Principis Capital Review

Principis Capital is a merchant cash advance provider with flexible personal credit requirements. They’re able to provide advances of up to $150,000, but offer very little transparency around their funding terms and rates, or even what businesses need to qualify. However, they do say that “risk is our specialty” so businesses with bad credit or other financial blemishes may still be able to qualify.

Keep in mind, though, merchant cash advances are some of the—if not the—most expensive products on the market for small business financing. And their daily payments can seriously stifle a small business’s finances. All in all, unless you can’t find a more affordable alternative and you need the funds immediately, you’ll likely want to avoid a merchant cash advance.

As they say on their website, Principis Capital doesn’t shy away from working with businesses that are a greater risk. Principis Funding’s average customer has a credit score under 600, and more than 30% of their customers have scores of under 500, so you won’t necessarily be disqualified for having bad credit.

Principis Capital is okay with poor credit profiles, prior bankruptcies, tax liens, and past lawsuits and judgments. However, you do need to be based in the U.S. with a physical address.

Principis Capital mainly relies on public data and bank records to screen their applicants, so you won’t be required to provide much documentation. However, you will need:

• Copy of your driver’s license
• 4 months of business bank statements
• Or 4 months of credit card processing statements plus 2 months of bank statements

Applying for a merchant cash advance through Principis Capital will generally follow the below procedure.

To start the application process with Principis Capital, you’ll need to fill out their online application. Though this application is only a page long, it’s pretty involved and will require more than a few details on your finances, your business’s finances, and, if applicable, your business partner’s finances. 

You’ll need to either fax or email your completed app to Principis Capital, along with your choice combination of financial documents. You can either provide four months of business bank statements or four months of credit card processing statements and two months of business bank statements.

Once they receive your completed application and documentation, Principis Capital reviews this information. They’ll run it through their in-house credit analysis by considering the following criteria:

• Business credit history
• Personal credit history
• Industry segment
• Business financial performance

Based on these four credentials, Principis Capital will decide whether or not you qualify and what terms you qualify for if you do indeed qualify. They’ll then send you a loan agreement, and if you agree to the terms, you’ll need to sign and return this agreement and provide a copy of your government-issued ID with this signed form. Be sure to carefully read through the agreement before signing so you know exactly how much this advance will cost you—look for the factor rate as well as any additional fees. 

Over the next days, Principis Capital underwriters will work to verify all of the information you’ve self-reported thus far in the application process. Unless they need additional information from you, they’ll be able to complete this process and wire the agreed-upon funds into your bank account in one to three days.

A Principis Capital merchant cash advance will function like most any merchant cash advance after funding. You will repay your debt to Principis Capital through a daily percentage of your credit and debit card revenues until it’s fully paid off. And though this merchant cash advance won’t come with a set repayment term length, Principis Capital typically set factor rates and daily percentages so that you will repay your debt in six to 15 months.

Additionally, the Principis Capital website says that you’ll be able to renew your funding with them once you repay the bulk of your initial merchant cash advance. Though they don’t provide specifics on the logistics of this process, Principis Capital says that many of their borrowers use their merchant cash advance like a line of credit, simply because they make it easy to renew and access more capital.

The first time you renew your funding with Principis Capital, you’ll have to have worked with them for at least three or four months beforehand. However, for subsequent renewals, you’ll just have to wait 30 to 60 days.

Principis Capital is located in Jersey City, New Jersey, and can be reached via phone, email, or submitting a short form directly on their website. Their hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Principis Capital is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, but they also have no formal complaints on their profile. Online reviews are pretty mixed between positive and negative. 

Positive customer reviews describe an easy, fast process that enables them to receive funding when other lenders had turned their businesses away. They also speak to sales reps clearly laying out the terms and rates so they weren’t surprised by the repayment process. Additionally, Principis was able to work with some borrowers who experienced cash flow issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was greatly appreciated.

While these reviews are great, not every customer has had the same experience. Negative customer reviews call out predatory practices, frequent ACH withdrawals for unexpected amounts, and overall rude and unprofessional customer service. The sky-high interest rates are also referenced several times. As always, be sure to understand the true cost of capital before you sign a loan agreement.

Principis Capital is not in Fundera’s Lender Network. The Fundera team carefully vets all of the lenders in our network, and have determined that Principis Capital either doesn’t have the technology to work with Fundera or does not offer a financing product that competes with the other lenders in its product class. We suggest considering another lender in this product class.

See if you qualify for similar products in Fundera’s Lender Network.