Overview
Founded in 1999, National Funding, is one of the largest private fintech lenders of small and medium-sized business loans, providing working capital loans and equipment financing. National Funding has experienced a 160 percent revenue growth surge over the past three years, to become one of the top 10 alternative SMB lenders in the nation. Since 1999, National Funding has provided more than $2 billion in capital to over 35,000 businesses nationwide with loan volume to exceed $500 million in 2018.
Customers come to National Funding for their working capital and equipment financing needs. During the course of this National Funding review we found out that National Funding is very flexible and that you won’t have to worry about collateral or having good credit. Customers can simply submit a one-page application and 3 months’ business bank statements to get funding within as little as 24 hours.
National Funding offers short-term working capital loans, and equipment leasing programs. They provide loan amounts ranging from $5,000 to $500,000. Though their short-term loans come with significant factor rates (ranging from 1.15 to 1.35) and a 2%-5% origination fee, they stand out by offering a prepayment discount, which is pretty rare for short-term loans.
A bad credit score can make obtaining a proper financing much more difficult. National Funding understands how frustrating this can be and has dedicated itself to making financing options available even to those business owners with less than perfect credit.
After looking carefully at National Funding’s offerings and requirements, we’re confident that this lender offers some of the most competitive rates on the market. National Funding claims on their website that they approve up to 60% of all small business loans.
- No collateral required
- Early repayment incentives
- Relaxed credit score requirements
- Funding within 24 hours
- Complicated terms and fees
- Potentially high origination fees
Services Offered & Types of Funding
National Funding eliminates the middleman, investment bank, broker and private equity firm, so nothing stands between your business and the financing you need. Because you work directly and only with National Funding, their approval rates are higher than those of traditional lenders.
National Funding’s experts know that no matter how much planning you do, operating your small business is full of surprises. For this reason, National Funding offers financing in as little as 24 hours. You can use it to cover unexpected costs, finance a short-term project, or even capitalize on a new business opportunity. One of the main advantages that we saw when we conducted our research is that National Funding’s financing options include poor credit small business loans for owners seeking working capital, even if they have low credit scores. This means that if your requests to obtain loans were refused by another lender due to low credit score, you might find a viable borrowing solution with National Funding.
- Type of funding – Small business loans / Equipment financing and leasing
- Age of business / Minimum time in business – at least 12 months + $100,000 in annual sales
- Loan amount – $5,000 – $500,000
- Minimum credit score – None
- Time until funding – as little as 24 hours
- Repayment terms – 6-24 months
| Types of Loans | Minimum Loan Amount |
Maximum Loan Amount |
Interest Rate | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short Term Loan | $5,000-500,000 | 4-24 months | As Soon as 24 Hours | 15%- 35% |
| Short Term Loan | $5,000-250,000 | Up to 2 Years | As Soon as 24 Hours | As Low as 18% |
Merchant Cash Advance
When you need cash quickly, this type of financing enables you to borrow against future earnings and turn tomorrow’s credit card sales into today’s cash flow and get the cash you need when you need it. One of the best things we found during our National Funding review is that you can often get a merchant cash advance funded in just 24 hours. In most cases, you won’t need to submit a mountain of financial documents, your lender will simply want to review your past 4-6 months of bank statements or receivables. If you’re seeking a merchant cash advance with National Funding, you’ll also need to do at least $3,000/month in credit card sales.
Merchant cash advances from National Funding offer many convenient features, Including:
- Advances up to $250,000
- Same day approvals
- Cash in as few as 24 hours
- No collateral required
- Automated payments
- No fixed payments
- No hidden fees or upfront costs
Equipment Financing
National Funding is a leader in the equipment financing industry. National Funding offers small business equipment financing options for nearly every industry and you can get the money you need to finance or lease new or pre-owned business equipment. To get equipment financing from National Funding, you’ll typically need to be in business at least 6 months and have a credit score of 620 or higher.
Rates and Fees
National Funding’s website doesn’t provide much detail with respect to the cost of the loans. The fees for borrowing capital you can likely expect from this lender may include:
Interest / Flat rate:Interest is the main cost of borrowing and is expressed as a percentage of the amount that you borrow. This number may be tricky and confusing because different lenders may cite a daily, weekly, quarterly, or annual interest rate. When looking for the best interest rate, make sure you’re comparing “apples with apples”. National Funding typically charges a flat rate fee. A flat fee is expressed as a percentage of the amount you borrowed or as a decimal multiplier. National Funding is a pretty expensive source of funding, even relative to other short-term lenders. The flat rate fee in the case of National Funding, typically falls between 15% – 35%, which will amount to pretty substantial APRs. Factor rates work differently from ordinary interest rates/APRs because they determine from the beginning the entire amount you’ll have to repay for your loan. A factor rate of 1.17 on a $100,000 10-month loan with a daily repayment schedule (National Funding’s most common repayment schedule) works out to an APR of about 44%.
