Merchant Cash Advance in Cardiff
CoreFi arranges merchant cash advances, funding advanced against future card takings and repaid as a fixed share of each transaction, for Cardiff businesses, principally limited companies. We match your case to funders whose criteria fit. Advance sizes, factor rates and split percentages are indicative and depend on your card turnover and the funder's assessment.
A merchant cash advance advances a lump sum against your card turnover, repaid automatically as an agreed percentage of every card transaction until a fixed total clears. No fixed instalments: busy weeks repay more, quiet weeks less. Few cities trade to a more event-driven beat than Cardiff. A Principality Stadium match day or stadium concert transforms takings on St Mary Street and Womanby Street; the arcades' independents, Cardiff Bay's restaurants and Whitchurch Road's cafes ride term times from three universities, tourism and the events calendar. Revenue that spikes and dips like that is exactly what a repayment tied to takings, rather than a fixed direct debit, is designed to absorb.
CoreFi is a commercial finance broker, not a lender. We work with businesses, principally limited companies, to understand the trading pattern and match the case to funders whose criteria fit. We do not lend and we do not decide the outcome. Whether an advance is offered, and on what terms, depends on your card turnover, trading history and the funder's assessment. Any figure on this page is indicative and for illustration only.
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Share your card turnover
Tell us about the business, the funding need and the timescale, and share recent merchant statements showing your monthly card takings.
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We match you to funders
CoreFi identifies funders on our panel whose criteria fit your turnover, sector and trading pattern, and we help you compare the terms that come back on total cost, not just headline size.
- 3
Review terms and draw down
If an offer works, the funder completes checks and the advance is paid, with repayments taken automatically as the agreed share of card takings. Timescales are the funder's, though this product is typically one of the faster ones.
How a merchant cash advance actually works
Three numbers define it. The advance: typically up to around one month's card turnover. The factor rate: the multiplier setting the fixed total repayable, so £20,000 at a factor of 1.25 means £25,000 repaid whatever the timing. The split: the agreed percentage of each card settlement, commonly between 5 and 20 per cent, deducted automatically until the total clears. No interest accrues over time: the cost is fixed at the outset, easy to state, and not usually reduced by repaying early. The comparison that matters is against a term loan for the same cash over the same likely period, and we run it with you before anything is signed.
Who uses it in Cardiff, and for what
The recurring Cardiff cases: a St Mary Street bar refitting ahead of the autumn internationals; an arcade independent buying stock for the Christmas quarter; a Bay restaurant covering a kitchen replacement mid-season; a City Road takeaway expanding capacity; a salon in Pontcanna adding staff. The filter is card volume: invoiced B2B revenue points to invoice finance instead, and thin card takings will not raise a useful advance. Cardiff's centre trades intensely on event days and more quietly between them, and funders are comfortable with that shape when the merchant statements show it repeating; the split mechanism means the stadium weekends repay more and the quiet midweeks repay less, automatically.
How CoreFi works and what we are
CoreFi is a trading name of JG Core Ltd. We are a commercial finance broker, not a lender. Broking unregulated commercial finance to limited companies does not require FCA authorisation, and we do not hold ourselves out as FCA authorised or regulated. Our role is to understand your trading, package the case clearly and introduce it to funders on our panel whose criteria fit, then help you compare what comes back on total cost. You deal directly with the funder on the advance itself. We cannot promise an approval or specific terms. What we can do is tell you plainly when a cheaper product fits better, and find the right funder when the advance genuinely is the fit.
What funders look at
Card turnover first, evidenced by several months of merchant statements; the monthly average sizes the advance. Then stability: time trading at the site, an event-and-term-time pattern the funder can read, and the direction of travel year on year. Then the fundamentals: company standing, directors, existing borrowing and what the money is for. Welsh registration makes no difference; the funders we match to fund businesses across Wales as standard. Stacking a second advance on an unfinished first compounds cost quickly and deserves honest arithmetic before commitment. All terms are the funder's decision on the specific case.
Frequently asked questions
How much can a Cardiff business raise with a merchant cash advance?
Typically up to around one month's card turnover, sometimes more for established businesses. A restaurant taking £35,000 a month on cards might raise an advance in that region. The funder sizes it from evidenced average takings, and every figure is indicative until they assess the case.
What does a merchant cash advance cost?
Cost is set by the factor rate, broadly 1.2 to 1.4 on the advance, so £20,000 advanced might mean £24,000 to £28,000 repaid in total. That usually works out dearer than a term loan for the same cash, which is why we run that comparison with you before you commit.
My takings depend on match days and events. Is that a problem?
Not if the pattern repeats year on year. Funders price the rhythm, not the single peak, and the repayment mechanism absorbs it: event weekends repay more, quiet midweeks repay less. An unexplained downward trend is a different matter from a readable cycle.
What happens in a quiet month?
Repayments fall with takings, because they are a percentage of each transaction rather than a fixed instalment. For Cardiff's event-driven trade that flexibility is the product's main advantage. A strong month repays faster without usually reducing the fixed total.
Is a merchant cash advance right for my business?
It fits card-heavy businesses with a short-term need and consistent takings. If your revenue is invoiced, invoice finance is usually cheaper; for longer-term needs a business loan usually costs less in total. We will tell you straight which product fits before matching you to funders.
Is CoreFi FCA authorised?
CoreFi arranges commercial finance for businesses, principally limited companies. Broking unregulated commercial finance to limited companies does not require FCA authorisation, and we do not hold ourselves out as FCA authorised or regulated.
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