Credibly Review: Business Loans, Merchant Cash Advances, & How To Apply
Credibly is an online lender that offers short-term financing in the form of business loans and merchant cash advances.
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WRITTEN & RESEARCHED BY
Senior Staff Writer
UPDATED
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Credibly
| Total Rating | 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Rates & Fees | Fair |
| Application Process | Good |
| Sales & Advertising Transparency | Good |
| Customer Service | Excellent |
| User Reviews | Excellent |
Credibly At A Glance
- Small business loans for bad credit
- Short- and long-term financing options
- Funding up to $400,000
Pros
- Low credit score requirements
- Discounts for repaying early
- Financing is suited for business growth needs
- The application process is fast and easy
Cons
- Rates can be expensive
- Some additional fees are charged
- A blanket lien is required
Table of Contents
What Is Credibly?
Credibly is an online lender that offers short-term business financing, including working capital loans and cash advances, as well as long-term small business loans and SBA loans.
With fees that fall well within alternative lending norms (which tend to be quite high), Credibly relies on its relatively easy qualifications to attract customers. Your business might qualify even if you’ve only been in operation for six months or have a credit score of 500. (Learn about startup loans for bad credit if you want to explore other options for your business.)
Credibly is a worthwhile alternative business loan option if your business doesn’t yet qualify for financing elsewhere. Though you might want to shop around a bit before settling, Credibly offers competitive rates and has transparent service.
Services Offered
As follows are the main business lending services offered by Credibly:
- 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.
- Long-Term Loans: These are more traditional term loans. The lender provides a lump sum with long-term loans, and the borrower pays back the principal plus accrued interest over the term. Payments are typically made monthly or weekly.
- Merchant Cash Advances: With a merchant cash advance, the funder buys a percentage of your future credit/debit card sales for a lump sum. A percentage of your daily card-based sales is held back until the funder has collected the amount it advanced plus a flat fee.
- Business Lines Of Credit: With a business line of credit, the borrower has a set amount of credit they can draw from. The business only has to repay what they end up borrowing.
- SBA Loans: SBA loans are partially government-backed term loans that allow qualifying businesses to secure loans with lower rates and longer terms than they would otherwise qualify for.
- Equipment Financing: This type of financing is used specifically to finance business equipment, such as heavy machinery or computer systems. Because the equipment itself is used as collateral to secure the loan, equipment financing typically doesn’t have a minimum credit score or business revenue requirement.
- Invoice Factoring: With this type of business financing, business owners sell invoices to a factoring company at a discounted rate. The factoring company fronts the business with a lump sum for the invoices and then assumes responsibility for collecting the invoices.
Note that some of Credibly’s business financing products are not issued by Credibly directly, but rather, are facilitated through Credibly’s network of partnered lenders.
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 merchant cash advance from Credibly:
| Time In Business | 6 months |
| Business Revenue | $15,000 per month |
| Personal Credit Score | 500 |
Business Lines Of Credit
These are the minimum requirements for Credibly’s lines of credit:
| Time In Business | 6 months |
| Business Revenue | $240,000 annually |
| Personal Credit Score | 650 |
SBA Loans
Here are the minimum qualifications for Credibly’s SBA loans:
| Time In Business | 2 years |
| Business Revenue | N/A |
| Personal Credit Score | 620 |
Other Financing Types
No specific qualifying criteria are given for long-term business loans, equipment financing, or invoice factoring.
Rates & Fees
Credibly’s borrowing fees can be high, especially if you have bad credit. On certain products, Credibly charges extra fees, such as origination, underwriting, and monthly admin fees.
However, the fees are generally pretty transparent, and Credibly offers early payoff benefits on certain products—for example, you can get an early remittance discount if you pay off your Credibly merchant cash advance before the term expires.
Learn the details Credibly provides about its various financing products below.
