A cash flow loan can help a small business looking for a way to supplement daily sales revenue without straining business operations. The best cash flow lenders offer good terms, fast online application and approval, and multiple types of financing to fit the needs of your business.
The following list includes the six best cash flow lenders and what they are best used for:
- Fundbox: Best overall for lines of credit with a low annual revenue requirement
- BlueVine: Best variety of products with both lines of credit and invoice factoring available
- National Funding: Best for lower credit score borrowers
- Payability: Best for businesses selling on ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon
- OnDeck: Best rates for prime borrowers
- Kabbage: Best for businesses with existing credit relationships with Kabbage or American Express
Fundbox: Best Overall for Line of Credit With Low Annual Revenue Requirement
Fundbox is an excellent choice for cash flow loans. It has a slight edge as best overall over BlueVine due to the lower interest rate 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. Because this is a line of credit, borrowers can take draws against it as funds are repaid.
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 Variety of Available Financing Options
BlueVine is another strong choice for cash flow loans because of its excellent line of credit and invoice factoring products. 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.
For lines of credit, approved borrowers receive funding as soon as the same business day. BlueVine requires businesses to have at least $10,000 in monthly revenue and to have been in business for at least six months. Borrowers that don’t qualify for lines of credit may be eligible for invoice factoring. BlueVine considers borrowers with credit scores as low as 530 for its invoice factoring product.
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.
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 have at least a 600 credit score, which makes this product available to subprime borrowers. You must be in business for at least one year, 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 a one-page application and three months of bank statements. A decision and funding are promised within 24 hours.
Payability: Best for Ecommerce Businesses
Payability is a unique cash flow lender on this list because it focuses its lending specifically toward ecommerce businesses. It offers two different products that allow you to receive cash for receivables on four ecommerce marketplaces: Amazon, Shopify, Newegg, and Walmart. With daily invoice and future invoice financing, Payability offers two similar but slightly different cash flow solutions. Amounts vary based on sales, but rates start at 1% of gross sales for invoice financing.
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 $2,000 per month in sales for daily invoices. The advances are repaid as marketplace invoices are paid.
In addition, with Payability’s future invoice financing, you can receive funding from $3,000 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.
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.
OnDeck: Best Rates for Prime Borrowers
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 18 months at a maximum of $250,000, while lines of credit have a 12-month term and a maximum amount of $100,000.
The drawback to OnDeck is high APR rates, with a minimum APR of 35%. 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.
Kabbage: Best for Existing Kabbage or American Express Customers
Before getting into the benefits of a cash flow loan from Kabbage, it’s important to note that Kabbage isn’t currently accepting new customers. You must have an existing customer relationship with Kabbage or American Express to qualify. For those that do, Kabbage is a good choice for a cash flow loan.
With one of the lowest annual revenue requirements of any lender on our list, Kabbage is an excellent choice for borrowers with limited revenue. Kabbage 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. 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.
Existing customers can log in to the Kabbage website to get the application process started. For noncustomers, the website offers a waitlist where you can sign up to be notified if the company resumes lending to noncustomers.
How We Evaluated Best Cash Flow Lenders
To compare cash flow lenders, we analyzed several factors. We compared interest rates, approval and funding speed, variety of lending products, and other qualifications required by the lender, such as time-in-business requirements and annual revenue. We also considered whether the company was accepting new borrowers or if they had restricted funding to current customers.
Bottom Line
Cash flow loans can help your business manage short-term expenses without worrying about covering all expenses with daily revenues. The lenders on this list offer a wide variety of products and services to fit a wide range of business needs. Understand what type of financing makes the most sense for your business, compare rates and terms of lenders offering that type of financing, and choose the best option for your business.
