The news that eBay is teaming up with LendingPoint to help finance small merchants on its platform is the latest example of how technology marketplaces are going the extra mile to look after the merchants who make their platforms possible.
“We are committed to empowering entrepreneurs to make their dreams a reality and we are continuing to partner with our sellers to provide them with the tools they need to thrive,” Vice President of Global Payments at eBay Alyssa Cutright said.
The new program is called eBay Seller Capital powered by LendingPoint, and will provide eBay sellers with access to installment loans with flexible terms of up to 48 months. Currently being run as a pilot effort, the program offers funding of up to $25,000, with no origination or early payback fees.
“LendingPoint’s purpose is to accelerate and democratize commerce,” LendingPoint CEO and co-founder Tom Burnside said. He called eBay sellers “some of the world’s most dynamic ecommerce players,” and both companies have noted that the partnership is a first step toward providing the platform’s merchants with more and better tools to manage and grow their businesses.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded in 2014, LendingPoint began the year with news that it had closed on $246 million in securitizations. More recently, the company launched its Lending Operating System SDKn, which integrates into existing payment platforms to provide businesses with a consumer financing solution with a variety of fulfillment options ranging from virtual cards to money transfers.
The news from eBay comes a few weeks after InstaPay announced a new financing solution that provides third-party sellers on Amazon – who often wait up to two weeks to be paid by the platform – with a daily payment that helps them better manage their cash flow. Google removed commission fees for merchants enrolled in its Buy on Google program last month, and said it is opening up its platform to third party providers PayPal and Shopify.
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