VIVA Finance closes $150 million Viola Credit facility
VIVA Finance closed a $150 million credit facility with Viola Credit, adding warehouse capacity for its payroll-linked consumer loans.
VIVA Finance closed a $150 million credit facility with Viola Credit on October 20, 2026. Having set the Atlanta post beside the lender's July 2025 capital note, this is warehouse money for payroll-linked consumer loans, in the same family as Octane's forward-flow facility, rather than a fresh price on the equity. The company announcement says the proceeds scale lending that takes repayment from an employee's direct deposit.
Viola Credit is described there as a global alternative asset manager focused on technology-enabled lending. Jack Markwalter, chief executive and founder of VIVA Finance, said the debt facility "empowers us to bring our responsible credit solutions to even more consumers." The post adds that the direct-deposit link is what allows better terms and lower interest rates than traditional personal-loan alternatives.
A second warehouse
On July 16, 2025, VIVA Finance said it had secured over $220 million in new capital, on a page the company marks as updated on September 25, 2025. That note puts the majority in a debt facility from Community Investment Management, with equity alongside, and says originations had passed $250 million since the lending platform launched in 2020. The October announcement leaves that origination total where the 2025 note put it, and it names Viola Credit rather than a new share sale.
The October post describes Viola Credit as managing $5 billion, with over $3.5 billion of asset-based lending transactions across the United States, the United Kingdom, Western Europe and Australia. Michael Chen, managing director and head of US investments at Viola Credit, said VIVA Finance "has built an exceptional platform that addresses a critical gap in consumer finance," and that the firm is partnering with "Jack, Hodges and the entire VIVA team." Hodges Markwalter is the co-founder a September 23, 2025 Paychex note calls chief revenue officer.
The rate card beside the claim
Annual percentage rate (APR), size and term sit on the terms page: unsecured personal instalment loans up to $15,000, from 11.99% to 35.99% APR including fees, over as long as 36 months. A $4,000 example on that page, charged a $25 prepaid finance charge and repaid over 24 months at 18.99% interest, is stated as a 19.60% APR and $4,906.80 in total, and approvals rest primarily on employment information.
A 35.99% ceiling can undercut a payday loan and still look expensive next to a prime instalment loan, which is the slot that September 2025 Paychex post already described, between earned-wage products from Chime, Dave and DailyPay and larger loans from SoFi, Upstart and Upgrade, then at up to $10,000 and 24 months. The live Paychex employee page now shows up to $15,000 over as long as 36 months, so the shelf has widened since that note. Salary Hero's earned-wage product is wages already earned and taken back through the employer, a shorter asset than this instalment.
Sponsor banks and the pipes
VIVA's compliance footer says the company is not a bank, and that loans are originated by Thread Bank, Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), DR Bank, Member FDIC, or Viva Finance Inc. The terms page repeats those three names and lists Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) number 1905666. The Paychex employee page names Thread Bank and DR Bank, while the Missouri notice is written for customers whose loans Viva Finance Inc. originates.
A post datelined April 28, 2026 says DR Bank, trading as DRB, will originate on the platform and, over time, help the lender reach borrowers in all 50 states. That keeps a sponsor bank in the stack, a different choice from Chime's agreement to buy partner Stride Bank, even though the 2025 Paychex note had listed Chime among earned-wage names.
The Paychex note places the offer inside Paychex Flex Perks and describes Paychex as paying about 10 million workers. A June 16, 2026 BenefitHub note names VIVA Finance the preferred personal-loan partner on Benefits+, citing more than 10 million employees, loans up to $15,000 and APRs starting at 11.99%.
What the line has to carry
The test is whether Thread Bank, DR Bank and any Viva Finance Inc. paper can take Paychex and BenefitHub volume inside the published APR band. The October post gives the size, the lender and the use of proceeds, and it leaves draw timing, covenants and advance rates off the page. If those channels keep sending instalment demand, Viola's $150 million is drawn ahead of any new share sale, with the July 2025 Community Investment Management facility still underneath.
Reporting by Rick Steves. Filed 27 October 2026, 20:15 GMT.
Senior Reporter, Regulation and Fintech
Rick Steves has seen business and economics through many lenses. He joined the financial services industry in 2009, and has been a financial journalist since 2011.
