Glen Hinshaw

Global Swift Funding is what is known in the industry as a merchant cash advance company, lending money to businesses with proven cash flow that need the money fast and are willing to pay higher costs to get it.

“Usually it’s someone who needs a quick infusion of capital for a specific need. The term is usually less than a year,” said Glen Hinshaw, chairman of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based GSF, which has an office in Chula Vista.

An anonymous source, referred to as Aziz, recently used GSF while his specialty food business was going through an expansion and dealing with an embezzlement case involving thousands of dollars.

“We were growing rapidly, from about $60,000 to $170,000 a month (in sales), and expanding into new space, and needing money to pay for additional inventory,” Aziz said.

Aziz sought the funds from his bank, Wells Fargo, which turned down the request but steered him to GSF.

“They were really good to me and provided me with the timely infusion that was so critical to me,” Aziz said.

For a 10-month loan of $100,000, Aziz agreed to pay a 25 percent interest rate, or $125,000.

Aziz has already paid GSF nearly $30,000 toward the loan as a result of the repayment system that takes part of the credit card charges through an arrangement it has with the credit card company, said Hinshaw.

In approving the loan, Hinshaw said the credit history of borrowers isn’t as important as cash flow, particularly future cash flow.

“What we’re most concerned about is their ability to stay in business and that they have the cash flow to repay the loan,” he said.

Alternative Financing

GSF loans range from $20,000 to $250,000, but typically they range between $50,000 and $100,000, and their terms average nine to 10 months. The interest rates can range from high credit card levels of 25 percent to 28 percent on up to 40 percent, with the highest kicking in when a borrower doesn’t adhere to the repayment guidelines or has additional fees for bounced checks.