@Tropical_Willie had the answer I would have written. It’s a normal and legitimate business, even if not a lot of people realize it.
Attorneys do this all the time, too. If you watch certain television and print ads for “get your money now!”, they offer to purchase your long term receivables (such as various settlements and other debt obligations paid to you over time) for “cash on the barrel”. In other words, they’ll give you a lump sum now for a series of future payments that will go to them instead.
Since the present value of money is greater than future payments, don’t expect to get more than a fraction of what your receivables are worth, though.
Life insurance companies also do the same thing (sort of) through “viaticals”. That is, if a policy holder has a terminal condition (typically an illness—certified by a physician—that will take the life of the insured within a fairly predictable time span), then they will pay out a somewhat discounted cash value “now” that the insured can use as he sees fit (hospice care, gifts to others, “final fling” trips and parties—it’s your call).