Funding for restaurants, cafés and hospitality businesses.
A restaurant takes most of its money by card, every day, and spends it just as fast on stock, staff and rent. That shape decides which funding fits: repayments that move with your sales, and equipment paid for over its working life.
Checked 21 September 2026
Your card machine is your credit history.
Lenders who fund hospitality mostly read the business from its bank statements and card settlements: how much comes through each month, how steady it is, and how long the business has traded. Keep takings in the business account, not a personal one, so the full turnover shows.
Because the money arrives daily, some funding is repaid the same way: a small share of each day’s card sales. Repayments shrink in a slow week and grow in a busy one, which suits a trade that moves with the seasons.
Equipment, refits and a second site
A new cold room, an extraction system or a refit is better funded over the years it will earn than out of this month’s takings. A term loan spreads that cost at a fixed instalment. A second site is a growth decision: borrow against what the first one reliably turns over, not what the new one might.
Plan for the quiet months.
Most hospitality businesses have a slow season. If you fund a refit or extra staff before the busy months, make sure the repayment does not run on at the same size through the quiet ones. Funding repaid from card sales does this on its own; a fixed instalment needs to be sized for the slow month, not the good one.
- Six months of business bank statements, with the card settlements in them.
- CIPC registration and the directors’ IDs.
- What the funding is for, and how the extra sales or saved costs repay it.
Lenders on Frank’s panel for this
These are the panel products that fit how a hospitality business is paid and what it usually funds. Products repaid from card sales are included because most restaurants take card.
- Term loan
- The standard answer to a cashflow crunch — fast, unsecured, clear instalments.
- Line of credit
- Draw only what you need, when you need it, and pay for what’s drawn.
- Revenue-based
- Volatile monthly revenue? Repayment flexes with sales until the cap is hit.
| Lender and product | Min. turnover | Min. trading | Amount | Security | Card sales | Credit record | Documents | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geddes Capital Secured Business Loan Term loan | R167k a month | 12 months | R500k to R15m | Required | Not needed | Some adverse credit considered | 6 months’ bank statements, financial statements | From prime + 2% |
| Pollen Finance Unsecured Business Loan Term loan | R83k a month | 12 months | R100k to R6m | None | Not needed | Some adverse credit considered | 6 months’ bank statements | Flat fee |
| Lula Cash Flow Facility Line of credit | R40k a month | 12 months | R10k to R5m | None | Not needed | Clean record | 3 months’ bank statements | 2–6% a month |
| Bridgement Revenue Advance Facility Revenue-based | R100k a month | 6 months | Not published | None | Not needed | Clean record | 3 months’ bank statements | 2–5% a month |
| Merchant Capital Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) Revenue-based | R50k a month | 8 months | R30k to R5m | None | Needed | Clean record | 6 months’ bank statements | Factor rate 1.08–1.15 |
- Geddes Capital
Secured Business Loan · Term loan
- Min. turnover
- R167k a month
- Min. trading
- 12 months
- Amount
- R500k to R15m
- Term
- 6 to 120 months
- Security
- Required
- Card sales
- Not needed
- Credit record
- Some adverse credit considered
- Documents
- 6 months’ bank statements, financial statements
- Rate
- From prime + 2%
- Speed
- 1 week
- Pollen Finance
Unsecured Business Loan · Term loan
- Min. turnover
- R83k a month
- Min. trading
- 12 months
- Amount
- R100k to R6m
- Term
- 6 to 8 months
- Security
- None
- Card sales
- Not needed
- Credit record
- Some adverse credit considered
- Documents
- 6 months’ bank statements
- Rate
- Flat fee
- Speed
- 24 hours
- Lula
Cash Flow Facility · Line of credit
- Min. turnover
- R40k a month
- Min. trading
- 12 months
- Amount
- R10k to R5m
- Term
- Not published
- Security
- None
- Card sales
- Not needed
- Credit record
- Clean record
- Documents
- 3 months’ bank statements
- Rate
- 2–6% a month
- Speed
- 24 hours
- Bridgement
Revenue Advance Facility · Revenue-based
- Min. turnover
- R100k a month
- Min. trading
- 6 months
- Amount
- Not published
- Term
- 3 to 9 months
- Security
- None
- Card sales
- Not needed
- Credit record
- Clean record
- Documents
- 3 months’ bank statements
- Rate
- 2–5% a month
- Speed
- 24 hours
- Merchant Capital
Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) · Revenue-based
- Min. turnover
- R50k a month
- Min. trading
- 8 months
- Amount
- R30k to R5m
- Term
- 1 to 12 months
- Security
- None
- Card sales
- Needed
- Credit record
- Clean record
- Documents
- 6 months’ bank statements
- Rate
- Factor rate 1.08–1.15
- Speed
- Same day
These are each lender’s published minimums, not approvals. Every lender on the panel, side by side
Questions
Yes. Several alternative lenders fund restaurants unsecured, mostly on the strength of card turnover and time trading. Equipment can be financed with the equipment itself as the security.
An advance repaid as a small share of your daily card sales until an agreed total is paid. Repayments fall in slow weeks and rise in busy ones. It needs a steady history of card turnover.
Each lender sets its own minimum. The table on this page shows every panel lender’s, so you can see which you already meet.
Related
Check your business
Check your business against every lender on the panel, in about a minute.
It takes about a minute and there is no credit check. Frank checks your answers against every lender’s rules and shows you what fits and what does not. When you choose a lender, Frank sends them your application on the answers you have already given.
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