When popular point-of-sale (POS) hardware and software company Square launched Square Capital in 2014, it joined the likes of OnDeck, CAN Capital, and Kabbage to provide working capital to small businesses. The company this week announced it has expanded Square Capital to non-Square customers through a partnership with Upserve (formerly Swipely).
Upserve, which processes credit-card payments for food-services businesses and provides performance analytics and management tools, will offer access to its 7,000 customers to Square. Expanding Square Capital through this partnership is key, since Upserve will offer Square access to client sales data to help Square make underwriting decisions. Square Capital’s loans are revenue-based; borrowers repay the loan by giving a fixed percentage of their daily sales.
In an interview with Bloomberg, head of Square Capital Jacqueline Reses said, “We think that the application of what we do is broader than just within Square’s ecosystem. … . So long as we believe that we have a data advantage in underwriting, and it’s relevant to our core business, you can see us extending beyond Square further.”
The terms of the deal were not disclosed; however, Recode reported that since Upserve is advertising the loans on Square’s behalf, Upserve is likely benefiting from a cut of the referrals. This is Square Capital’s first expansion outside of its own customer base.
Founded in 2009, Upserve manages more than $800 billion in annual transaction volume and adds 200 to 250 restaurants to its customer base each month. The company demoed as Swipely at FinovateSpring 2012 and has raised more than $40 million.