Credibly Review
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- Date Established
- 2010
- Location
- Troy, MI
Pros
- Low credit score requirements
- Discounts for repaying early
- Financing is suited for business growth needs
- The application process is fast and easy
- Website is clear and informative
Cons
- Rates can be expensive
- Some additional fees are charged
- A blanket lien is required
Overview
Credibly is a Michigan-based online lender that offers short-term financing in the form of business loans and merchant cash advances.
With terms and fees that fall well within alternative lending norms (which tend to be quite high), Credibly relies on its relatively easy qualifications to attract customers. While most lenders require a long time in business or a flawless credit score, Credibly’s requirements are much lower — you might qualify even if you’ve only been in business six months or have a credit score of 500.
In other words, if your business doesn’t yet qualify for financing elsewhere, Credibly is a worthwhile alternative. While you might want to shop around a bit before settling, Credibly offers competitive rates and has transparent service.
Final Verdict: Due to low borrower requirements, Credibly might be able to help small businesses receive financing even if they don’t qualify elsewhere. However, because Credibly’s financing products can be expensive, applicants should make sure they understand the cost before accepting a financing offer.
Interested in learning more? Read on for the details!
Table of Contents
Services Offered
- Short-Term Loans: A financial product that grants borrowers a lump sum. Unlike other term loans, short-term loans carry a one-time fee that is repaid along with the principal. Repayments are made daily or weekly, with the term usually lasting less than a year.
- Medium-Term Loans: These are more traditional term loans. The lender provides a lump sum, and the borrower pays back the principal plus accrued interest over the term. Payments are typically made monthly or weekly.
- Merchant Cash Advances: The funder buys a percentage of your future credit/debit card sales for a lump sum. A percentage of your daily card-based sales will be held back until the funder has collected the amount it advanced plus a flat fee.
Borrower Qualifications
The minimum requirements to have a good chance of qualifying for a loan or advance from Credibly vary, depending on the type of financing you’re seeking.
Working Capital Loans & Merchant Cash Advances
These are the minimum requirements to get a working capital loan or merchant cash advance from Credibly:
| Time In Business: | 6 months |
| Business Revenue: | $15,000 per month |
| Personal Credit Score: | 500 |
Business Expansion Loans
These are the minimum requirements for Credibly’s business expansion loans:
| Time In Business: | 3 years |
| Business Revenue: | $15,000 per month Average daily balance of at least $3,000 |
| Personal Credit Score: | 600 |
Terms & Fees
Credibly offers three types of financing: working capital loans, merchant cash advances, and business expansion loans. Learn the details about each type of financing below.
Working Capital Loans
These are the terms and fees for a Working Capital Loan:
| Borrowing Amount: | $5,000-$400,000 |
| Term Length: | 6-18 months |
| Borrowing Fee: | Starts at 15% of the borrowing amount |
| Origination Fee: | 2.5% of the borrowing amount |
| Effective APR: | Learn more |
| Collateral: | UCC-1 blanket lien, personal guarantee |
Credibly’s Working Capital Loan is a short-term loan. Unlike longer-term loans, short-term loans don’t accrue interest over time. Instead, the total cost of borrowing is front-loaded into a fixed fee. This cost is expressed as a multiplier called a factor rate. If you want to know how much the loan will cost you, multiply the amount you’re borrowing by that rate. The result is the amount you have to pay back. Note that this does not include the origination fee.
The other major difference comes in the form of the method of repayment. During each payment period, Credibly will withdraw a micropayment from your business account through an automated clearing house (ACH). For this product, repayments can be on a daily or weekly basis.
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Since short-term loans tend to translate to very high rates of interest while still technically being subject to state loan laws, Credibly’s Working Capital Loans aren’t available in every state. (Credibly doesn’t disclose which ones on its site, however.)
Merchant Cash Advances
These are the terms and fees for Merchant Cash Advances:
| Borrowing Amount: | Up to $400,000 |
| Term Length: | Anticipated duration of 3-18 months |
| Borrowing Fee: | Starts at 15% of the borrowing amount |
| Additional Fees: | Underwriting fee of 2.5% of the borrowing amount An administration fee of $50 per month |
| Effective APR: | Learn more |
| Collateral: | Unknown |
Merchant cash advances are similar to Credibly’s short-term loan products in that a factor rate is used to calculate the cost of financing. However, there are a few differences. A merchant cash advance isn’t a traditional loan but instead is a purchase of future receivables. In other words, Credibly purchases a percentage of your future sales in exchange for cash upfront. To collect the amount Credibly “purchased,” the funder automatically debits a percentage from either your credit card processor or business bank account each day.
While there aren’t set terms, the anticipated duration of paying off your cash is three to 18 months. While the borrowing fees are similar to those associated with Credibly’s short-term loans, a Credibly cash advance also requires a $50 monthly admin fee.
Business Expansion Loans
These are the terms and fees for Business Expansion Loans:
| Borrowing Amount: | Up to $250,000 |
| Term Length: | 18-24 months |
| Interest Rate: | 9.99%-36% |
| Origination Fee: | 2.5% of the borrowing amount |
| Effective APR: | Learn more |
| Collateral: | UCC-1 blanket lien, personal guarantee |
A more traditional option is the Business Expansion Loan. These loans accrue interest in the same way that bank loans do. Repayments resemble those of short-term loans — except Business Expansion loans are repaid weekly. The interest rate you’re assigned will be based on the overall health of your business, as assessed by Credibly’s underwriting department.
