Are you a merchant cash advance funder who wants to upgrade your current funding management software—or maybe implement a brand-new funding platform to streamline your MCA operations?
Software can be a significant investment, so making the right choice is crucial for the long-term success of your operations.
In the alternative funding industry, there’s a common but misplaced belief that fully customizable is always the way to go.
However, the ideal solution for your organization really depends on multiple factors, such as budget, timing, deal volume, industry niche, and so on.
Below, we break down the key differences, benefits, and potential pitfalls of both customizable and out-of-the-box software—ensuring you understand exactly what each option can offer.
What Is a Fully Customizable MCA Funding Software?
In essence, fully customizable software can be tailored to meet the specific needs of various small enterprise (SME) funding products.
For example, in MCA funding, you may need specific workflows that adjust terms based on performance, or specific risk assessments due to the fluctuating nature of merchant cash flow.
In this case, a customizable funding platform could be ideal, allowing you to tailor the software to your specific goals and easily adapt it as your organization evolves.
But as ideal as it may all sound, there are both pros and cons to opting for a fully customizable software for your MCA funding business.
Advantages of Customizable MCA Funding Software
For MCA funders, a customizable software solution means flexibility to grow with your business.
From scaling operations to securing sensitive data, these platforms offer the adaptability to meet changing demands, while keeping your operations secure and compliant.
Business Match
A bespoke development/implementation process means the software fits your business—not the other way around.
In other words, each aspect of your platform can be designed and modified to fit your organization’s unique requirements.
For MCA funders, this means being able to design the software around critical elements like daily sales data tracking and risk management strategies.
This level of customization ensures that your workflows are optimized for efficiency, making it easier to scale your business and serve your merchants more effectively.
Long-Term Growth
Because of its flexible design, a customizable funding solution can be easily adapted as your business evolves and grows.
You don’t need to switch to a new platform as your needs change—rather, you or the solution developers can adjust the technology, building upon your current one.
Whether you’re increasing your merchant cash advance deal volume, adding new funding products, or expanding into new markets, customizable software can easily scale to these changes without the need to overhaul your entire system.
Security
Customizable software solutions give you the ability to implement tailored security measures that align with your specific needs and compliance requirements.
By leveraging a bespoke system, MCA funders can implement targeted security measures—like robust authentication processes and advanced encryption techniques—that cater to their specific needs and regulatory requirements.
A custom approach to security can further strengthen your defenses against data breaches and help preserve trust with clients, while ensuring you meet regulatory requirements.
Disadvantages of Customizable MCA Funding Software
While the flexibility of customizable software is appealing, it comes at a price—both financially and in terms of time and resources.
From extended development timelines to the need for continuous maintenance, these factors can strain your MCA funding business’s budget and schedule.
High Upfront Costs
Customizable software has higher upfront development costs than out-of-the-box software.
Several factors—like the size of the project, UX/UI complexity, data migration, and integrating unique risk management models and custom repayment workflows—can all contribute to the overall cost.
Ultimately, the more unique features you add, the more development time you will need—and the higher the price you’ll pay.
Long Development Lifecycle
Going the customizable route can take much longer in each stage, from planning through development, and eventually deployment.
For merchant cash advance funders, a longer development timeline could temporarily delay or impede your ability to offer services or fund deals.
In other words? If you’re in a rush to get up and running, a fully customizable solution may not be the best choice for your organization. At the very least, you will need to carefully plan for any delays.
Maintenance Costs
In addition to high upfront costs, you can expect to incur significant long-term maintenance costs moving forward.
These costs generally include regular software updates and bug fixes, technical support, security patches, and more.
Ensuring your platform operates at optimal efficiency will require ongoing programming—often by a specialist who can handle complex tasks. And these expenses can add up over time.
What Is Out-Of-The-Box MCA Funding Software?
Put simply, the term “out-of-the-box” refers to a pre-built, ready-to-use software solution that offers a standardized set of features and functionalities.
For MCA funding organizations, these core features could include origination, underwriting, servicing, risk assessments, compliance management, and reporting—key tools that streamline your daily operations.
