# Ecommerce MCA: Amazon, Stripe, Shopify funder economics > Captive ecommerce MCA funders (Amazon Lending, Stripe Capital, Shopify Capital) price advances 1.08–1.22 factor with payout-integrated repayment, vs generalist 1.25–1.40 — a 20–30% cost advantage from platform data depth and processor-level collection. Updated 2026-06-28. Ecommerce merchants have three dominant captive MCA options in 2026 — Amazon Lending, Stripe Capital, and Shopify Capital. Each prices distinctly based on platform data, payout structure, and merchant concentration risk. **Amazon Lending: largest captive ecommerce funder.** Amazon Lending originates the largest ecommerce MCA volume in 2026, with an estimated $4–6B annual run rate across US and international markets. - **Factor range:** 1.10–1.20 typical, 1.08 floor for top-tier sellers. - **Term:** 3–12 months. - **Advance size:** $1K–$1M+ (largest in captive ecommerce). - **Repayment:** Deducted from Amazon payouts every 14 days. - **Eligibility:** Pre-qualified by invitation; sellers see offers in Seller Central. - **Speed:** Same-day funding upon acceptance. Amazon's underwriting advantage is full FBA inventory, sales velocity, return rate, and seller account health data — producing the most accurate risk model in ecommerce captive lending. **Stripe Capital: Stripe-integrated processing-based MCA.** Stripe Capital serves merchants using Stripe for payment processing — primarily SaaS, marketplaces, and D2C ecommerce. - **Factor range:** 1.10–1.22 typical. - **Term:** 6–18 months effective (no fixed term, repaid via 6–15% holdback of Stripe payments). - **Advance size:** $5K–$2M (large for pure ecommerce; usually capped at 2–4x monthly Stripe volume). - **Repayment:** Holdback percentage of every Stripe charge, applied at settlement. - **Eligibility:** Pre-qualified via Stripe Dashboard offers. - **Speed:** Same-business-day funding. Stripe's advantage: real-time visibility into MRR, churn, ARPU, and transaction velocity for SaaS and subscription merchants. Pricing reflects Stripe's confidence in subscription revenue predictability. **Shopify Capital: Shopify-store-integrated MCA.** Shopify Capital serves merchants using Shopify for ecommerce storefront. - **Factor range:** 1.10–1.20 typical. - **Term:** 6–18 months effective. - **Advance size:** $200–$2M (some merchants see larger offers). - **Repayment:** Holdback percentage of every Shopify Payments transaction. - **Eligibility:** Pre-qualified via Shopify admin offers. - **Speed:** Same-day funding. Shopify's advantage: full store data (traffic, conversion, AOV, repeat purchase rate, inventory) plus Shopify Payments processing data. **Side-by-side comparison on a $100K advance.** - **Amazon Lending at 1.14 factor, 9-month term:** $114K repaid, ~37% APR-equivalent. - **Stripe Capital at 1.16 factor, 12% holdback:** $116K repaid over ~10 months, ~32% APR-equivalent. - **Shopify Capital at 1.15 factor, 11% holdback:** $115K repaid over ~11 months, ~28% APR-equivalent. - **Generalist ecommerce MCA at 1.32 factor, 9-month term:** $132K repaid, ~70% APR-equivalent. The captive advantage is 25–35% on factor rate. **Why captives price lower.** - **Processor-level collection** — holdback applied to payouts before merchant receives funds, near-zero NSF risk. - **Full platform data** — sales velocity, inventory, return rate, customer LTV, traffic. - **Account-level enforcement** — captive can suspend account features on default, dramatic recovery leverage. - **Lower fraud risk** — funder sees actual transactions, not just bank deposits. These factors cut default rates 40–60% versus generalist ACH-debit MCA, justifying the pricing advantage. **Where generalist funders win.** - **Multi-platform merchants.** Sellers on Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Walmart, and own website need an MCA against aggregate revenue, not platform-specific. - **Cash-heavy ecommerce.** Some niche merchants accept significant non-card payments (wire, ACH, BNPL) that captives don't see. - **Large advances above captive caps.** Captives cap at $1–2M; larger sellers go to specialist ecommerce lenders (Clearco, Wayflyer, Settle, Uncapped). - **Distressed sellers.