Behalf Review
Behalf

Total Rating | 4.0 |
---|---|
Terms & Fees | Excellent |
Application Process | Good |
Sales & Advertising Transparency | Excellent |
Customer Service | Good |
User Reviews | Excellent |
Pros
- Borrower qualifications are lower than banks
- No extra fees
- No prepayment penalties
- Financing is suited for startups & small businesses
- Applicants can quickly be pre-qualified
- Application process is fast & easy
- Website advertising is clear & informative
- Builds personal credit
Cons
- Rates can be expensive
Behalf Overview
Behalf (formerly called Zazma) is a business funder that offers financing to small- and medium-sized businesses. Similar to providers of purchase order (PO) financing, Behalf pays the bills for your goods and services; that way, your vendors get their cash up front, and you can repay Behalf when you have the funds.
If you’re familiar with invoice financing, it might help to think of Behalf as the reverse. The loan and costs are picked up by the invoicee, not the invoicer. Because of this, Behalf is an excellent resource if your vendor will not extend credit to your business, your vendor’s terms do not work for your business, or you simply want to pay your vendors as soon as possible.
While many invoices have maximum repayments of 90 days, Behalf’s repayment terms can be as long as six months. Additionally, the repayment schedule is flexible and completely up to the borrower — you get to choose the repayment frequency and the term length, which means that you will be able to set terms that work best for your business.
However, the convenience does come with a cost. Fees run between $10 and $30 per month for every $1,000 borrowed. With term lengths up to six months, you’re looking at a maximum fee of $180 for each $1,000 borrowed. That said, while expensive, these fees are about standard for a service such as this.
Behalf is available to most small businesses, regardless of your time in business, business revenue, or credit score.
Sound like something you’re interested in? Read on for the details!
Table of Contents
Services Offered
Behalf offers purchase financing. Merchants can use Behalf to pay for goods or services immediately and set up a payment schedule to repay Behalf in installments. Repayments to Behalf are made weekly or monthly, up to a maximum of six months.
Borrower Qualifications
Here are Behalf’s minimum borrower requirements:
- At least two years of personal credit history
- At least three open accounts that are paid on time
- No more than one recent delinquency
- No recent defaults
As always, eligibility for the service is determined by many business characteristics, so the lender might find that you are not eligible for the service after taking a close look at your business finances and credit history. Additional business requirements include:
- Positive annual income
- At least one open business account
- A US-based business that is in good standing with the state in which it’s registered
- Low or no outstanding balances on payments beyond the terms of the business
Terms & Fees
These are the terms and fees for Behalf’s services:
Column Heading | Data |
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Borrowing amount: | $500 - $250,000 |
Term length: | 30 - 180 days |
Interest rate: | 1% - 3% per month |
Origination fee: | None |
Effective APR: |
Most users will not have access to the full $250,000 when they sign up for this service. However, Behalf might increase your credit limit as you use the service and your business grows.
You can use Behalf to pay for most goods and services, with a few exceptions. Behalf can fund purchases for most inventory or services, such as material for a new clothing line or product photography, but you cannot use the service to pay bills, make loan payments, cover payroll, or deal with any other form of existing debt.
When you use this funder to pay for something, you can choose to repay on a weekly or monthly basis. Behalf claims that borrowers who choose the weekly repayment option will receive a 10% reduction of their borrowing fees.
You can also choose any term length, up to the maximum length granted to you by Behalf. Repayments are made via automatic ACH deductions from the bank account hooked up to your Behalf account.
The only fees you’ll be charged for certain are the fees on the principal. This lender does not have origination or maintenance fees. Behalf charges between 1% – 3% every 30 days. So, if you’ve borrowed $1,000 and you’re repaying in 30 days, it’ll cost you somewhere between $10 and $30. If you’re repaying in 180 days, then you’re looking at fees somewhere between $60 and $180.
On its website, Behalf offers a calculator that you can use to clearly see fees and your total cost of borrowing.
Application Process
Behalf has a very simple application process.
The application can be started via the company website. The first step is to create an account and verify your email address. After that, you’ll need to fill out a short questionnaire that includes questions about your business and yourself. Behalf will use the information gathered from you to come to an instant preliminary decision regarding your eligibility. If you are eligible, the service will let you know your fees, term lengths, and maximum credit limit. Be aware that when you apply, Behalf will perform a hard check on your credit account, which will show up on your credit history.
Although you have been pre-approved, Behalf doesn’t officially approve borrowers until you have entered your bank account information and requested your first payment. As such, you might want to test the service before relying on it for important or time-sensitive payments.
Once approved, you’ll be provided with a virtual Visa that can be used up to your approved credit limit for purchases made in-store, online, or over the phone.
Sales & Advertising Transparency
Behalf provides a fair amount of information on their website and FAQ. Borrowers shouldn’t come across any surprises during the application and funding process.
Customer Service & Technical Support
Customers can get in contact with Behalf via email, phone, or live chat. Additionally, the answers to most basic questions can be found in the FAQ.
A few customers have claimed difficulty getting in touch with customer service or frustration that Behalf does not adequately communicate why they or their customers were rejected. However, most reviewers appear happy with the level of support offered, claiming that Behalf’s service is responsive, friendly, and helpful.
