6 Best Cash Flow Loans for Small Businesses
This article is part of a larger series on Business Financing.
Cash flow loans allow businesses to borrow short-term capital to supplement daily sales revenues without hampering business operations. The best cash flow lenders offer low rates, good terms, fast online application and approval, and multiple types of financing to fit your business needs.
The following are the six best cash flow lenders and what they are best used for:
- Fundbox: Best overall for cash flow loans with low interest rates
- Bluevine: Best for business line of credit
- National Funding: Best for lower credit score borrowers
- Kabbage: Best for businesses with lower annual revenue
- OnDeck: Best for borrowers who pay loans off early
- Payability: Best for businesses selling on ecommerce marketplaces, such as Amazon
Best Cash Flow Lenders At-a-Glance
Category |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Maximum Loan Amount | $150,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 | $150,000 | $250,000 | No maximum |
Estimated Annual Percentage Rate (APR) | 10% to 79% | 6.2% to 78% | 10% to 136% | 3% to 42% | 35% to 100% | N/A |
Maximum Term | 52 weeks | 12 months | Five years | 18 months | 24 months | As invoices are repaid |
Funding Speed | One business day | Same business day | 24 hours | One business day | One business day | 24 hours |
Loan Type | Line of credit and term loan | Line of credit | Term loan | Line of credit | Line of credit and term loan | Invoice financing and line of credit |
Minimum Credit Score | 600 | 625 | 600 | 640 | 600 | Not considered |
Minimum Time in Business | Six months | Two years | Six months | One year | One year | At least 90 days sales history |
Minimum Annual Revenue | $100,000 | $480,000 | $250,000 | $50,000 | $100,000 | $10,000 in monthly sales |
Before applying for any business loan, check out our guide for getting a small business loan. If you decide you need a working capital loan instead, check out our list of the best working capital loan providers.
Fundbox: Best Overall for Cash Flow Loans With Low Interest Rates
Fundbox is our choice for the best cash flow loan provider for small businesses. It has a slight edge over Bluevine due to the lower starting interest rate, multiple lending options, and lower minimum annual revenue required.
Borrowers must have a credit score of at least 600 and have been in business for at least six months. One improvement over Fundbox’s previous offerings is the increased maximum credit limit, which is now $150,000 for both lines of credit and term loans. With Fundbox’s line of credit, borrowers can take draws as credit is available. The term loan provides a lump sum that’s repaid over a maximum of 52 weeks.
You can begin the application process on the Fundbox website or through a toll-free number. Fundbox promises a credit decision quickly with funding within one business day.
Bluevine: Best for Business Line of Credit
Bluevine is another strong choice for cash flow loans because of its best overall line of credit product. While Fundbox has a slightly lower interest rate and a lower minimum monthly revenue requirement, Bluevine offers a higher line of credit to its borrowers.
Approved borrowers receive funding as soon as the same business day. Bluevine requires businesses to have at least $40,000 in monthly revenue and to have been in business for at least two years.
Bluevine allows you to apply through its website. It even allows you to connect your QuickBooks Online directly as part of the application. The Bluevine application takes less than two minutes, with approvals within five minutes.
National Funding: Best for Lower Credit Score Borrowers
National Funding is a good choice for a cash flow loan because of its easy application process, quick decision and funding timeline, and credit availability to borrowers with low credit scores. While several lenders on this list have the same minimum credit score, National Funding traditionally has been more willing to lend to lower credit borrowers than the others.
Borrowers with strong revenue that cannot qualify with National Funding due to poor credit may consider revenue-based financing for cash flow needs.
Another benefit to a cash flow loan with National Funding is early payoff discounts. Customers who pay off a working capital balance within the first 100 days receive a 7% discount on the total remaining balance.
Borrowers must be in business for at least six months, which is longer than other lenders on our list. The high-end APR is one of the highest on the list, so borrowers with strong credit profiles will likely get better rates from Fundbox or Bluevine.
