Understanding Shopify Capital loans and repayment for Australian merchants

Shopify Capital offers loans to merchants in Australia. Shopify Capital provides these loans, also known as the loan amount, as a lump sum in return for a fixed borrowing cost, which is the cost of funds. The loan amount, along with the cost of funds, is referred to as the total payment amount under the merchant loan agreement. After the loan amount is deposited into your business bank account, you pay Shopify Capital through a daily payment percentage, which is a percentage of your daily sales, until the total payment amount is fully repaid. The specific total payment amount and daily payment percentage depend on your risk profile.

Request a loan

If you're eligible to apply for a loan, then you can view your funding options and apply for a loan directly on the Capital page of your Shopify admin. Funding isn't guaranteed, and an offer to apply might expire at any time.

There are three funding options available, each with its own terms, including the loan amount or amount received, the total payment amount or total owed, and the daily repayment rate that will be deducted from your daily sales and repaid to Shopify Capital. You can review these terms and choose the option that suits your needs.

After you apply for a loan, your request is reviewed within 1-3 business days, but it might take longer in some cases. If your request is approved, then the loan amount is transferred to your business bank account.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Capital.
  2. Review the terms of the available funding options, and then click Apply now beneath the option that you want to apply to.
  3. Verify your identity and business details for Shopify Capital.
  4. In the Review loan terms and submit your application dialog, click Merchant Loan Agreement, and then review the terms of the agreement carefully before submitting your application.
  5. Select Change my payments provider to Shopify Payments, to change your payment provider to Shopify Payments.
  6. Click Submit application. You might be asked to verify your details for Shopify Capital, even if you have previously received funding through Shopify Capital.

After you receive the loan, the daily repayment based on your store's daily sales begins within two business days.

Tracking loan repayments

After you receive your loan, you can track the remaining balance of your total payment amount from the Capital page of your Shopify admin under Shopify Capital.

From the Capital page, you can view the following repayment information:

  • The remaining balance of the total payment amount.
  • The amount of the total payment amount that has been repaid.
  • The transfer history of repayments.

In the all transactions report, the Total sales column shows each day's sales revenue, and the Amount column shows how much of that revenue is repaid to Shopify Capital.

Download your balance letter

You can download a balance letter from the Capital page of your Shopify admin. You can use the balance letter to show your bank that you no longer have any financial obligation or what your current balance is.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Capital.
  2. Click View all transactions.
  3. Click Export, and then click Balance letter.
  4. Save the balance letter to your device.

Repay the remaining balance

You can repay any amount over 1 AUD against your loan, or the full remaining balance in one lump sum. The payment is debited from the same business bank account that's associated with your Shopify account. The cost of funds isn't reduced when you pay your entire balance, and payment doesn't guarantee eligibility for additional financing.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Capital.
  2. Click Make a payment.
  3. Choose the amount that you want to pay:
    • To make a manual payment, enter the amount in the Custom amount field.
    • To pay the full amount, click Full remaining balance.
  4. Click Next step, and then review the amount to be repaid.
  5. Click Make a payment.

You receive a confirmation email when your repayment is complete.

Calculating your loan repayment

To calculate the amount that will be repaid to Shopify Capital each day, the daily repayment rate is applied to your store's daily sales revenue. If there are no sales on a particular day, then no repayment will be deducted for that day.

When calculating repayment, your store's daily sales revenue includes all orders marked as paid on that day, regardless of the order source, payment processing method, or whether the order was later refunded or canceled. The only orders not included in the calculation are test orders placed when Shopify Payments was in test mode. If an order was placed without test mode activated, then it will be included in your store's sales revenue for the day's repayment calculation.

Minimum payments

Effective February 1, 2024, a new policy is being implemented for new Shopify Capital loans to include two minimum payment thresholds. This change has been added to new Capital loan agreement terms. As part of this new policy, Shopify Capital will conduct evaluations at the 6-month and 12-month marks within the loan term to determine if the minimum payment thresholds have been met. These evaluations are important to help ensure that you're making progress towards paying your loan.

The minimum repayments are 30% of the total loan by the 6-month mark and 60% of the total payment amount by the 12-month mark. These payments are calculated based on a percentage of your daily sales, known as the daily payment percentage. These minimum payments are in place to help you stay on track with your loan repayment.

If you fail to meet the minimum payment threshold during these evaluation points, then it may result in an event of default under your loan agreement. Refer to your loan agreement for more details on the actions that may be taken if you miss your minimum payments and an event of defaults.

Loan repayment time frame

Effective February 1, 2024, a new policy is being implemented for new Shopify Capital loans. As part of this policy, you have a maximum of 18 months to fully repay the loan before it's considered in default. This means that you need to repay the loan in full within 18 months from the date you received it. This 18-month period is referred to as the term of the loan.

The loan repayment time frame of 18 months provides you with a clear deadline to work towards. It's important to manage your finances and make regular payments to ensure that you meet this deadline per your loan agreement.

Requesting another loan

After you receive a loan, you might want to apply for another loan for additional financial support.

If you're eligible to apply for another loan and you've repaid at least 65% of your active loan, then new funding options are displayed on the Capital page in your Shopify admin.

If you apply and get approved for a second loan, then the funds are deposited to your bank account within 2-5 business days. The repayment for your second loan begins only after you fully repay your first loan.

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