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.