Leading SMB fintech Nav announced the launch of Nav Prime, and the innovative credit building Nav Prime card for small businesses.

For Nav, the introduction of Nav Prime is a natural extension of its financial health platform. Nav is the only platform that helps small businesses transparently understand all of their financing options and know what they can qualify before they apply. By aggregating the credit and financial data from a small business, Nav is able to align their financing qualifications to its network of over 160 different products and providers. Just this year, Nav has helped more than 100,000 small businesses access financing and funding.  

Nav Prime is a fully connected financial management platform designed to serve modern small businesses. From cash flow monitoring to business credit reporting, deposits, banking, and business card solutions, businesses can now streamline not only how they manage, but how they can actively improve their finances - all in one place. 

The launch of Nav Prime also includes a first of its kind business credit-building charge card designed specifically for the SMB segment. The Nav Prime Card has no annual fee and does not require a personal guarantee (meaning there is no impact to a user's personal credit). The Nav Prime card reports spending to all three major commercial credit bureaus, meaning users can potentially build their business credit scores simply by using the card for their daily spending. Nav Prime cardholders may link any existing business checking account they choose (including Nav's) to their card, which is another key differentiator in comparison to other corporate card and expense management fintech players who have courted the SMB market in the past.

With Nav Prime, Nav is the only place that can help a business improve their financing qualifications, see the impact of those changes and get streamlined access to their best options, all in the same place. Nav provides the data and insights that are most critical for a business owner's financial health, including their borrowing power, and for the first time, puts the SMB at an advantage providing transparency on their best options and rates when deciding which lender, or type of funding, is best for their business.

According to the Federal Reserve Banks' Small Business Credit Survey, a staggering 59% of small businesses reported being in fair or poor financial condition. Some measures are being taken to help address this (along with the funding gap for small businesses). Notably, two new rules by the SBA went into effect earlier this month revising lending parameters for SBA loans to "address persistent capital access gaps." 

Small businesses have largely been ignored by the fintech industry, or only catered to in convenient, low interest rate environments. With recent rate hikes, we've seen multiple fintechs pull out of the small business space, often on short notice, putting small business owners at risk of survival. Many of these Main Street businesses are also highly credit-worthy with strong revenue or cash on hand. 

With Nav, small business borrowers have the ability to see what lenders see before seeking out financing opportunities, improving loan approval odds and decreasing risk to their business credit ratings with the major business credit bureaus, such as Experian and Equifax. 

"Small business owners have been left in the dark in terms of knowing how lenders see their business," says Greg Ott, Chief Executive Officer at Nav. "Nav Prime and the unique Nav Prime charge card gives owners a new tool to improve their business' financial qualifications by making their everyday transactions help build their business credit score, and ultimately lead to better working capital options."

Gian Perrone, VP of Engineering at Nav (and former Engineering Lead for Square Banking) adds "Nav has always used proprietary data and insights that allow us to help each of our unique small business customers NAVIGATE to their best options. With the introduction of Nav Prime, we're excited to put this data to work offering them a personalized journey towards financial health for their business."