Small businesses that sell physical goods generate records before the commercial activity is reflected in the financial accounts or converted into cash.
Orders enter commerce systems. Inventory moves into and out of warehouses. Products are picked and packed. Shipments leave for customers. Each step produces data about the operation of the business.
Some of that supply-chain data is now being brought into SMB financing.
A financing product planned for 2027 will use FedEx supply-chain intelligence, including shipment activity, inventory movement and fulfillment performance, in financing analysis through Stripe Capital for FedEx SMB customers, according to PYMNTS coverage of the announcement.
The use of supply-chain information comes as lenders continue to report weaknesses in the records available for small-business underwriting.
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PYMNTS Intelligence found that 57% of financial institutions cite inaccurate or incomplete SMB records as an underwriting obstacle. Outdated information was cited by 52%, inconsistent information by 52% and limited financial histories by 48%. The findings come from a survey of 350 financial institution executives in the United States and United Kingdom, detailed in the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Keeping Score: Why Data Quality Determines Lending Decisions for the Smallest Firms.”
Supply-chain records differ from the financial information normally associated with a credit application because they document physical commercial activity. More of those operations now take place through digital systems.
Digital channels generated 57% of SMB sales on average last year, according to the July PYMNTS Intelligence report “The SMB Growth Engine: How Digital Sales and Customer Tracking Drive Revenue.”
Digital sales generate records beyond the payment itself. Commerce systems record orders, while inventory systems update stock. The resulting datasets describe different stages of the transaction from the financial records created when money changes hands. No single supply-chain dataset necessarily captures the entire business. Shipment volume measures packages moving, not profit. Inventory movement records goods entering or leaving stock, not the margin earned when they are sold. Fulfillment records show orders being processed, while payment and financial records provide separate information about the resulting revenue and cash position.
The Need for Credit
Cash pressure gives the supply-chain data another context. PYMNTS Intelligence found that half of SMBs depend on day-to-day sales proceeds or cash already in the bank to remain in operation, with hotels, restaurants and entertainment businesses the most likely to rely on those limited cash resources. Only 44% reported access to financing and working-capital solutions, according to PYMNTS Intelligence research on how small businesses finance themselves during periods of uncertainty.
The financing picture also varies substantially by vertical. February 2026 PYMNTS Intelligence research found that 69% of construction and utilities SMBs and 67% of retail SMBs use business credit cards.
The data shows there’s opportunity ahead as ahead as supply-chain information enters SMB financing. The FedEx Dataworks and Stripe initiative puts shipment activity, inventory movement and fulfillment performance alongside information already available for financing analysis. It also places data generated during the movement of physical goods inside a process that has historically relied heavily on financial and credit records.