Working Capital Loans
These are the terms and fees for a Credibly Working Capital Loan:
| Borrowing Amount | $5,000-$400,000 |
| Term Length | 6-18 months |
| Factor Rate | Starts at 1.11 |
| Origination Fee | 2.5% |
| Effective APR | Learn about short-term loan APRs |
| 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, 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. Credibly will withdraw a micropayment from your business account during each payment period through an automated clearing house (ACH) payment process. For this product, repayments can be on a daily or weekly basis.
Since short-term loans tend to translate to very high-interest rates while still technically subject to state loan laws, Credibly’s Working Capital Loans aren’t available in every state. (Credibly doesn’t disclose which states it works with 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 3-15 months |
| Factor Rate | Starts at 1.11 |
| Underwriting Fee | 2.5% |
| Effective APR | Learn about APRs |
| Admin Fee | $50/month |
Merchant cash advances are similar to Credibly’s working capital loans 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 rather 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 3 to 15 months.
Long-Term Business Loans
These are the terms and fees for Credibly’s Long-Term Business Loans:
| Borrowing Amount | Up to $250,000 |
| Term Length | 18 or 24 months |
| Interest Rate | Unknown |
| Origination Fee | Unknown |
| Effective APR | Unknown |
| Collateral | UCC-1 blanket lien, personal guarantee |
A more traditional option is the long-term business loan. These installment loans accrue interest in the same way that bank loans do. Repayments resemble those of short-term loans — except these loans are repaid weekly. The interest rate you’re assigned will be based on your business’s overall health as assessed by Credibly’s underwriting department.
Other Financing Types
Credibly doesn’t supply much information about the terms of its other financing products.
Credibly says factor rates for invoice factoring start at 1.11, with factoring fees ranging from 0.5% to 4.0% and a maximum borrowing amount of $400,000.
Regarding its lines of credit, the company just states that it offers secured and unsecured LOC up to $250,000.
Terms and fees for Credibly’s SBA loans vary depending on the SBA loan type — SBA 7(a) or SBA 504. You can learn more about the terms and differences between these two SBA loans by reading our comparison of SBA 504 vs. 7(a) loans.
Application Process
You can “prequalify” for a loan online, a term that 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 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 goes to underwriting.
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. On certain products, such as equipment financing, Credibly advertises that it offers same-day funding.
Sales & Advertising Transparency
Credibly discloses most of the basic information you’ll need on its website, although some elements could use more elaboration. Overall, though, Credibly provides a lot more information than many other online lenders do.
Customer Service & Technical Support
| Credibly Support | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
Credibly is available by phone, and there is also a chatbot that can answer some basic questions on Credibly’s website. Credibly is also on Facebook and Twitter.
Or, if you don’t want to talk to people, an FAQ section is available on their website.
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
Credibly business loan reviews are a mixed bag. Credibly currently has three recent complaints, 11 negative reviews, and an A+ rating overall on the Better Business Bureau website. The company also has a handful of negative reviews on Trustpilot.
Here are some of the most common complaints we’ve seen in Credibly reviews:
- Early Repayment Stipulations: While Credibly allows early repayment discounts, you’ll have to read the fine print to ensure you get the discount. For example, it must be made in a lump sum from a qualified account.
- 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 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 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot with 1,379 reviews. In general, customers say they like the following in their Credibly funding reviews:
- 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’s staff.
Have you done business with Credibly? Leave a message in the comments letting us know what you think!
FAQs: Credibly Lending
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.
Don’t get a loan from Credibly without making a few comparisons first, though. The best small business 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 chart to compare Credibly with some competing business lenders.
Shannon Vissers
Senior Staff Writer at Merchant Maverick
Shannon has been writing for Merchant Maverick about small business software and financing since 2015. She started writing professionally about business topics in 2005. Shannon has been featured in the Washington Post, Reader's Digest, US News, MSN, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, and other publications. She has a bachelor's degree in English from San Diego State University and currently resides in San Diego, California.
View Shannon Vissers's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
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Credibly
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After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Credibly for yourself.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
|
Credibly
|
|---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Credibly for yourself.
