Seek Capital Review

Seek Capital may be a strange name for a small business – but then again, Seek Capital is no ordinary lender. The company does exactly what the name suggests; it is a company which specializes in finding capital from various third-party lenders, with the funding coming via credit card rather than standard loan.
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Last Updated On: March 26, 2020Affiliate disclosure
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Overview

Seek Capital may be a strange name for a small business – but then again, Seek Capital is no ordinary lender. The company does exactly what the name suggests; it is a company which specializes in finding capital from various third-party lenders, with the funding coming via credit card rather than standard loan. Seek Capital makes it possible for businesses that wouldn’t usually get funded by other alternative lenders to get the money they need to grow or sustain their business. Startup? Seek Capital can help. Need a bad credit small business loan? Seek Capital will help you secure one.

The first step in the process begins with the business owner. You simply tell Seek Capital how much funding you’re hoping to obtain and what you plan to do with those funds. Seek Capital’s financial experts may have a few other questions that will help them gauge your creditworthiness. Once the information is provided, Seek Capital begins its own underwriting process and thus can provide you, sometimes within hours, with a pre-approved estimate of your funding costs and available credit.

If you accept Seek Capital’s terms, they will begin to find appropriate third-party lenders who will be willing to provide you with the funding you need. The lender that accepts the offer to fund you may have their own questions for you, but that shouldn’t scare you – about 92% of all of Seek Capital’s applicants are eventually approved for financing. In the end, funds should be made available to you within about three weeks.

PROS:
  • Application process with Seek Capital is streamlined and quick.
  • Offers funding to startups.
  • Top-notch customer support
  • Funding can range from $5,000 to $500,000, though the average amount funded is $50,000
  • Most loans are unsecured.
CONS:
  • Slow time to funding as the average is about 3 weeks.
  • Seek Capital fees can be high.
  • A hard pull on your credit history can occur multiple times depending on how many lender partners Seek Capital reaches out to; this can have a negative impact on your credit score.
  • Seek Capital does report to the personal and business credit scoring agencies so any delinquency is reported and will negatively impact your credit score.

Services Offered

Regardless of the type of funding you are seeking, Seek Capital can help you find a partner lender who will want to provide you with the money. The funding options include:

  • Startup business loans
  • Long-term loans
  • Short-term loans
  • Business line of credit
  • Merchant Cash Advances
  • Invoice financing
  • Equipment financing
  • SBA loans
  • Personal loans (for business purposes)

Borrower Qualifications

Because Seek Capital is an intermediary in the borrowing process, the borrower requirements listed on their website are somewhat generic. Because they will help you find the loan type that is best suited to meet your needs, each loan will then have its own borrower qualifications, (for example, term loan qualifications may be different than a line of credit request). Moreover, the actual lending partner that will fund your loan may have their own litmus test for you, thus getting an approval from Seek Capital does not mean it is a “done deal” with the partner lender. After all, the lender is the one who bears the risk of the loan, not Seek Capital. Fortunately, you shouldn’t find any big surprises during the process because Seek Capital’s experts will let you know exactly what you should expect.

For Seek Capital, their requirements as very general but this should help you to know what documentation you will need to move further along in the process. The following are the Seek Capital requirements for the most basic types of funding.

Term Loan
    • Business in operation for a minimum of 3 years
    • Annual revenue of $300,000 minimum.
    • Business owner must have a minimum 680 personal credit score.
Line of Credit for Business
    • Business in operation for a minimum of 1 year.
    • Annual revenue of $180,000 minimum.
    • Business owner must have a minimum 630 personal credit score.
Equipment Financing
    • Business in operation for a minimum of 2 years.
    • Annual revenue of $130,000 minimum.
    • Business owner must have a minimum 600 personal credit score.
Small Business Administration (SBA) Loan

At a minimum, a small business must meet these criteria to even by considered by Seek Capital and to get through the vetting process:

    • Business in operation for a minimum of 4 years.
    • Annuals revenue of $180,000 minimum.
    • Business owner must have a minimum 680 personal credit score.

Small Business Administration (SBA) Loan

Short Term Loans

During our Seek Capital review we found that in general, a new entity or startup or a business owner with less than a stellar credit score (say a minimum of 500), can still obtain a short-term loan. This is great news for entrepreneurs who have had trouble securing funding from other sources. It should be understood that with Seek Capital, rates and fees assigned will be commensurate with the risk that the lender may face.

Personal Loan for Business Use

If a startup business fails to meet the most basic requirements for length of time in business, annual revenue or due to the lack of a business credit score, quite often the business owner may be able to obtain a personal loan that can be used for business purposes. Generally, the business owner should have a minimum personal credit score of 680 with a solid and sound credit history. A credit score below that threshold might still be acceptable to some lenders, and the Seek Capital team members will be able to point you in the right direction.

Invoice Financing

When it comes to invoice financing, what Seek Capital is looking for is the quality of your invoices; reliable customers who satisfy their obligations in a timely and reliable fashion are the types of invoices are more likely to get accepted for funding.

