The merchant cash-advance provider AdvanceMe Inc. is trying to make its monthly statements more useful to clients by adding analytic data.
The Atlanta company said last week that its statements now compare clients' monthly card sales against the same month a year earlier, and also show how their results are measuring up against their peers.
Merchants that receive advance funds from AdvanceMe typically repay their advances, based on a percentage of their credit and debit card receivables. AdvanceMe statements also contain repayment information.
The new peer group data compares the merchant's card activity with that of similar retailers based on sales volume, region and population size.
The additional information helps "small-business owners to be better informed and proactive," an AdvanceMe representative said. The additional details can also give merchants a benchmark to help them spot sales trends and other consumer patterns, the representative said.
AdvanceMe's parent, Capital Access Network Inc. of New York, is providing the data for the new reports.
AdvanceMe says it has funded more than 25,000 businesses since 1998 with more than $1.5 billion.
