Rapid Advance reviews
Pros
- High approval rate, 96%.
- High customer renewal rate, 75%.
- Offers funding options for a wide variety of different businesses.
- Has an impressive management team and backing from a strong PE partner.
- Provides access to accounts receivable financing.
Cons
- Expensive option. Best annualized rate is 15% per year on preferred-rate loans.
- Does not offer same day funding.
- Don’t offer factoring.
Rapid Advance Reviews
See above info for Rapid Advance Reviews. If you are a current or former Rapid Advance customer, we’d like to hear from you. How was your experience? Are you a repeat user?
Rapid Advance is an online small business lender, based in Bethesda, Maryland. You may be familiar with their musical television commercials (‘Rapid Advance, they didn’t say no. Rapid Advance, they let your business grow… Your money’s here’). We didn’t realize that they offered such a wide variety of small business funding solutions including merchant cash advances, business loans, lines of credit, SBA bridge loans and A/R financing.
Founded in 2005 Rapid Advance has reportedly provided over $1 billion in funding to over 38,000 small businesses nationwide. This small business funding provides much needed net working capital to businesses nationwide.
Minimum requirements to obtain funding are quite lenient. For their small business loan product, qualifying businesses must have at least $5,000 in monthly revenues and been in business for at least two years. If approved, new business customers have a dedicated loan advisor to help navigate the process. The loan proceeds, up to $1 million, can be used in any way the borrowing company chooses, not just for working capital.
How is Rapid Advance Different from Factoring Companies?
Rapid Advance is not a factoring company, but they still provide funding to newer or high-growth businesses in a timely manner.
Many businesses that approach Rapid Advance for a loan have poor credit or no credit at all. Bad credit business loans typically come with high interest rates, punitive fees and personal guarantee requirements of the owner(s). Similar borrowers pursue alternative funding solutions like invoice factoring.
Many B2B companies prefer factoring invoices (an asset sale, not a loan) for capital, which doesn’t incur debt. There is always a tug of war between seeking debt or equity investors for capital in the mind of the entrepreneur or small business owner.*
But there are some similarities between factors and Rapid Advance. First, Rapid Advance does provide accounts receivable financing, albeit through partnerships, as do most factoring companies. While used interchangeably, A/R financing is technically different from accounts receivable factoring in that the invoices are not sold, they are used as collateral for a line of credit.
Similar to trucking factoring companies, Rapid Advance provides funding for transportation companies nationwide. In fact, they recently provided working capital loans of $250,000 to a Hope, Arkansas transportation company.
Rapid Advance Pros and Cons
In addition to the Rapid Advance reviews above, we reiterate the key pros and cons:
Main Pros:
· High approval rate, 96%
· High customer renewal rate, 75%.
· Offers funding options for a wide variety of different businesses.
· Has an impressive management team and backing from a strong PE partner.
· Provides access to accounts receivable financing.
Main Cons:
· Expensive funding option. Best rate is 15% per year on preferred-rate loans.
· Does not offer same day funding.
· Don’t offer factoring.
For more information on Rapid Advance:
Who Uses Rapid Advance?
Where does their funding come from?
Do they offer specialty financing options?
*https://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2013/07/15/dont-write-off-debt-funding/#16ff4b8027af