Summit vs the rest.
Direct lenders compete on speed and convenience for one product. A broker desk competes on access — multiple offers, more strategies, and pricing leverage. Here's how the math actually compares.
OnDeck is a direct online lender — they fund off their own balance sheet and offer two products: a short-term loan and a line of credit. Summit is a broker desk with access to 40+ institutional lenders across nine funding strategies. Different model, different fit.
Bluevine is a direct fintech lender focused on lines of credit and business banking. Summit is an institutional broker desk that places debt across MCA, term, equipment, ABL, CRE, and direct lending. Different fit at different deal sizes.
Kabbage was acquired by American Express and rebranded inside Amex Business Blueprint. It serves Amex-card customers with revolving capital. Summit is an institutional broker desk across nine funding strategies.
An MCA buys a slice of your future revenue at a fixed factor rate; an SBA 7(a) is a bank term loan partially guaranteed by the federal government. They sit at opposite ends of the speed/cost spectrum — and a lot of borrowers should be looking at the middle.
A term loan is a one-shot lump sum on a fixed amortization. A line of credit is revolving capital you draw against and repay. The right choice is almost entirely about how the cash will be used, not which is 'better.'
Both options put equipment in your shop tomorrow without paying cash. The split comes down to whether you want to own the asset at the end, how fast it depreciates, and which line you want the payment to hit on your P&L.
Funding Circle is a marketplace lender for SMB term loans up to $500k. Summit is an institutional broker desk that places debt across nine strategies and 40+ lenders, including Funding Circle's competitive set.
Credibly is a direct lender focused on working capital and MCA for sub-prime SMB credit. Summit is an institutional broker desk across nine funding strategies.
Rapid Finance is a direct online lender with MCA, term loans, and a small line of credit. Summit places capital across 40+ lenders covering every major SMB debt strategy.
Direct lenders sell one product underwritten by one balance sheet. Brokers shop your file to multiple lenders. Both have legitimate use cases — the wrong answer depends entirely on deal size and product fit.
Both products solve a working-capital problem but they price and behave nothing alike. An MCA is fixed-cost short-term capital. A LOC is revolving capital you draw only when you need it. Picking the wrong one costs 30–60 points of effective APR.
For heavy equipment purchases over $500k, the SBA 504 and a conventional equipment loan are direct competitors. The 504 is cheaper long-term but slower; the equipment loan funds in days but prices higher.