ShopKeep, a point-of-sale platform for independent retailers and restaurants, has launched a program called ShopKeep R.I.S.E. to offer no-fee, no-interest cash advances to minority owned businesses in a bid to help close racial disparities in accessing capital.
The program will offer a total of $250,000 on a rolling basis, with individual businesses able to access anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 each.
“While we must all make decisions about the types of actions we take as individuals, we believe it’s also critical for the business community to take a stand and to take action where it can make a difference,” Michael DeSimone, CEO of ShopKeep, said in a company release. “With the creation of this special fund, we are taking sustainable action to help drive real and impactful change.”
To be eligible for the funding, the businesses must meet the following criteria:
Businesses must meet the criteria for being a minority-owned business. For purposes of the program, an minority group member is a person who is at least 25% Black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American as defined by the National Minority Supplier Development Council.
Businesses must use ShopKeep as their only point-of-sale platform.
Merchants must actively process transactions with ShopKeep Payments. Non-ShopKeep Payments customers can still apply for an advance and switch over if they are approved.
The business must be based in the U.S. and also be majority owned by a U.S. citizen.
Fintech-Insight is dedicated to delivering unbiased and dependable insights into cryptocurrency, finance, trading, and stocks. However, we must clarify that we don't offer financial advice, and we strongly recommend users to perform their own research and due diligence.