First and foremost, out-of-the-box software simplifies implementation for funders—reducing the time and resources needed for development.
Because of this, out-of-the-box solutions are often a more accessible, cost-effective option for MCA funders who seek a less complex, quick-to-deploy solution.
Again though, when weighing customizable vs. out-of-the-box software, you must keep in mind the needs of your organization.
Advantages of Out-Of-The-Box MCA Funding Software
Out-of-the-box software can simplify MCA funding by offering lower costs, quick setup and solid support—empowering your business to scale faster, without the added complexities of custom-built solutions:
Cost-Effective
In most cases, an out-of-the-box funding software can provide the basic functionality you need to power your MCA funding business.
Out-of-the-box solutions are generally priced more reasonably than custom-built software, as it’s a single version rolled out for all MCA funders.
A fixed price is set by the vendor, making it much easier to budget while keeping total cost of ownership down.
With out-of-the-box digital funding software, you know exactly what you will get, and exactly what you will pay.
Short Implementation Timeline
Since the features of out-of-the-box funding software are already tried, tested, and approved by the vendor prior to the sale, MCA funders can begin using it as soon as it’s deployed.
This expedited timeline is especially useful if you have front-facing MCA funding workflows—enabling you to connect and start processing deals faster with merchants, without the long wait of customized solutions.
By eliminating lengthy setup times, an out-of-the-box solution allows you to grow faster and respond to merchant cash advance market demands more efficiently.
Streamlined Support
Out-of-the-box alternative funding software comes with built-in customer support, providing users with access to technical assistance, regular software updates, and maintenance services.
This means businesses can easily get help if they encounter any issues, minimizing the impact of downtime and other costly glitches.
This ongoing support ensures that your business operations continue running smoothly, reducing the risk of system failures or delays in servicing SME clients.
Disadvantages of Out-of-the-Box MCA Funding Software
Out-of-the-box software can be a good starting point for MCA funders. However, it can present some limitations as your business evolves.
Here are the ways that out-of-the-box software might hinder your growth and reduce efficiency, making it challenging to keep up with your evolving operational needs.
Potential for Functionality Gaps
When compared to customizable software, out-of-the-box software might fall short on features.
This may be a problem for merchant cash advance funders who have unique operational requirements, such as a specific loan origination process tailored to your market.
Without the flexibility to add tailored features, MCA funders can face challenges in optimizing their processes and meeting the specific needs of their merchant clients.
Limited Integrations
From credit checks and sales tracking to repayment processing and more, MCA funders often rely on multiple software solutions to handle various tasks throughout the funding process.
Unfortunately, though, many out-of-the-box digital funding solutions don’t have the capacity to integrate with a large number of partners.
This can lead to data silos, manual work, and less agile workflows, particularly if the platform can’t integrate with other tools like your CRM.
Scalability Concerns
Out-of-the-box software may not scale efficiently as a business grows or its needs evolve.
These platforms are built with a one-size-fits-all mentality, which may not adapt as efficiently to the changing needs of your business.
If you plan to scale into new markets or offer funding products above and beyond merchant cash advances, out-of-the-box software could require expensive workarounds—or simply lack the flexibility to accommodate your needs.
Onyx IQ: Best of Both Worlds for MCA Funders
Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, which option do you believe is best for your merchant cash advance funding business: Customizable, or out-of-the-box software?
It’s a bit of a trick question, because with Onyx IQ, you don’t have to choose one or the other. Rather, you can have both.
The all-in-one Onyx IQ funding platform provides an out-of-the-box MCA funding solution that you can immediately put to use, plus the right amount of customization when it comes to workflows, templates, and integrations.
Even better? We’re also open to your requests for further customization.
Ultimately, our focus is on delivering the right features and workflows to support your operation’s growth—all while keeping your budget in mind.
With Onyx IQ, customizable vs out-of-the-box is no longer an either/or decision for MCA funders. Instead, you get the best of both worlds!
Ready to learn more about supercharging your MCA funding operation? Book your Onyx IQ demo today.