Administration & Origination Fees: These fees are charged as part of the “cost” of processing and managing your loan. You should expect to pay between 1% – 5% in origination fees. During our National Funding review, we came across customer reviews stating that they were charged a few hundreds of dollars as “Origination Fees” without this being disclosed prior to obtaining the loan. We can’t ascertain, however, whether these borrowers read the fine print on their loan applications or agreement paperwork. We encourage you to specifically check these fees before signing any agreement with this lender.
Prepayment Penalties:This is a fee that must be paid if you pay off a loan before the loan’s term. Here we have some good news for those who need short term loans – not only does National Funding not charge prepayment penalties, they will award you and reduce the amount of the loan by up to 6% if you prepay it.
Borrower Qualifications
National Funding offers small business loans to companies in every corner of the country. Any business owner can apply for funding with National Funding.
Basic requirements to get a business loan through National Funding include:
- Minimum of 12 months in business.
- Gross revenue averaging at least $100,000
- As for loan amount, you can generally expect to receive no more than your average monthly sales.
- No minimum credit score (for certain loans) and 620 personal credit score to get an equipment lease.
- A business bank account
- The business must be U.S. based.
- National Funding will not lend to borrowers who have declared bankruptcy in the past year.
- National Funding requires a personal guarantee from the primary borrower.
- National Funding will not take a second position to another lender, which can make it difficult to obtain funding if you already have another loan.
Application Process
National Funding uses a simple online application process. You will be asked general information about your business, such as how long is the business operating, what your annual turnaround is, and what your credit score is. Other basic information needed for the application includes the industry your business is in, company debt, and the reason for the loan. None of that information requires any documentation if you know your company well.
Once you fill out National Funding’s simple online application, they will perform a soft pull on your personal credit score automatically, but they won’t check your business credit.
After checking your personal credit score, National Funding will screen the rest of your application within a few hours of submission, and if you pass this initial screening, you will then proceed into the National Funding underwriting process. During underwriting, National Funding will collect your documents and review what factor and repayment schedule you qualify for.
If you qualify for a loan, you’ll receive an offer and term sheet via email. Should you accept National Funding’s offer, you’ll see the funds in your business bank account within two hours. If National Funding rejects your application, you’ll be able to re-apply after 30 days.
Help & Support
National Funding’s headquarters are centrally located in San Diego. You can reach National Funding by phone, through their website, or on social media via Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Reaching National sales staff is easy, and the employees are passionate about helping small business owners. They’re quick to answer and listen to their customers to solve true financial needs.
National Funding doesn’t have a comprehensive FAQ page to answer your questions about its loan process, but you can find useful information on the blog and customer testimonials section of their website that provides real examples of how National Funding loans have benefited small businesses.
User Reviews
We reviewed hundreds of National Funding reviews on the website Trustpilot, which National Funding links to its homepage. There are, in fact, over 800 customer reviews there, with 84% of them giving National Funding an “excellent” 5-star rating. Of the 5-star reviews, the claim was primarily due to fast, easy and painless application process and that National Funding’s team of professionals made the process easy and comfortable. We further analyzed the 19 (out of 835) bad (one star) National Funding reviews and it seems that the main concern is related to the hidden origination fees and misleading consumers by giving false and low interest numbers for loan and in the end they charge you hefty interest. Several complaints involve unsolicited marketing calls and unsecured mailers from the company
We also looked at the National Funding reviews that were posted at BBB (with total of 28 reviews at the time of this National Funding review). The BBB gives National Funding an A+ ranking, but the average ranking is 3 stars and there are 46 customers complaints (in addition to the 28 reviews). Most of the complaints against National Funding referenced the company’s overly aggressive marketing teams, which can certainly be frustrating for applicants. However, complaints against the company that aren’t relevant to the actual funding and transfer of the loan are, in our opinion, a bit more comforting than those against companies whose borrowers had actual problems with their loan procurement or terms.
The majority of user reviews that address customer service are positive and this might be the reason why National Funding received recognition in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 by Inc. Magazine and the San Diego Business Journal as one of the fastest growing companies both locally and nationwide.
Final Thoughts
National Funding is been operating in the non-traditional lenders market since 1999. The company is well established and has a pretty positive reputation with its customers over the years. The fact that National Funding doesn’t provide much information on their website is not particularly useful for comparison shopping. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to get much precise information directly from National’s personnel either and you won’t know specific rates until you apply and get a quote. The good news is that if you’ve read this National Funding review you’ll be much more aware of what you need to ask before signing on the dotted line.
All-in-all their rates aren’t too bad for an alternative lender, so long as you fall on the lower range of their factor rates and origination fees. If you have bad credit score and were refused by other lenders, this might be the place for you to obtain the credit you need to continue to run your small business.
