May was a busy month for the Capitally team. Jonathan Brindley attended the 32nd Annual International Factoring Association (IFA) Conference in Nashville, Tennessee (May 6–8), and Scott Marsh joined us at the Peace Region Energy Show in Grande Prairie, Alberta (May 13–14). Two very different rooms – but some surprisingly consistent themes.
Here’s what we heard.
Nashville: The Alternative Finance Industry Is Active, and Watching Closely
The IFA Conference is one of the largest annual gatherings of alternative finance professionals in North America, with 860 attendees from across the continent this year. Canadians were a small contingent — we’re guessing roughly 20 of us among 860 — but the conversations were valuable, and we came back with a clearer picture of where the industry is headed.
The overall mood was positive. Alternative lenders in the U.S. are busy, and for a straightforward reason: economic uncertainty and tightening credit conditions drive demand for flexible working capital. When traditional financing becomes harder to access, businesses need options — and that’s exactly what the alternative finance industry provides.
A few themes that stood out:
AI is reshaping the industry — and nobody has it fully figured out. Artificial intelligence was front and centre at the conference, with exhibitors demonstrating tools across everything from underwriting to collections. Two schools of thought emerged: those moving quickly to adopt AI, and those proceeding carefully because of real concerns around data privacy and implementation risk. Our takeaway is that everyone is navigating this in real time. At Capitally, we’re being thoughtful about where and how we may bring AI into our own operations — focused on what genuinely serves our clients, not just what’s trending.
Merchant Cash Advances continue to be a concern. MCAs came up repeatedly as a growing problem across the industry. The pitch sounds simple: borrow $100,000, repay $120,000–$125,000. What’s often buried in the fine print is that the full repayment is due in 12 weeks or less, drawn directly from your bank account on a daily basis. For any business already navigating tight cash flow, this can accelerate a crisis rather than resolve one. If you or a client has been approached about this type of financing, it’s worth reading the terms carefully before signing anything.
Uncertainty is good for the factoring industry — and challenging for everyone else. The consistent thread across every conversation at Nashville: in a turbulent economic environment, financial flexibility is a competitive advantage. The businesses and lenders managing it best right now are the ones that built that flexibility before they needed it.
Grande Prairie: Cautious Optimism in the Oil Patch
The Peace Region Energy Show is the largest annual gathering of energy professionals in Western Canada, with 400+ exhibitors and thousands of attendees. Scott spent two days on the floor talking with oilfield services companies, equipment suppliers, and industry contacts — and came away with a nuanced read on where things stand.
The mood: better than it’s been, but not there yet. Companies in the Peace Region are feeling more positive than they did a year or two ago, but the optimism hasn’t fully translated into ground-level activity. The oil patch has always operated in cycles, and right now the industry sits somewhere between the last bust and the next climb. When minimum investment budgets start in the billions, sustained price stability matters before capital gets committed.
The pain point everyone was talking about: equipment costs. Equipment that cost $400,000 a decade ago is now running $900,000 to $1 million. Used equipment prices haven’t come down meaningfully, because new equipment prices have risen so dramatically that the whole market has shifted. Scott heard about this in virtually every conversation on the floor — and it’s creating real financial pressure for companies that need to maintain, replace, or grow their equipment fleet.
On the awareness front: most oilfield services companies we spoke with have heard the words “factoring” and “alternative financing” but few have engaged with it. Their default financial toolkit is a bank operating line and equipment financing — and that’s typically where it stops. It’s not that alternative working capital solutions aren’t a fit. It’s a culture of urgency: these are companies built around execution, and they tend to seek out alternative financing when a pressing need surfaces, not in advance of one.
That’s worth keeping in mind — because when the need does surface, they move quickly.
What This Means Right Now
Whether you’re a business owner navigating an uncertain operating environment, or a professional who works alongside Canadian businesses, the themes from both conferences point to the same thing: the businesses that are managing well right now are the ones with financial flexibility built in — not scrambling to find it.
If you’re feeling the pressure of stretched receivables, rising costs, or financing that’s harder to access than it used to be, we’d welcome a conversation. And if you know someone who is, a simple introduction is all it takes.
