Bond Street Review

Note: Bond Street is no longer originating business loans. Take a look at our filterable business loan reviews to learn about other funding options that might work for your small business.

Highlights

• Term loans
• Working capital loans
• Business expansion loans
• Competitive rates and fees
• Bi-weekly fixed ACH repayments
• No prepayment penalty
• Excellent resource center

Bond Street Overview

Founded in 2013, Bond Street offers business loans to small but established businesses. Bond Street is an alternative lender, which means they offer fast and easy-to-access business loans to qualified borrowers. Unlike lenders with slower processes, such as banks and nonprofits, Bond Street can make you an offer within a few business days from applying.

This lender deals in medium-term loans with a maximum term length of three years. These loans can be used for a number of purposes, including inventory and equipment purchasing, opening a new location, working capital needs, employee hiring and training, debt refinancing, and other uses.

Because this company offers funding to mid-prime businesses, startups and people with poor credit will want to look elsewhere. To qualify for funding, you’ll need to have been in business at least two years, make at least $200K in sales, and have a personal credit score of 640 or more.

That said, if you meet the qualifications, Bond Street is certainly worth including in your comparisons. In addition to offering a useful product, Bond Street has quality customer service, a well-populated business funding resource center, and a generally positive reputation across the web.

Customers who qualify for Bond Street should know, however, that they may also qualify for other lenders that offer similar products—many of which may carry longer term lengths or could potentially offer better rates and fees. I would recommend taking a look at, and getting an estimated quote from, some of Bond Street’s competitors before settling on a lender.

Read on for the details, or skip down to the end to learn about lenders similar to Bond Street.

Services Offered

Bond Street offers business term loans.

Borrower Qualifications

These are the minimum qualifications required to get a Bond Street loan:

Additionally, Bond Street cannot currently lend to businesses in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, and Vermont.

Terms and Fees

These are the stats for Bond Street’s loans:

Bond Street offers term loans (sometimes called installment loans). Borrowers receive the capital in one lump sum and repay the principal plus accrued interest in regular, fixed installments over a set period of time.

Aside from interest, Bond Street also charges an origination fee of 3% – 5% of the principal. If, for example, you are borrowing $100,000, and you have an origination fee of 3%, Bond Street will deduct $3,000 before sending you the remaining $97,000. You will not be charged application fees, maintenance or servicing fees, prepayment penalties, or other common loan fees aside from the origination fee.

Repayments are made on a twice monthly basis, on the 1st and 16th of every month. Payments are automatically deducted from your bank account via ACH.

Application Process

Bond Street provides a detailed walkthrough of the application process on their blog.

To get the process started, you’ll have to fill out a questionnaire on the website with basic information about yourself and your business. Bond Street will use this information to determine whether or not you’re qualified to receive funding. However, at this stage the information you are providing is unverified—before you are officially approved for funding, you will have to provide documentation to verify your claims.

If you are approved to continue the process, you must supply financial documents and additional, more detailed, information about your business. Bond Street will use this information to determine the rates and fees they can offer your business.

The company does check your credit, but it is a soft check and therefore will not affect your score.

When the application is completed, you will get a response from Bond Street within two days and an official offer within seven days. If you choose to accept, the money will be sent to your bank account within a day or two.

Sales and Advertising Transparency

Bond Street provides a lot of very detailed information on their website about their product. If you spend a little time going over the website, you shouldn’t run into any surprises during the application process.

It’s worth noting that Bond Street is a signatory on the Small Business Borrower’s Bill of Rights, a bill declaring the fundamental rights of business owners seeking financing, including the right to transparent and easy-to-understand services.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Customer service is available by phone and email. Given the general lack of reviews on the web, I was unable to come up with a consensus regarding the quality of customer service (though many of the testimonials on the lender’s website expressed happiness with the customer service). All of my interactions with the customer service have been positive.

Furthermore, Bond Street has one of the most helpful and well-populated resource centers I’ve seen on any lender’s website. They provide information useful for not only understanding Bond Street loans, but also for learning anything you need to know about loans and business financing in general.

Negative Reviews and Complaints

Bond Street has very few customer reviews online. Currently, the company has a TrustPilot page, but does not have a presence on other consumer review sites (such as the Better Business Bureau).

Here are a few reasons Bond Street might not be right for your business:

• Borrower limitations: Bond Street does not lend to startups, new businesses, or those with poor credit—you have to have been in business at least two years, make at least $200K annually, and have a personal credit score of 640 to qualify. Additionally, Bond Street cannot currently lend to businesses in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, and Vermont. If you don’t meet Bond Street’s requirements, you might want to check out some other lenders for which you might be qualified.
• Short term lengths: Bond Street’s maximum term length is three years. While this might get you better rates and save money overall, some merchant might prefer longer term lengths with smaller monthly payments.

Positive Reviews and Testimonials

Bond Street has a few testimonials on their website. The lender has also been covered by mainstream news publications including American Banker, Forbes, Business Insider, and others. Here’s what customers liked about their Bond Street experience:

• Friendly, responsive customer service
• Easy application process
• Fast time from application to funding

We’d like to hear from customers in a more neutral setting, though. Have experience with this lender? We’d love to hear how it went! Leave a message in the comments.

Final Verdict

If you can’t get a bank loan (or don’t want to navigate the complicated process) this company is definitely worth considering. While expensive compared to other sources of funding (such as bank loans), Bond Street’s rates and fees are competitive with similar lenders.

That said, businesses that are eligible for a Bond Street loan may be eligible for a loan from a bank, credit union, or the SBA as well; if you have the time and inclination, you may want to pursue those avenues of funding, given that you’ll invariably get better rates and fees. However, if you don’t have the time, Bond Street is definitely a lender worth considering.

Curious about your other options? Check out a comparison of our favorite small business lenders or our full list of small business loan reviews.

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