DECTA and SAPI Launch DECTA Capital to Provide Flexible Financing for UK SMEs

DECTA has partnered with SAPI to launch DECTA Capital, a payment-linked financing solution designed for UK small and medium-sized enterprises. By embedding growth capital directly into the payment experience, the move addresses a critical funding gap for SMEs that generate over half of the UK's private sector turnover but face increasingly restrictive traditional lending criteria.

What was announced

The new product, DECTA Capital, provides UK SMEs with rapid access to growth capital by integrating SAPI’s financing infrastructure directly into DECTA’s existing payment ecosystem. This embedded finance model allows merchants to bypass the document-heavy and slow-moving processes typically associated with traditional bank lending. Instead of fixed monthly repayments, the service utilizes a payment-linked model where businesses repay a pre-agreed percentage of their card sales. This ensures that repayment obligations remain aligned with actual trading performance, providing flexibility during slower business periods.

The offering is designed to remove significant barriers to entry, such as collateral requirements or high credit score hurdles. According to the partnership details, funding offers are typically made available within 24 hours. By leveraging SAPI’s specialized infrastructure for underwriting, servicing, and compliance, DECTA can scale its capital products without building these complex operations in-house. This allows the provider to focus on its core payment services while simultaneously offering a more comprehensive financial suite to its merchant base. The collaboration targets a broad range of businesses, specifically aiming to support those that have been historically underserved by traditional financial institutions.

"Access to capital remains one of the biggest barriers facing growing businesses, so it’s imperative we do what we can to buck this trend. There’s no reason they should be held back by traditional rules and constraints. Partnering with SAPI means we can offer our customers a faster, more flexible funding experience directly. This means they’ll have one less thing to worry about and can instead focus on what matters for their business."

Scott Dawson, Director & CEO UK at DECTA.

The companies involved

DECTA is a global payment technology provider that focuses on delivering end-to-end solutions for merchants, acquirers, and banks. The company operates as a key player in the international payments landscape, offering a range of services from card issuing to acquiring and technical processing. With a strong presence in the UK market, DECTA has positioned itself as a facilitator for digital transformation within the SME sector, often highlighting the need for modernized payment infrastructure to meet evolving consumer habits.

SAPI is a specialized provider of payment-linked financing infrastructure. The firm focuses on bridging the gap between payment ecosystems and capital markets, enabling fintechs and payment providers to offer credit products without the overhead of building internal underwriting or compliance teams. SAPI’s model is particularly aimed at underserved segments of the economy, including first-time founders and businesses owned by women or immigrants, who frequently encounter friction when seeking traditional working capital. By plugging directly into existing payment flows, the company enables real-time data assessment to facilitate faster lending decisions than traditional manual underwriting processes.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has followed DECTA’s recent efforts to expand its service capabilities, including a move where DECTA Taps OpenPayd to Streamline International Treasury Settlement via Stablecoin Infrastructure. This focus on efficiency follows research highlighting that 40% of UK SMEs Underserved by Payment Tech as Cash Flow Crisis Looms, a finding that underscores the necessity of the DECTA Capital launch. Additionally, the company has worked to improve its backend intelligence, as seen when DECTA and actuary.aero to Drive Smarter Risk Management Through Data Intelligence. DECTA has also been vocal about the need for digital adoption, previously stating that UK SMEs Urged to Modernise Payments as DECTA Research Reveals Changing Consumer Habits.

What this means

The launch of DECTA Capital signals a shift where payment service providers are no longer just utilities for moving money, but essential credit lifelines. By bypassing traditional credit scores in favor of real-time transaction data, this partnership puts significant pressure on high-street banks whose rigid lending criteria and slow approval cycles are increasingly out of step with the digital economy. The success of such models raises a critical question for the industry: as more SMEs turn to their payment processors for liquidity, will traditional commercial lending become obsolete for the small business sector? This move confirms that embedded finance is now a primary battleground for merchant retention.