Balboa Capital Business Loans Review 2024

Pros

• Borrower qualifications are lower than what banks offer
• Multiple types of financing are available
• Funds are disbursed quickly

Cons

• Opaque terms and fees
• Customer service is inconsistent

What Is Balboa Capital?

Balboa Capital is an alternative business funder and a division of Ameris Bancorp. Balboa is a direct lender (not a brokerage) and does not require borrowers to have good credit. This review focuses on Balboa Capital’s loan products.

Though Balboa is both well-established and flush with cash, the company seems plagued by an unusual number of customer complaints. While the picture painted doesn’t imply a scam, I’d recommend caution when dealing with Balboa. This is in addition to our more general warnings about the world of alternative lending, which often features sky-high interest rates and punishing payment schedules.

Services Offered

Balboa Capital offers quick online business financing and a fairly large variety of lending products to established businesses with strong revenue and decent credit.

• Term Loans: Term loans offer borrowers a lump sum of cash. In exchange, the borrower agrees to make regular payments (daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on the loan) plus interest. Term lengths vary.
• SBA Loans: SBA loans are term loans that are partially guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. This allows lenders to offer better rates and terms to small businesses than they otherwise might. Balboa Capital offers both 7(a) and 504 loans.
• Equipment Financing: Equipment financing includes loans and leases designed to provide temporary or permanent access to equipment. The equipment serves as collateral.

Balboa Capital also offers specialized industry financing:

• Franchise financing
• Vendor financing
• Commercial financing

Balboa Capital’s breadth of services covers just about everything but lines of credit. Borrowing amounts vary depending on the product, from average to high. This adds up to a 4/5 rating for services in our system.

Borrower Qualifications

You must meet these prerequisites to qualify for funding from Balboa:

Additional qualifications include:

• The borrower must own at least 1/5 of the business
• Clean banking history (few overdrafts)
• Balboa Capital won’t lend to a borrower with senior debt (in other words, Balboa Capital will not take a second position amongst your debts)

Balboa Capital’s time in business qualifications rule out very new businesses but are still more lenient than you’ll typically find in the traditional lending market. Likewise, its credit score requirements aren’t overly onerous but do put funds out of reach of merchants with poor credit.

It’s the revenue requirements that will most likely be the issue for small businesses. We rate Balboa Capital 3.7/5 for eligibility requirements.

Rates & Fees

Balboa Capital doesn’t divulge its interest rates directly, so you’ll ideally want to ask for a quote as early in the process as you can.

Here’s what we know about Balboa Capital’s products:

Small Business Loans

Balboa Capital’s small business loans are repaid daily or weekly through automated repayments.

Balboa’s working capital funding is unsecured, meaning you don’t have to put up any collateral. That said, Balboa Capital will generally file a UCC-lien on borrowers, which can expose your assets to collection if you default.

SBA Loans

Balboa Capital offers both SBA 7(a) and 504 loans. These are long-term loans that are repaid monthly. Expect a longer and more thorough application process than with Balboa Capital’s other products.

Equipment Financing

Balboa Capital doesn’t provide much information about the terms of its equipment financing. As is typical with equipment financing, however, you’re looking at longer borrowing/leasing terms than with unsecured working capital.

Balboa Capital will finance a wide variety of equipment, including (but not limited to):

• Construction equipment
• Fitness equipment
• Office products
• Cloud software
• Forklifts
• Restaurant equipment
• Commercial trucks
• Manufacturing equipment
• Tech hardware

While Balboa Capital’s repayment structure is quite reasonable, its lack of transparency in rate disclosures hurts it here. We give Balboa Capital 2.5/5 for rates and fees.

Application Process

You can begin the application process online. Depending on the amount of money you’re seeking, the funding will be available within days. If you want to borrow more than $250,000, you should call first, as you’ll have to submit more documents and undergo a lengthier process. After you’ve submitted all your necessary documents, you should quickly receive an offer, frequently the same business day.

Balboa Capital will perform a soft pull on your credit when you apply. Once you accept, Balboa Capital will do a hard pull on your credit. If all goes well, you can potentially get your funds the same day for small business loans and equipment financing.

Balboa Capital could do a better job of publicly disclosing its application process, but once you are through it, you should get your funds quickly. We give Balboa Capital a 3.5/5 for its application process.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

Balboa Capital’s transparency is typical for the alternative funding industry. The website offers basic information about the products offered and the qualifications necessary to receive funding. The missing factor is, of course, public disclosure of rates and fees.

Prospective buyers can get a rough sense of their terms by using Balboa Capital’s loan calculators, which are available on its website. We rate Balboa Capital 3.2/5 for transparency.

Customer Service & Technical Support

You can reach Balboa Capital’s customer service by a variety of means, but it’s a bit of a crapshoot whether you’ll be able to get someone who can address your needs and questions. Also, some customers have complained about Balboa Capital customer service phone reps being rude, unhelpful, or even downright deceptive — though other customers have praised the lender’s customer service. Balboa’s self-service resources are about average and cover the basics.

We give Balboa Capital a 2.4/5 for customer service.

User Reviews

Balboa Capital’s public reputation has been injured by a fairly large number of complaints, as well as legal issues. Reviews are mixed, tending towards negative. For these reasons we give Balboa Capital a 2/5 for user reviews.

Final Verdict

Now under new ownership, Balboa Capital seems to have taken some positive steps forward, although the company’s still dealing with some fallout from the previous era of management. Considering the recent lawsuit, it’s puzzling that the company hasn’t gone further in disclosing rates as a corrective. With the loss of its lines of credit, Balboa Capital isn’t quite as versatile as it used to be, but businesses seeking quick equipment financing may be able to find convenient financing here.

Ultimately, Balboa Capital’s lack of full transparency and lingering customer service issues make it difficult to recommend without any reservations. Check them out, but have a backup plan. We give Balboa Capital an aggregate Merchant Maverick rating of 3.2 out of 5.

If you’re looking for alternatives, check out our recommendations for best small business loans.

Business Loan & Funding Products Review Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching and reviewing business lenders since 2015. Our writers have tested over a hundred different funding products, including traditional term loans, online loans, lines of credit, start-up loans, merchant cash advances, and equipment financing. In each review, we evaluate rates and fees, services, eligibility requirements, application process, sales and advertising transparency, customer service, and user reviews.

Read more about how we rate business loans and funding products.

When comparing different lenders and loan products, we consider many data points, including the ease and transparency of the application process, interest rates, repayment structure, sales ethics, time to funding, revenue and time in business qualifications, and credit score requirements. Our lists of the best funding products include only those we’ve deemed worthwhile from multiple vantage points, and often share qualities such as widespread accessibility across fifty states, low rates, flexible requirements, and competitive borrowing amounts.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure the loans and funding products included meet our internal standards for quality and reputation.

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Find Funding for Any Credit Level

BusinessLoans.com	Visit Site Read our Review

Explore a wide range of business loan options at BusinessLoans.com. With no minimum credit score requirement, find the perfect funding solution for your needs. Get Started.