According to the South African Reserve Bank, “The evidence regarding firm dynamics in South Africa suggests that scaling up is a significant challenge for most SMEs. The low level of SME financing appears to emanate from the demand side as most SMEs indicate that they do not borrow from financial institutions, particularly banks.” 

Here are five reasons you should use VodaLend to expand your business:

1. The VodaLend solution is completely digital, mobile friendly and superfast when compared to other financiers in the country. Access to business finance is one of the critical factors limiting the growth of small businesses in South Africa. Traditional financial institutions and government financial assistance are particularly difficult to access given the significant and rigorous application processes and stringent credit requirements.

2. Our funding application takes less than 10 minutes, and we provide responses to the applications within hours of receiving them. SMEs in South Africa are between a rock and a hard place. Many are faced with the need to get their business off the ground again after the COVID-19 global pandemic. They look to the banks for business loans to help them get through another month. Unfortunately, they are faced with rejection after rejection.

3. Funding on approved applications is paid to the applicant within 24 hours. At the other end of the spectrum, micro and medium-sized businesses with a turnover of less than R1 million that employ five or fewer people have limited access to bank lending facilities. They can tap into personal credit facilities, microfinance funding, government grants, and other forms of government financing.

4. You need to have used one or more of VodaPay’s card machines for four months. Quintin Van Vuuren, Executive Head of VodaLend at Vodacom Financial Services says, “The financial and digital inclusion of SMEs is important to us at VodaLend, so we’ve also developed funding solutions for businesses that don’t meet the usual requirements for loans making it easier for business owners to be pre-approved for a Business Cash Advance.  We’ve implemented business funding linked to the VodaPay card machines – the Kwika and Max Point of Sale systems. Businesses only need to trade around R4 000 a month, for four consecutive months to be pre-qualified for finance. With this solution, we hope to solve a big need in the informal market.”

5. You can check the VodaPay Merchant Portal to see if you qualify for a Business Cash Advance. What makes this solution powerful is the fact that if you are a VodaPay merchant, you could qualify for a cash advance based on your trades through the VodaPay payment gateway. What’s more, the Business Cash Advance gets paid back based on the value of sales you make. You can use this advance for whatever your business needs. Whether it is to cover unexpected emergencies or to take on new opportunities, Business Cash Advance can help.

6. Once those easy steps are complete, go to the dashboard, select “Get Funded” and you are well on your way to real access to business finance that assists with cash flow to grow your business.

Van Vuuren concludes, “As VodaLend is committed to employing an omnichannel approach to engage small business customers we hope to serve this missing middle segment, as they will increasingly turn to mobile solutions. In this way, we will better attract, serve, and grow this section of the South African population by offering them mobile and digital channels to do all their business and access funding.”

Visit the VodaPay Merchant Portal to see if you qualify for a Business Cash Advance to take your business to the next level.