The specs
OnDeckPayability
Product typeMulti-productMCA
Amount range$5K – $400K (term); $6K – $200K (LOC)$1K – $250K (Instant Advance sized to ~75% of next month's marketplace payouts)
Cost (factor / APR)Term APR 27%+; LOC APR 30%+Fee 0.5 – 1% per week (Instant Access); flat fee 2 – 12% (Instant Advance)
Speed to fundSame-day for approved filesNext business day after approval
Min time in business12 months9 months
Min monthly revenue$8,000$10,000 in marketplace sales
Min credit score600+No FICO pull — underwrites against marketplace history (Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Shopify, Newegg)
Products
- Term loan
- LOC
- Instant Access (daily marketplace payouts)
- Instant Advance (marketplace-revenue MCA)
Verdicts by use case
- Established Amazon seller doing $200K/mo with 650 FICO and 18 months selling — Winner: OnDeck. OnDeck term loan at 27 – 40% APR on 24 months will land materially cheaper than Payability's 2 – 12% flat fee on 4 – 6 month repayment. For larger growth capital needs, the longer OnDeck amortization is a real cost advantage. OnDeck also builds business credit (reports to D&B / Experian Commercial); Payability does not.
- Newer marketplace seller (9 – 12 months selling) — Winner: Payability. OnDeck requires 12+ months TIB. Payability accepts 9+ months of marketplace history. Sub-12-month marketplace sellers are Payability-only in this pair.
- Smoothing the Amazon 14-day disbursement cycle — Winner: Payability. Payability Instant Access is purpose-built for this — flips marketplace settlement into next-day cash for a 0.5 – 1% weekly fee. OnDeck has no equivalent product; its term loan / LOC structure assumes deposits already land in the merchant's bank account on a normal cycle.
- Multi-channel e-commerce business — Winner: OnDeck. OnDeck underwrites against bank deposits across all revenue sources — Amazon + Shopify + wholesale + brick-and-mortar all count. Payability only sees marketplace payouts and sizes accordingly. Diversified e-commerce operations get larger capacity through OnDeck.
- Builds business credit — Winner: OnDeck. OnDeck reports term loan and LOC to commercial credit bureaus. Payability's advance is a marketplace-receivables purchase and generally does not report. Merchants building business credit favor OnDeck.
The honest takeaway
OnDeck and Payability solve overlapping but distinct problems. The right choice depends on three things you already know about your business: how fast you need the money, how long you've been operating, and whether the capital need is one-time or recurring.
Frequently asked questions
- I'm an Amazon seller doing $80K/mo with 11 months on the marketplace — OnDeck or Payability?
- Payability, because OnDeck declines you for TIB under 12 months. Payability will look at the marketplace history immediately and likely offer $25K – $50K Instant Advance at 6 – 10% flat fee, automatically deducted from payouts. Use the next 1 – 3 months to cross the 12-month threshold; once you do, reapply to OnDeck for a larger term loan at materially lower per-month cost. The Payability advance is the right bridge, OnDeck the right destination.
- Why doesn't OnDeck offer a marketplace-specific product like Payability?
- Underwriting and operations focus. OnDeck (now part of Enova) underwrites against bank deposits and FICO — its credit models are calibrated for traditional SMB cash flow rather than marketplace payout cycles. Building a marketplace-data integration layer (API access to Amazon Seller Central, Walmart Marketplace, etc.) is a different operations problem from generalist SMB lending, and Payability has 8+ years of focus there. Likely OnDeck's deal economics on marketplace sellers also looked unattractive given Payability and Amazon Lending already own the segment.
- Can I move from a Payability advance to OnDeck term loan as I scale?
- Yes, common path. Pay down Payability to ~30% of original advance, demonstrate clean marketplace performance for 3 – 6 months, cross the 12-month TIB threshold, and apply to OnDeck. OnDeck will look at bank deposits (Payability's deduction is visible) plus marketplace history if you provide it. Net savings on a $100K growth-capital need can run $8K – $15K vs continuing to roll Payability advances. The refinance path is the standard exit from marketplace MCA into term-loan structure as sellers scale past $100K+/month.