year's survey.
Applications and approvals
Among businesses that applied for financing, 12% applied for an MCA, compared with 9% a year earlier. Approval outcomes moved sharply: 48% of those applicants said they were fully approved for an MCA, up from 33% in the prior survey. The share that said they were declined edged up to 12% from 9%.
Timing of the data
The 2026 results reflect a survey conducted from September 2025 through November 2025, covering the trailing 12-month period. The 2025 comparison figures come from a survey run September 2024 through November 2024. The Fed's full 2026 report on employer firms includes the year-over-year charts.
The survey covers businesses broadly rather than MCA providers specifically, so the figures offer a read on demand and approval patterns from the borrower side. Both measures that capture MCA interest, regular use and share of applicants, rose over the year.
Source reporting: deBanked.
