What it does
Funder mail servers reject emails that are too large, and a deal with big bank statement files can bounce off every email funder at once. With Compress Files turned on, MCA Pilot compresses the bank statements and application form on each submission as it goes out, keeping the email under funder size limits.
Three things to know up front:
Your stored files are never changed. Compression happens on the copy sent to the funder. The documents on the deal stay exactly as they were uploaded.
Quality is preserved. Compression is tuned so statements remain crisp and fully legible, including scanned documents. Any file that would not get smaller is sent in its original form.
It works together with stamping and watermarking. If those features are on, documents are stamped or watermarked first and then compressed.
How to turn it on
Go to Settings, open the Features tab, and in the Compress Files section enable Compress Attachments at Submission. It applies to all email submissions from your workspace.
To send original, uncompressed files to a specific funder, open that funder's record and enable Exclude from Compression.
How it relates to Block Oversized Attachments
The Block Oversized Attachments setting in the same section still applies. With both enabled, compression runs first, and only submissions that remain over the size limit even after compression are marked as Errored instead of being sent. In practice this should be rare.
FAQ
Which submissions does this apply to? Submissions sent by email. Funders connected by API have their own upload channels and are not affected.
Does it slow down my submissions? No meaningful delay. Compression takes a few seconds per document and happens in the background as the submission is prepared.
What if a deal still bounces? A small number of document types compress very little. If a deal keeps bouncing, reach out and we'll take a look.