Lendistry vs. Accion Opportunity Fund
Both Lendistry and Accion Opportunity Fund have options that help minority and disadvantaged businesses. Lendistry provides its Small Business Loan Fund to businesses in financially distressed communities, while Accion Opportunity Fund offes its Progress loan to any eligible business. They also both provide educational resources to help business owners succeed.
But Accion Opportunity Fund doesn’t weigh credit score heavily, accepting businesses that have been turned away by traditional lenders. It specializes in offering one loan product, a microloan of $5,000 to $250,000, with terms up to five years. Its interest rates start from 8.49 percent, which is low for an online lender. But unlike Lendistry, Accion Opportunity Fund doesn’t provide government-backed loans.
On the other hand, Lendistry’s loan amounts start much higher at $25,000 compared to Accion Opportunity Fund’s loan starting at $5,000. Lendistry’s rates also start out higher than Accion Opportunity Fund, starting at a 10.50% APR, though this is still competitive.
Lendistry vs. Credibly
Lendistry and Credibly both offer alternative types of financing and SBA loans, but they serve different markets. Lendistry helps growing businesses as well as startups and those in underserved communities. Lendistry’s terms also go up to 10 years (or 25 years for SBA real estate loans) with loan amounts reaching $5 million.
But Credibly caters to businesses with poor credit that can’t access traditional funding sources. It offers term loans, invoice factoring and merchant cash advances. Most Credibly loans also focus on short-term financing up to 24 months, with loan amounts that cap at $600,000. The exception is a long-term loan through Credibly’s lending partners that offers terms up to 10 years and funding up to $10 million.
How to apply for a loan with Lendistry
You can prequalify for a Lendistry business loan online, using a soft credit pull that won’t affect your credit score. But the process is more extensive compared to other online lenders that focus on fast funding.
You’ll take these steps to apply for a loan:
- Sign up for a Lendistry account.
- Find and enter your NAICS code.
- Answer the questions about your use of funds and more.
- Upload the required financial documents.
- Upload your picture to Persona, a third-party platform that verifies your identity.
- Connect your bank account to Plaid.
- Review your application information.
Required application information
At a minimum, you’ll need these documents when applying for a business loan:
- 3 years of business tax returns
- Most recent personal tax return
- 3 months of business bank statements or bank verification
- Government-issued IDs
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data points collected
To select the top small business lenders, Bankrate considers more than 20 factors. These factors include loan amounts, approval and funding times, credit requirements, APR or factor rate ranges, fees, and easy-to-find rate and fee disclosures. Bankrate reviewed more than 30 lenders and gave each a rating, which consists of five categories:
- Accessibility: Factors considered in this category include minimum loan amounts, approval and funding speed, minimum annual revenue and minimum credit score.
- Affordability: This section measures interest or factor rates and fees.
- Transparency: How easy it is to find important rates, fees and eligibility requirements are considered in this category.
- Customer experience: Customer service hours, online applications and app availability are considered in this category.
- Flexibility: This category considers factors like the number of loan products and ability to change payment due date.
Editorial disclosure: All reviews are prepared by Bankrate.com staff. Opinions expressed therein are solely those of the reviewer and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including rates and fees, presented in the review is accurate as of the date of the review. Check the data at the top of this page and the lender’s website for the most current information.
