OnDeck teams up with Wave on small business lending partnership

Leading US lending platform partners up with small business software toolkit Wave.

OnDeck, the online lender that has lent over $5bn to over 60,000 businesses to date, has struck an alliance with Wave. The two tech firms have launched a new “Lending by Wave” product for borrowers in the US and Canada. The loans and lines of credit will be underwritten and funded by OnDeck.

Wave is a software provider for small businesses, offering users free invoicing, payments, accounting and payroll tools. The firm has over 2.3 million customers worldwide.

“OnDeck is excited to partner with Wave to enable its business owners to increase their access to working capital, saving Wave users valuable time, effort and money as they grow their businesses,” said Charlie Deutsch, vice president of platform solutions at OnDeck.

This is not the first time that OnDeck has agreed to power another company’s lending. Most famously the firm announced a similar arrangement with JPMorgan Chase in December 2015. Opus Bank is another such partner.

Wave customers will now be able to access OnDeck loans from within the Wave ecosystem. In announcing the new product, the two firms suggested that the data held by Wave on small businesses will prove a useful tool in opening up access to credit for underserved businesses.

“Cash flow and access to capital are essential for small businesses to grow, but often hard to get, because traditional financial institutions can't serve this segment effectively,” said Kirk Simpson, CEO and co-founder of Wave. “Our partnership with OnDeck reinforces Wave’s commitment to improving access to a full scope of small business financial services, and provides small business owners a better option than going to a bank for the funds they need to succeed.”