Editorial Policy

Guides on Merchant Capital Guide are written and maintained by the Merchant Capital Guide Editorial Team. This page explains how that work is done.

Our standards

1. Answer first. Each guide opens with the direct answer to the question in its title, then explains the details.
2. Primary sources only. Provider terms (amounts, terms, credit and revenue minimums) come from the provider's own website or published documentation. Laws and regulations are cited to the statute, regulator, or court.
3. No invented numbers. If a provider does not publish a figure, our tables say "Not disclosed" rather than estimating it.
4. Dated data. Comparison tables record when each provider's terms were last checked. Pages show the date of their last substantive review as "Updated".
5. Balanced options. We describe the downsides of every option, including those offered by companies that may pay us a referral fee.

How comparison tables are built

• We list the criteria in the table header before reviewing any provider, so every provider is measured against the same fields.
• Each value is checked against the provider's site on the date shown. Terms change frequently; always confirm with the provider before applying.
• Ranking order reflects fit for the scenario described in the guide, never payment.

What our pages add

A comparison only helps if it tells you something the providers' own marketing does not. Where we can, we also count what the market does not publish — for example, how many of the eight consolidation providers state a minimum credit score, or how many describe paying off your existing advances. Those counts come from the same dated audit as the table, and each block shows how it was counted.

We do not publish a number we cannot derive from pages we have actually read. When a figure would require a provider to tell us something privately, we say so instead of estimating it.

Review schedule

Dated guides (for example, "best lenders" comparisons) are re-checked at least once a year, and whenever a reader reports an error. Explanatory guides are reviewed when relevant rules change.

Corrections

If you find an error, please tell us through the contact page. We review every report, correct confirmed mistakes promptly, and update the page's review date.

Independence

How the site is funded is explained in our advertiser disclosure. Commercial relationships do not influence what we cover or what we conclude.