Why this use case matters
Marketing spend is often the highest-return use of working capital — if the unit economics work, every pound spent on customer acquisition returns more than a pound in revenue over the customer's lifetime. But the gap between spend and revenue can stretch over weeks or months, especially for ecommerce ramping a new campaign or a SaaS business funding paid acquisition.
Lenders look for unit economics, sales attribution, and a sensible spend-to-revenue ratio. A request to put 100% of recent revenue into ads in a single month is harder to underwrite than a steady campaign expansion at a known customer acquisition cost. Revenue-based finance is purpose-built for this — payments flex with sales, so the business does not get stuck servicing fixed debt while a campaign ramps.
Finance types that usually fit
Based on how UK lenders typically underwrite this use case, the following finance categories are the most common fit:
Revenue-Based Finance
Growth capital repaid flexibly against future revenue.
Merchant Cash Advance
Cash advance repaid as a share of card/POS/platform sales.
Business Credit Card
Revolving credit/charge card for expenses and short-term spend.
Finance types that usually don't fit
These categories are mentioned for completeness but typically aren't appropriate for this use case:
- Asset Finance — Finance to buy/refinance equipment, vehicles or machinery.
- Commercial Mortgage — Long-term commercial property purchase/refinance funding.
- Bridging Finance — Short-term property-backed finance.
Eligibility questions UK lenders typically ask
- Do you have at least 6 months of revenue history on a platform with attribution data?
- Can you evidence a customer acquisition cost and payback period?
- Is your monthly revenue stable or growing?
- Are you up to date on tax, rent and existing finance?
- Is the requested spend a clear multiple of recent ad performance, not a moonshot?
- Do you have a Stripe, Shopify, Amazon or card processor account that lenders can integrate with?
Documents to prepare
- Last 6 months of platform revenue data (Shopify, Stripe, Amazon, card processor)
- Business bank statements (3–6 months)
- Ad account exports or attribution dashboard summary
- Director ID and proof of address
- Brief commentary on planned campaigns and expected return
- Latest filed or management accounts
UK lenders that often look at this use case
The lenders below publish criteria consistent with this use case. Final approval is always subject to lender underwriting.
Wayflyer
Revenue-based funding
- Amount
- Up to £1m SMB; up to £20m broader platform
- Speed
- 24–48h decision; funds in 24h
- Security / PG
- No PG promoted on SMB page
- Data confidence
- High
Outfund
Growth funding
- Amount
- $35k–$13m surfaced
- Speed
- Offer ~24h
- Security / PG
- Not disclosed
- Data confidence
- Low / needs UK confirmation
Shopify
Shopify Capital
- Amount
- £400–£2m cash advances; £200–£1m loans
- Speed
- Not disclosed
- Security / PG
- Not disclosed
- Data confidence
- Medium
Capital on Tap
Business credit card
- Amount
- Up to £250k
- Speed
- Often same-day decision
- Security / PG
- No unsatisfied CCJs in last 12 months; director/shareholder test
- Data confidence
- High
American Express
Business card / charge card
- Amount
- Not disclosed
- Speed
- Not disclosed
- Security / PG
- Credit assessment
- Data confidence
- Medium
Frequently asked questions
- Can I get a loan specifically for Facebook or Google ads?
- Yes. Revenue-based finance providers including Wayflyer and Outfund market specifically to ecommerce businesses funding paid ads, with integrations into Shopify, Amazon and Stripe. The funding is not restricted to ads, but the use case is well understood.
- Is it cheaper to use a business credit card for ad spend?
- For small monthly spend on a paid-off-monthly basis, a card like Capital on Tap or American Express can be effective and reward-earning. For sustained or scaling spend, revenue-based finance is usually cheaper because the rate is fixed and repayments flex with sales.
- How do lenders verify my marketing returns?
- Revenue-based finance providers connect directly to Shopify, Stripe, Amazon and major card processors to pull sales data. Some also ask for ad spend reports to model customer acquisition cost. Underwriting is mostly automated for amounts under £250k.
- What if my ad spend doesn't generate returns?
- Revenue-based finance flexes with sales, so weaker months mean smaller repayments — but the total amount repaid is still owed. Fixed-term unsecured loans do not flex. Plan worst-case repayment alongside best-case ROAS before drawing down.
- Can a service business get marketing finance, or just ecommerce?
- Service businesses can use unsecured loans or business credit cards for marketing spend. Revenue-based finance is generally aimed at ecommerce and SaaS with integratable revenue data, so service businesses without that tracking are usually steered elsewhere.