E-commerce giant Shopify and payments infrastructure provider Stripe have jointly launched an embedded invoice financing product for UK-based merchants, allowing sellers to receive up to 90 per cent of outstanding B2B invoice values within hours of issuing them. The product, branded as Shopify Capital Invoice Advance, is powered by Stripe's treasury and lending APIs and uses real-time sales and payment data from Shopify's platform to underwrite credit decisions automatically, with no manual application process required.

The partnership targets the estimated 180,000 UK businesses that use Shopify for B2B wholesale transactions, many of which struggle with cash flow gaps caused by 30 to 90-day payment terms from corporate buyers. "Cash flow is the number one killer of small e-commerce businesses," said Kaz Sherwood, Shopify's VP of financial services for EMEA. "By embedding financing at the exact point where the cash gap occurs — the moment an invoice is raised — we eliminate the need for merchants to seek external funding." Early pilot data showed that merchants using the product grew revenue 23 per cent faster than non-users over a six-month period.

The launch represents the latest salvo in a rapidly intensifying battle to embed financial services within vertical software platforms. Stripe's treasury and issuing APIs now power embedded finance features for over 50 platforms across Europe, while competitors including Adyen and Mollie are building similar capabilities. UK trade body the Federation of Small Businesses welcomed the initiative, noting that late payments cost UK SMEs an estimated £684 million per year in additional financing costs and administrative burden.