Process
ISO (Independent Sales Organization)
Also called: independent sales organization, MCA ISO
Definition
An ISO (Independent Sales Organization) is an independent company that markets merchant cash advance and other business funding, packages applications, and submits them to third-party funders for a commission — the broker layer between merchants and funders.
The term comes from the card-processing world, where independent sales organizations resold merchant services on behalf of processors. In merchant cash advance and revenue-based funding it has come to mean the intermediary layer generally: independent shops that find merchants, package applications, and place them with one or more funders in exchange for a commission when a deal funds. Most of what owners call brokers are, formally, ISOs.
The distinction that matters is the role, not the label: an ISO markets and submits, while a funder underwrites and deploys its own capital. The ISO's commission is paid by the funder, and it is generally reflected in what you are quoted. An experienced ISO knows which funders fit which files and can save a hard-to-place business real time. Whoever you are speaking with, the clarifying question is the same — are you funding this yourself, or submitting it elsewhere?
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