National Funding allows you to apply through its website or a toll-free number. The application process involves just a one-page application and three months of bank statements. A decision and funding are promised within 24 hours.
Kabbage: Best for Businesses With Lower Annual Revenue
With the lowest annual revenue requirements of any lender on our list, Kabbage is an excellent choice for cash flow loans for borrowers with limited revenue. It requires just $50,000 of annual revenue to qualify for a line of credit.
Also, each draw against the line of credit is its own separate installment loan. Borrowers can have unlimited draws against the line of credit as long as they don’t exceed the overall credit limit. Advance fees for each draw differ depending on the length of the term selected.
Funding can occur in minutes if online verification is successful. However, it can take up to three days without that verification, one of the slowest funding rates on our list. The minimum credit score requirement of 640 is also the highest of the six providers listed.
Existing customers can log in to the Kabbage website to start the application process. For non-customers, you can create an account on the website to apply, with approval possible in minutes.
OnDeck: Best for Borrowers Who Pay Loans Off Early
OnDeck is a solid choice for cash flow loans due to two excellent lending products: a line of credit that can provide your business with a revolving credit line and a term loan. In addition, you can borrow another term loan once the original loan has been paid halfway down. Term loans can be borrowed for up to 24 months at a maximum of $250,000, while lines of credit have a 12-month term and a maximum amount of $100,000.
One additional benefit to choosing OnDeck term loans is a prepayment benefit. If you qualify, you can have all remaining interest waived if you pay the loan off early.
Additional draws against OnDeck’s line of credit are consolidated into one payment, meaning you won’t have to manage separate payments for each line of credit draw.
The drawback to OnDeck is high APR rates, with a minimum APR of 35%, which is the highest minimum on our list. Also, same-day funding is only available on term loans up to $100,000. OnDeck will reject borrowers that don’t meet the credit score, time in business, and annual revenue requirements.
You can apply for either lending product directly on OnDeck’s website, with funding within one business day.
Payability: Best for Ecommerce Businesses
Payability is a unique cash flow lender on this list because it focuses its lending specifically on ecommerce businesses. It offers three different products that allow you to receive cash for receivables on four ecommerce marketplaces: Amazon, Shopify, Newegg, and Walmart. Payability offers three similar but slightly different cash flow solutions with instant access, instant advance, and advance line. Amounts vary based on sales, but rates start at 2% of gross sales for invoice financing.
With instant access, the company will advance you up to 80% of your daily sales on the marketplace. The other 20% is paid when the marketplace payout is received, minus fees. Payability requires businesses to show at least 90 days of sales history and at least $10,000 per month in sales for daily invoices, which has risen from the previous requirement of $2,000 per month. The advances are repaid as marketplace invoices are paid.
In addition, with Payability’s instant advance financing, you can receive funding up to $250,000 based on future invoices. The requirements are a bit higher with future invoice financing, with a monthly revenue requirement of at least $10,000 in sales and at least nine months of sales history. Advance fees with future invoice financing are between 0.5% and 1% per week.
The final product is an advance line, which is similar to a line of credit product. Your Shopify or Amazon business must have $500,000 or more in annual sales to qualify for this product. The limit on the advance line will be determined by your number of sales.
You can apply through the Payability website in a few minutes and can be funded within 24 hours. There are no credit checks as funding is based on the performance of the marketplace account.
How We Evaluated Best Cash Flow Lenders
To compare cash flow lenders, we compared interest rates, approval and funding speed, and available variety of lending products. We also compared other lender requirements, such as annual revenue and time-in-business requirements.
Bottom Line
All of the providers listed here are excellent choices for cash flow loans. While Payability is unique to ecommerce businesses, the other five can all be used to obtain traditional loans and lines of credit used to supplement daily business revenues. Before applying, understand what type of financing works best for your business. Then, compare the rates and terms of the providers listed above and choose the one that best fits your business needs.