Merchant Cash Advance

What is relevant here is your incoming cash flow which will help the lender assess the credit risk of this transaction. The interest rate and fees associated with a Merchant Cash Advance are usually quite high but for a business that is willing to take that chance to get the funding, approval is usually easier to obtain.

Unsecured Business Credit Card

A business owner need not have a minimum time in operation or a minimum annual revenue to obtain an unsecured business credit card through Seek Capital. Business owners typically do have a personal credit score of at least 680. Amounts available as a line of credit drawn down by the credit card range from $10,000 to $225,000, and interest rates can be as high as 22.9% APR based on the applicant’s specific risk factors.

Startup Loans

If you are a new small business or are a startup entity, Seek Capital can help you navigate the complicated process of obtaining capital to get your business off the ground. This is a significant advantage of Seek Capital, as most small business lenders exclude startups or companies that don’t meet minimum revenue requirements. Seek Capital excels in offering loans to newer businesses.

Rates and Fees

During our Seek Capital review we found that the loan fees were not immediately provided. This may be because different products and different third-party lenders demand different fees, so each case is, quite honestly, totally different. That being said, there are still some fees that borrowers should be aware of:

Application Fee:
Seek Capital charges an application fee of $495, irrespective of loan approval.
Origination Fee:
If Seek Capital is unable to get any loan approved for you, then no origination fee will be assessed. If a loan is approved for less than $35,000, the business owner agrees to pay Seek Capital 11.99% of the loan amount approved as the origination fee.  If a loan is approved for more than $35,000 but less than $50,000, the business owner agrees to pay Seek Capital 9.99% of the loan amount approved as the origination fee.If a loan is approved for more than $50,000, the business owner agrees to pay Seek Capital a flat origination fee of $4,995.
Application Fee:
If, upon approval, the business owner decides not to move forward with the funding, the business owner must pay Seek Capital a termination fee of $495 (if the loan amount was less than $50,000) or $995 (for approved loans greater than $50,000). Business owners must satisfy the termination fee within 21 days of notice or risk the account being sent to collections.

The fees, interest rates and terms of any loan approved by a partner lender will vary. As is typical among traditional lenders, the best rates will be given to those with the lowest degree of risk to the lender.

Application Process

The process at Seek Capital begins with an online application. There are several questions you must answer to progress to the next step which include:

  • Amount
  • Loan purpose
  • Name
  • Your estimated credit score
  • Your business name
  • Time your business has been in operation
  • Estimated annual revenue

After you submit that information, a consultant from Seek Capital will reach out to you by phone to gather additional information. After that, the Seek Capital underwriting team will begin the analysis of your creditworthiness. They considered your income, assets, credit profile, and other factors to obtain an estimate of the funds you will be able to obtain. The estimate, which may take as little as two hours, will outline the amount available, terms and interest rates.

If you accept the estimate, Seek Capital will send your approved application out to their lender partners. One or more may reach out to you for clarification of the information you provided or for additional documentation. That information and/or documentation could include:

  • Proof of identity and residence
  • Personal tax returns
  • Business tax returns
  • Articles of Incorporation or other evidence of business entity type
  • Bank statements (personal and business)
  • Business debt schedule
  • Balance sheet and income statements
  • Personal guaranty

If a lender partner approves your loan application, you would receive your funds within the time frame they have provided to you (in some cases, as few as 24 hours but up to three weeks is also a possibility).

At this point, if you are approved, you will either be obligated to pay the origination fee to Seek Capital or, if you decide not to proceed after approval, you will be obligated to pay the termination fee.

Help & Support

Seek Capital’s customer service team can be reached Monday through Saturday via the 1-800 number on the company website, or by email through the website. They also have a wide social media presence on Twitter and Facebook and can be reached that way if desired. Seek Capital also maintains a blog which has generic information about issues related to operating a small business.

User Reviews

Seek Capital is a BBB accredited entity since 2016 with an A rating and BBB customers give it a rating of 4 stars out of 5. On the Seek Capital Facebook page, more than 200 users give it a 4.5 rating out of 5. Finally, on TrustPilot, on a scale of 1-10 Seek Capital is rated 8.9. Most customers have praised the superior customer service and their responsiveness. With 92% of applicants approved for funding through Seek Capital, the majority were pleased with the outcome and praised the streamlined application process.

While most of the reviews were positive, given Seek Capital’s fee structure, it was a near certainty that there would be some complaints and negative comments. Still, with only 32 complains against Seek Capital, there is no question that the love overshadows the complaints.

Final Thoughts

Small business owners, especially the owners of startups or companies that are still trying to find their footing, could benefit from Seek Capital to work on their behalf in search of funding. If you have any doubts about your ability to find funding on your own for your business, then Seek Capital might be the way to go.

The company excels at providing relatively fast, easy credit for new businesses and entrepreneurs with less than stellar credit, and this service is one that is offered by most other lenders. We were extremely impressed by Seek Capital’s mission to help business owners in need and to offer loans that other lenders might deny.

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