Bluevine Lines Of Credit & Small Business Loans Review

Pros

• Financing is available for startups and entrepreneurs
• Monthly repayments available for some customers
• The application is fast & easy
• Funds get disbursed quickly

Cons

• Financing isn’t available in some states
• Rates can be expensive
• Customer service is inconsistent

What Is Bluevine?

Bluevine is an online lending service offering business lines of credit, term loans, and business checking accounts.

Bluevine’s fees can get a little expensive, but despite the potential for high costs, Bluevine offers useful funding services that are relatively easy to qualify for, convenient, and useful for merchants who struggle with cash flow problems.

Services Offered

Bluevine offers small business lines of credit. Lines of credit are similar to credit cards, giving you a set amount of credit that you can use. You can make one or multiple draws as needed, and you only pay interest on the amount borrowed.

You can also receive term loans through Bluevine’s lending partners. Term loans offer lump sums of cash that are repaid, plus interest, on a regular, set schedule.

Since our last update, Bluevine has partnered with Fundera to provide borrowers with SBA 7(a) loans.

Bluevine also offers business checking accounts.

Bluevine’s services effectively cover the basics of small business lending, with modest borrowing amounts and product breadth. Bluevine borrowers will benefit from the banking service infrastructure Bluevine’s developed, making it easy to check on your accounts on any device.

Borrower Qualifications

To qualify for a Bluevine line of credit, your business must meet the following minimum requirements:

Bluevine lines of credit are available to U.S. corporations and LLCs, except those based in Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, or U.S. territories. Your business must not have filed for bankruptcy within the last three years.

This product is available to most industries except for the following:

• Illegal gambling
• Pornography
• Political campaigns
• Firearms
• Controlled substances
• Financial institutions and lenders (includes auctions, insurance, and cryptocurrency)
• Auto dealerships

Bluevine’s time in business and credit score restrictions rule out some very new businesses as well as those with very low credit scores, but should be accessible to a large number of merchants. Borrower qualifications are on the website, but not prominently displayed.

Note that borrower qualifications for term loans through Bluevine vary depending on the affiliate.

Rates & Fees

Bluevine offers two lines of credit — one with a draw term length of six months and one with a term length of 12 months. Because its more extended term length makes it riskier, most businesses will not qualify for lines of credit with 12-month draw terms.

Here are the rates and fees for Bluevine’s lines of credit:

Bluevine’s lines of credit currently cap at a maximum of $250,000, but the amount you can borrow will depend on the strength of your business.

Once approved, you can draw funds up to your available credit line at any time you want. You can pay a wire fee to expedite funds, have funds instantly deposited into your Bluevine checking account, or do a standard ACH transfer to your bank account, which can take up to three business days.

Repayments are made in 26 weekly installments if you have a 6-month term or in 12 monthly installments if you have a 12-month term. Regardless, you can repay early at any time. If you do so, you’ll only have to repay the interest that has accrued up to that point. Bluevine does not charge a prepayment penalty.

Bluevine’s lines of credit are issued by Utah-based Celtic Bank.

Bluevine’s rates and fees are slightly better than average for its market segment. Unfortunately, Bluevine’s recently taken a big step backward in transparency, disclosing few of its rates and fees on its website.

Application Process

The application for Bluevine’s services is simple: create an account via the website and answer basic questions about yourself and your business. You’ll also have to provide either the most recent three months of bank statements or allow read-only access to your bank account.

Once you give your phone number, expect a call from a Bluevine rep who will walk you through the process and answer any questions.

Approval is based on several factors. Your credit score is a consideration, but Bluevine also looks at various other factors, such as social media presence, business history, transaction volume, and the creditworthiness of your customers.

Once approved, you can begin drawing from your credit line immediately. Money transfers usually take one to three business days. If you have a Bluevine business checking account, you can get access to your money even faster.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

Bluevine used to be among the more transparent online lenders, but has recently taken a step backward. You’ll find very little publicly disclosed information about rates on Bluevine’s site.

That said, Bluevine’s sales tactics don’t make any particularly deceptive promises either.

Customer Service & Technical Support

The consensus (which matches my own experience) is that Bluevine reps are very responsive, whichever way you choose to contact them.

If you’re not in the mood to talk to somebody, Bluevine also has an FAQ for general questions before signup, as well as one for customers already using the lender’s services, but there’s nothing particularly meaty in those.

Bluevine User Reviews

Bluevine’s user reviews are mixed but trend positive. The company’s business banking services tend to be a bigger source of complaints than its lines of credit, but as the products are increasingly more intertwined, it makes sense to consider them as a total package.

Negative Reviews & Complaints

Bluevine is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating, but it only scores a 1.11 out of 140+ ratings in customer reviews. A large number of those are associated with PPP loans from 2020, and many of the more recent ones are about the company’s business checking product.

Criticisms and complaints include:

• Denials: Some reviewers were frustrated to learn that they had been denied funding, even though they met all the requirements listed on Bluevine’s website. A few were further frustrated because they felt Bluevine did not give them a clear reason for why they were rejected.
• Expensive Fees: The fees may be a little higher than some customers would like.
• Rejected Draws: Some customers were frustrated to learn that requested draws from their credit line had been rejected. Bluevine monitors your revenue and debts and will not let you borrow if it looks like you cannot repay based on the information it has. Unfortunately, this can happen at inconvenient times for some businesses.
• Communication Issues: One of the harder-to-resolve complaints involved confusion over the point of contact for Bluevine products administered through its partnerships.

Positive Reviews & Testimonials

Bluevine’s rep has fared better on Trustpilot, where it gets an average of 4.5 stars out of 5 with over 9,400 reviews.

In addition to a large number of customer reviews, Bluevine has been extensively covered by news sources, including TechCrunch, Forbes, HuffPost, PYMNTS.com, Crowdfund Insider, American Banker, and others.

In general, merchants like Bluevine’s services for solving cash flow problems. The funder’s lines of credit can be used any time you need extra cash, whatever the purpose may be.

Additionally, customers like the:

• Prompt customer service
• Transparent advertising
• Easy application process
• Fast time to funding

Is A Bluevine Loan Right For Your Business?

Our primary issue with Bluevine is its decreasing amount of transparency. Given how complex Bluevine’s ecosystem is becoming with business checking accounts and third-party lending, prospective borrowers would benefit from seeing how all of these parts work together, and how much it will cost them. All of that aside, Bluevine’s lines of credit have substantial cashflow requirements that small businesses may not be able to hit.

We still believe Bluevine offers a worthwhile product, so we hope to see more transparency and accessibility in the future.

Don’t qualify for a Bluevine line of credit? Check out your alternatives on our list of best small business loans.