User Reviews
Negative Reviews & Complaints
Behalf is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and has a presence on other customer review sites, such as Trustpilot. Here is what customers have complained about:
- Hard Credit Check: Perhaps because Behalf doesn’t specify a minimum score, some customers are surprised when they learn that Behalf performed a hard check (which might have a small negative effect on your personal credit score). Behalf does a hard check during the application process to help decide if you’re eligible for the service.
- Denial After Pre-Approval: Some customers have signed up for the service, received information about their terms and fees, and then been unexpectedly denied the first time they tried to use Behalf to pay for goods or services. Be aware that Behalf doesn’t officially approve you to use its service until you’ve entered your bank account information and requested your first payment.
- Customer Service Confusion: Some customers have reported difficulty getting in touch with customer service.
Overall, Behalf has relatively few complaints across the web, and it appears to make an effort to resolve any complaints brought up by customers.
Positive Reviews & Testimonials
Behalf has received generally favorable ratings from its users, earning a rating of 4.3/5 stars (based on 532 reviews) on Trustpilot. Customers are happiest with the:
- Friendly Customer Service: While some customers had problems with customer service, others cited customer service as a high point of working with Behalf.
- Flexible Repayment Terms: Behalf gives you a lot of options regarding when and how you want to repay your loan.
- Credit Building: Behalf reports your payment activity to personal and business credit bureaus, which might increase your credit score if you make timely payments.
We’d like to hear from you, though! Have you used Behalf’s service? Was your experience good or bad? Leave a message in the comments!
Final Verdict
Behalf is best for businesses that need an intermediary to pay for goods and services. This service is especially helpful for businesses that need more flexible payment options than their suppliers are willing to give them. Additionally, startups and new businesses might be eligible for this service, which may be helpful as those types of businesses do not have many financing options.
However, some businesses may find that they need a larger credit line or that they don’t want to go through a middleman to pay their vendors. For those merchants, a more traditional business line of credit or a business credit card might be a better option.
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Organization Name: Ronware
I have always continued to make payments on time on my account. Its very disappointing to find out they you have suspended funding. I continue to work everyday to support my customers and to purchase supplies that are needed. I will look for other funding and look to close this account.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I have had Behalf for 1 year now. And they have incorrectly taken away my credit lineThis credit company also has no one you can readily speak with, you must leave messages until someone responds. It is very frustrating and as a business owner you must constantly log in to make sure they don’t make mistakes on your account.Its not a real credit line
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Statement Pieces
I have had Behalf for 3 years now. And twice they have incorrectly taken away my credit line. I had to wait two weeks, for someone to finally realize that it was a mistake and reinstate my credit. Then today after making a payment on time as always . I get a message that my line was taken away again. I had spending power and could not use it. This credit company also has no one you can readily speak with, you must leave messages until someone responds. It is very frustrating and as a business owner you must constantly log in to make sure they don’t make mistakes on your account. Finally after hours I got the credit line back with no explanation or apology.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Hometechmart
Yes, such a crummy low class operation, nobody answers call or calls back. And now that covid19 comes they turn their back on all the customers that aren’t high credit limit customers. I have perfect payment history yet they claim covid19 fault they froze my account and won’t do business with me. YET claim that they are still taking on new accounts . I guess I’m just not good enough. They want big spenders and/ or are discriminating. These people ARE NOT THERE FOR YOU WHEN YOU NEED THEM.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: mobile deals
Decent company to work with UNLESS you need help with anything. When signing up there are sales reps that you’ll get many phone calls and emails from making sure you complete the process. Once you sign up getting in contact with them is incredibly difficult. You call their “operator” which creates a ticket, that’s it. It’s almost as useful sending them a postcard in the mail. Then you receive an email with a ticket number. Then you’ll receive an email saying that they need more information to direct you to the right department. Then nothing. You might not hear back from them again. My guess is other than the sales department which seems to be quite large, all other departments have people working there part-time if at all. No one has responded to my multiple phone calls and emails. Their rate isn’t super high and they pay suppliers pretty quickly. But with how difficult they are to deal with, I would avoid them unless you absolutely can’t.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
We need to integrate behalf payment as one of the magento payment methods. Is there any module available for that or how can we implement the same feature in our magento site just like the video example you have shared. Please can anyone help me out.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Somnath,
To be honest, this isn’t something we’ve ever encountered before, so it may be a bit outside of our expertise. I’d rather not give you an answer that I’m not too certain about. If you happen to figure this out on your own, please let us know what solution you find so we can learn how to answer something like this in the future.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Its not a real credit line. Submitted bill from vendor 4 time .. 4 times declined to pay. Glad I wasnt counting. On them
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I am very happy with behalf’s financing program and service. I have been using them for 6 months now and have never had any problems. My orders are always paid immediately to my vendors and the terms are satisfactory to me . The only complaint if it is one is by being in the Vapor Business, I am very limited on which vendors i can use . Other than that i am very happy with there service
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Watch out!!!! They run some questionable practices. We signed up our business to promote theme s offer there services. At first they are quick to take your calls and answer any business questions you may have. Once they have you on board they along with there so called “manager, supervisors” run for cover. We attempted for a whole month to contact them and never got any call backs thinking they had gone out of business. Today I found out from one of my customers that they are still in business.??!!
It’s almost laughable how they intend to represent themselves as a very ligitamwnt business when in turn they are not. It’s seems that they have 5-10 employee operation.
behalf… your company and staff will not take you anywhere: your staff and management should be reassessed and recourse to attaining proper training before representing you. Do good by your customers!!!’
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I always have had great contact with them. Best to use email they respond rather quickly
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.