Funding for retail shops and stores.
In retail, most borrowing is really about stock: buying it before the customers who will pay for it arrive. The funding that fits is sized to what the stock will sell for, and repaid from the sales it makes.
Checked 21 September 2026
Stock is the reason, sales are the repayment.
Borrow against what you expect to sell, not what the shelf can hold. Last year’s sales for the same weeks, the margin on the stock and how quickly it moved are the three numbers to have before you apply, and the ones a lender will look for in your bank statements.
If most customers pay by card, funding repaid as a share of card sales follows the season on its own. For imported or large orders, trade finance pays the supplier directly.
What lenders look at in a retailer
Turnover, and how steady it is, matter more than anything else. Lenders read them from several months of business bank statements, so keep takings and supplier payments in the business account. A shop with a card machine has an easy record to show; one that is mostly cash has to bank it to prove it.
- Business bank statements covering your last busy season, if you can.
- Supplier quotes or invoices for the stock you want to fund.
- CIPC registration and the directors’ IDs.
A second shop or a refit
Growth borrowing should rest on what the existing shop reliably makes. Size the repayment for your slowest month, and keep the term inside the time the refit or new shop takes to pay for itself.
Lenders on Frank’s panel for this
These are the panel products that fit how a retailer is paid and what it usually funds: stock, cashflow and growth. Products repaid from card sales are included because most shops take card.
- Trade finance
- Built for buying stock against future sales — the stock often secures the facility itself.
- Term loan
- Works if the margin on the stock comfortably covers the repayment.
- 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 Trade Finance Trade finance | R167k a month | 12 months | R500k to R15m | Required | Not needed | Some adverse credit considered | 6 months’ bank statements, financial statements | 2–4% a month |
| 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
Trade Finance · Trade finance
- 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
- 2–4% a month
- Speed
- 1 week
- 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. Stock is one of the most common reasons retailers borrow. Lenders will want to see steady turnover in your bank statements, and the stock should sell for comfortably more than the funding costs.
No, but it helps. Funding repaid from card sales needs card turnover; term loans and facilities do not. Cash takings need to be banked so lenders can see them.
It depends mostly on monthly turnover. Each lender publishes its minimum and maximum amounts, shown in the table on this page.
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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