Dive Brief:

• Fintech firm Payability has unveiled a new business debit card that will allow online marketplace sellers to access their payouts from sales and promptly apply them to various business expenses and capital investment needs, according to a Payability press release e-mailed to Retail Dive.

• The Payability Seller Visa Card, issued by Sutton Bank and supported by open API platform partner Marqeta, also offers 2% cash back on purchases made with the card, and as much as 20% cash back on purchases from companies that support marketplace sellers’ business growth, such as those that sell them inventory or supplies.

• The card is the latest addition to a financing platform that Payability claimed has advanced more than $1 billion in funds to online marketplace sellers since 2016.

Dive Insight:

Online marketplaces are booming. The sellers in those marketplaces are both benefiting from and largely driving this success story, but for many marketplace sellers doing business through these channels requires a continued talent for juggling.

Selling online means these merchants — many of them individuals or very small firms — can sell ahead of their inventory and avoid getting stuck with excess inventories that have plagued brick-and-mortar retailers. But, selling this way also comes with its own complexities, as both seller and buyer go through a middleman — the marketplace — to pay and get paid. In this scenario, sellers often have to wait a couple weeks or more to get paid.

Combined with the other challenges of managing their businesses — marketing and promotions, keeping up with consumer needs and trends, ordering inventory from suppliers and keeping shipments moving out the door — sellers are left with little time and ability to actually grow their businesses. Not having lag time on getting paid means not suffering from a lack of working capital that could open more doors for sellers.

Many payments companies and financial technology firms are trying to do something about that. Payability already offers services such as Instant Access, which enables next-day payouts for merchants, and Instant Advance, which allows them to borrow funds against future sales to be used as working capital. A seller Visa card that acts like a debit card is an interesting variation on what it already has done with Instant Access.