** Captives decline merchants with account-health issues; generalists fund. - **Sellers needing equipment or non-inventory capital.** Captives typically restrict use to platform-related expenses; generalists are unrestricted. **Specialist ecommerce funders (between captive and generalist).** - **Clearco** (formerly Clearbanc) — D2C ecommerce specialist, 1.18–1.28 factor. - **Wayflyer** — D2C ecommerce, deep Shopify integration, 1.16–1.26. - **Settle** — D2C ecommerce, inventory and AP financing, 1.12–1.22. - **Uncapped** — D2C ecommerce, larger ticket, 1.14–1.24. - **Liberis** — ecommerce + retail, 1.18–1.28. These specialists fill the gap between captive limits and generalist pricing. **Captive-lock economics.** A merchant locked into Amazon Lending, Stripe Capital, or Shopify Capital faces: - **Platform dependency reinforcement** — switching platforms breaks the captive's collection mechanism. - **Processing rate negotiation loss** — captives know merchants can't easily leave. - **Account suspension leverage** — captive can suspend selling features on default. Industry estimates suggest captive-locked merchants pay 10–20 bps higher processing rates than free-to-switch peers, offsetting 20–30% of the captive MCA pricing advantage over advance life. **Renewal economics.** - **Amazon Lending:** Renewal at 50% paydown, factor often improves 0.02–0.04. - **Stripe Capital:** Holdback-based, effectively continuous — no formal renewal. - **Shopify Capital:** Renewal at 50% paydown, factor improvement modest. **Common confusions.** First, "captives are always cheaper." Usually true on factor, sometimes false on total cost of ownership when processing rate lock-in is included. Second, "Stripe Capital has fixed term." False — it's holdback-based and repaid as transactions occur. Third, "you can stack captive on captive." Some merchants take Amazon + Shopify simultaneously; UCC visibility tells the second funder about the first. Fourth, "captive offers are always available." False — captives pre-qualify; not all merchants receive offers. **Takeaway.** Amazon Lending, Stripe Capital, and Shopify Capital each offer 20–30% pricing advantage over generalist ecommerce MCA for merchants concentrated on their platforms. The right captive depends on platform mix; multi-platform sellers, distressed sellers, and large-ticket sellers ($2M+) often need specialist or generalist funders to fill the gap. ## Related terms - [E-commerce MCA: Shopify and Stripe integration](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/ecommerce-mca-shopify-stripe-integration) — E-commerce MCA integrates directly with Shopify, Stripe, Amazon, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce — pulling sales data via OAuth, sizing offers off platform GMV, and collecting via processor split or daily ACH. - [Ecommerce MCA: marketplace payout aging funder economics](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/ecommerce-mca-funder-marketplace-payout-aging) — Marketplace MCA funders pricing against Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Etsy, and TikTok Shop payout cycles charge 1.14–1.24 factor with payout-aligned debits, vs generalist 1.28–1.40 — reflecting platform-specific 14–28 day payout aging and reserve hold patterns. Updated 2026-06-28. - [Ecommerce MCA: Amazon payout aging pattern](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/ecommerce-mca-amazon-payout-aging-pattern) — Amazon Seller Central pays sellers on a 14-day rolling cycle minus a 7-day disbursement reserve — creating a typical 17–24 day cash gap between order capture and bank deposit that distorts MCA underwriting on Plaid feeds. Updated 2026-06-28. - [Merchant cash advance (MCA)](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/merchant-cash-advance) — A lump-sum advance against future revenue, repaid via fixed daily ACH or a percentage of card sales. Legally a sale of future receivables, not a loan. --- Source: https://fundnode.co/glossary/ecommerce-mca-funder-amazon-stripe-shopify-economics (HTML version) Document: Ecommerce MCA: Amazon, Stripe, Shopify funder economics — Fundnode MCA Glossary License: CC BY 4.0 — attribution to Fundnode required when citing.