PayPal to buy Swift Financial to boost SMB lending
After a spate of recent partnership announcements to expand its acceptance network and P2P reach, PayPal is buying Swift Financial to boost its small business lending division.
The move comes four years after PayPal launched PayPal Working Capital, a business financing product that has provided access to more than $3 billion in funding to more than 115,000 small businesses, according to PayPal.
“Increasing access to capital is vital to the success of small businesses and is a strategic offering for PayPal, which drives merchants’ sales growth, increases processing volume and reduces merchant churn,” the company said.
Headquartered in Wilmington, Del., Swift Financial was established in 2006, and has provided funding to thousands of growing companies in the U.S. Swift’s technology will give PayPal the ability to assess supplemental information in its underwriting process, according to a blog post announcing the acquisition.
“We know and value Swift’s technology platform and people, and we believe their talent and capabilities will further strengthen our overall merchant value proposition,” wrote Darrell Esch, vice president and commercial officer, global credit for PayPal. “Building upon an existing commercial relationship, the acquisition of Swift Financial will enable us to better serve small businesses by enhancing our underwriting capabilities to provide access to affordable business financing solutions to more businesses to help them grow and thrive.”
The acquisition, which is expected to close later this year subject to closing conditions, comes after small business lending specialist Kabbage announced a $250 million investment from Japan-based Softbank.
