What is a Term Loan? A term loan is a loan that you pay off in equal payments over some amount of time, or "term". The terms for our term loans are between 1 and 3 years, so a successfully funded business receives a lump sum (the "loan amount") within a few days of approval, and then pays it off in equal, semi-monthly payments over the course of 1-3 years. Term loans work best when you invest the entire loan amount in your business right away (for example, with an equipment purchase) and expect a steady increased stream of cash flow as a result of that investment.
What credit score do I need to qualify? Businesses whose owners have a credit score of at least 640 are most likely to qualify, but business owner credit scores are just one factor among many we consider.
Will my personal credit score be affected by my application for a loan? No. There are two types of credit inquiries used by credit providers: hard credit inquiries (or "hard pulls") and soft credit inquiries (or "soft pulls"). Hard pulls are recorded by credit bureaus and may have an adverse affect on your credit score - by contrast, soft pulls do not affect your credit score. After receiving your credit application, Bond Street will conduct a soft pull from the credit bureaus to obtain your personal credit score. As a result, your personal credit score will not be affected by your application for a Bond Street loan.
What are your fees? We charge an origination fee of 3-5% of the approved loan amount once your loan has been successfully funded. There is never a fee to apply.
Who provides capital for my loans? Bond Street loans are currently funded by our community of accredited investors and institutions. E-mail us for more information.
What should my business’s annual revenue be? We currently require over $200K in annual sales revenues for loan approval.
What are the terms of your loans? Our term loans have 1, 2, or 3 year durations.
How do I repay these loans? Equal semi-monthly payments will be automatically deducted from your business checking account via ACH. All payments are made on the 1st and the 16th of each month. Your first payment date will be shown in your loan offer, but you generally start making payments at least two weeks after your account is funded with the loan proceeds.
Can I pay back the loan early? Yes. You are welcome to make early payments, or pay back the loan in full, at any time without penalty.
Can I borrow more? Yes, borrowers who successfully repay loans can qualify for additional funding and often at lower rates.
What does APR mean? APR, or annual percentage rate, is the total cost of your loan. It includes both the interest rate as well as any origination fees. This is the most useful number to benchmark against other options.
Do you take collateral? Yes, a UCC lien is required against business assets, and in some cases against more specific collateral.
Do you require personal guarantees? Yes, we require personal guarantees from owners of the business. In many cases, we are able to accommodate personal guarantees from less than 100% of the ownership.
Why do you require personal guarantees? We use the personal guarantee primarily to protect our investment in the event of a worst case scenario (i.e. a default). However, personal assets are generally not a significant factor in our underwriting process - our risk grades are assigned primarily based on the underlying fundamentals of your business and your personal credit history.
If I’m approved for a loan, how does Bond Street determine my interest rate? Unlike other lenders, our focus goes beyond basic credit scores as we seek to more fully understand you and your business. We take thousands of data points into account, including your recent business financials, personal credit data, and even information from across the web.
How do I share my business financials? We’ve worked hard to make our application process as seamless as possible. If you use Quickbooks Online for your accounting, you can easily share your financial reports directly with us. We’re working on a number of other software integrations. If you have a preference, please let us know at support@bondstreet.com.
What about privacy and security? We take the security of your data very seriously. In addition to using bank-level encryption to keep your data safe, Bond Street will never sell or share your personal information without your written approval. You can see detail in our Privacy Policy.