Application Process
You can “prequalify” for a loan online, a term which here means, “begin the application process.” You’ll be required to enter basic information about yourself and your business. Credibly will use the answers provided to decide whether or not you’re eligible for a loan and how much funding you qualify for.
If you are eligible, you’ll have to talk to a real person. This person will work with you to determine how much money your business needs and what documentation you have to provide. Before the loan is finalized, you’ll have to provide the following information:
- Business lease agreement or business mortgage statement
- Picture ID of all owners
- Most recent business tax return (if you are applying for a loan above $100,000)
- Bank statements for the last three months
- Basic personal information, such as your social security number
When you’ve provided all the information, your file will be sent to underwriting.
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If all of your information checks out, Credibly will extend a finalized offer to you. Should you accept, you’ll have to sign a business loan agreement, and the money will be transferred to your account.
The time from application to funding generally takes two to five days: one day for the application, one day to get a finalized quote, and one to three days for funding.
Sales & Advertising Transparency
Credibly discloses most of the basic information you’ll need on its website, although there are a few elements that could use some elaboration. Overall, Credibly provides a lot more information than many other online lenders do.
Customer Service & Technical Support
Credibly is available by phone and by chat via its website. Credibly is also on Facebook and Twitter. Or, if you don’t want to talk to people, an FAQ is available.
Customer service often gets cited as one of the high points of working with Credibly. Representatives are friendly, and hold times are short.
User Reviews
Negative Reviews & Complaints
On the Better Business Bureau website, Credibly currently has three recent complaints, two negative reviews, and an A+ rating overall. The company also has a handful of negative reviews on Trustpilot.
Here are some of the most common complaints:
- Early Repayment Stipulations: While Credibly does allow early repayment discounts, you’ll have to read the fine print to make sure you get the discount. It has to be made in a lump sum from a qualified account, for example.
- Payment Issues: A few customers complained about the repayment system and having to make more payments than anticipated. Given the nature of merchant cash advances, however, this may not have been Credibly’s fault.
- Long Application Process: Some reviewers complained that the application process took longer than they expected. Note that while Credibly makes claims of 48-hour funding, this refers to how long it will take to receive the funds after your application is approved.
Positive Reviews & Testimonials
There are a few testimonials on Credibly’s website and YouTube page. The lender also has a rating of 9.2 out of 10 on Trustpilot with 261 reviews. In general, customers liked:
- Easy Application Process: Compared to traditional lenders such as banks and credit unions, Credibly’s process should be quick and easy.
- Low Prerequisites: Younger businesses without great credit might still be able to qualify for funding.
- Good Customer Service: Most clients were pleased with the frequency and quality of the assistance they received from Credibly staff.
Have you done business with Credibly? Leave a message in the comments letting us know what you think!
Final Verdict
While Credibly’s rates aren’t the best in the business, it is a fairly transparent online lender with a flexible array of products that are within reach of businesses that have poor credit. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have access to other financing options, Credibly might be the lender that works for your business.
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Don’t get a loan from Credibly without making a few comparisons first, though. Most lenders (Credibly included) will provide an initial quote within a few minutes without damaging your credit score. Head over to our Small Business Loan Comparison page to learn about some of our favorite business lenders.
Erica Seppala
Erica is a writer based in Greenville, South Carolina. She is a graduate of Limestone College. Initially determined to be an accountant, she put away the calculator and picked up a laptop to pursue her dream of being a writer. Erica has spent the past 10 years writing blogs and articles for hundreds of private clients, and she loves sharing her love of research and the written word with everyone around her.
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Read Next
Organization Name: Painting Services By Steve
This company lacks integrity and they are dishonest. They make promises they can’t keep. I had 3 days to cancel a loan and I was on my way to the bank to cancel it. They called me and told me they would look real bad if I did and give it a few months and they would make things right on my loan as far as the interest rates and cost. They never did it. They said they could get me a better loan for more money but that was it, not interested. That was not what I was told. Now during this crisis they’ve drained my account and keep trying to get more and are sending me threatening emails. Avoid this company, they are not good, BEWARE, they’ll suck you dry!!. I made a huge mistake in listening to what they said and trusting them. I’m now paying the price…
Organization Name: SnB Operations Inc
In my opinion Credibly should not be considered as a source of funding by any small business. Their terms and conditions are only slightly better than a loan shark. They do not offer a discount for early payoff once you pay off 50% or more. This term alone is noncommercial and speaks volumes of the integrity of these people. In my opinion Credibly should not be considered as a source of funding by any small business.I have been unable to log into my Credibly account to download statements to reconcile to my financial statements. When I contact customer service I get voice mail, leave a message and get no call back. It took more than 10 days to receive a statement by email. I called today and left a message and again, no return call.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Credibly is awful and I find that your review isn’t from a qualified client – so I want to make sure that you include the fact that there customer service is terrible and they are quite sneaky and try to avoid questions. Don’t do business with this company – you won’t find anyone is accountable.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Credibly
Jennifer, I am sorry you had a bad experience at Credibly. We pride ourselves on superior customer service. I am the founder and CEO. I would love to learn more about your experience as we thrive to improve our customer experience every day.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Texas Steel Tech LLC
It seems like your company is just another company that does not understand integrity. As a small business owner, I often look for help in cash gaps and I always pay on time. That does not seem to be enough for your company, you add on extra fees at the last which crosses the line of wanting return business based on integrity. You should really look at what you can do to not get just one shot at a viable customer. There are many Lawyers that call me asking to help stop these practices, my position until now is that I borrowed the money and my high integrity makes me fulfill my obligations. Review your policies and work at being as honest as you can so that you can build your return business odds.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.