Northwest Savings Bank reviews

8.9

Overall

8.9/10

Funding Speed

8.4/10

Cost

9.3/10

Experience/Reputation

9.1/10

Service and Support

8.9/10

Pros

  • Provides various business financing options, including lines of credit.
  • SBA preferred lenders.
  • Veterans in commercial business and real estate lending.
  • Extensive property and casualty insurance products.
  • 123+ years in business.

Cons

  • Limited ABL options.
  • Regionally-focused.
  • Invoice factoring not offered.

Northwest Savings Bank Reviews

See the above info for Northwest Savings Bank Reviews. If you’re a current or prior Northwest Bank customer, we’d like to get some feedback from you. What was your experience like?

Northwest Spotlight

·       Headquarters: Warren, Pennsylvania

·       In Business Since: 1896

·       Funding Category: Consumer and Business Financing

·       Primary Financing Methods: Commercial Loans, Lines of Credit, Equipment Financing

Northwest is a consumer and business bank headquartered in Warren, Pennsylvania. In addition to 172 branches throughout Western and Central Pennsylvania, they also have locations in Ohio and Western New York (through the acquisition of First Niagara Bank branches).1 Additionally, Northwest customers can access over 55,000 ATM’s through the Allpoint network, free of any surcharges.

Despite the name similarity, there is no connection with the Northwest Federal Credit Union. Interestingly, that credit union does offer net working capital solutions for business customers, especially government contractors.

What Type of Alternative Funding does Northwest Savings Bank Provide?

Northwest Community Bank provides business capital to entrepreneurs, small businesses and medium-sized companies. These customers are often shunned by the big banks and even regional lenders. But Northwest is different-their small business funding options including term loans with seasonal repayment structures and construction loans (fixed or variable rate).

But it’s not just lending that separates Northwest’s merchant services. There is also a wealth of knowledge located throughout their website including their financial literacy initiative, checklists for estate planning, loan calculators, mobile apps and the Northwest 360 for Business program.

Northwest Bank Business Funding Options Include:

·       Business Lines of Credit

·       Term Loans

·       SBA lending

·       Commercial Real Estate Financing

·       Northwest business credit cards (Visa co-branded)

·       Equipment Loans

·       Oil, Gas & Mineral Lease Advisory

·       Business Construction Loans

·       HELOCs

·       Home Equity Loans

Interestingly, Northwest devotes an entire page to the discussion of using a home equity line of credit for business purposes. Very small businesses or even startups have the hardest times accessing bank credit. The article talks about how SBA loans will generally require an equity injection by the owner. They suggest meeting that requirement with a home equity loan or line of credit. Similar to personal loans for business, a HELOC can provide a backdoor for newer, high-growth businesses to access capital. Unfortunately, these are not quick business loans and can take weeks or even months to obtain.

Northwest’s small business credit cards offer another financing option. The cards, in partnership with Visa, allow business owners to create spending limits for every cardholder, set up automatic payments and obtain separate statements for easier expense accounting. The cards also offer a generous rewards program with no annual fee. Further, Northwest provides tips for responsibly managing such a funding mechanism.

Finally, with Northwest’s proximity to Pennsylvania and Ohio, certain landowners have the opportunity for potentially lucrative oil, gas and mineral leases. Northwest Bank provides advisory services for such new royalty streams considering potential health care, legacy planning and asset protection needs of customers.

Unfortunately, their specialty is not working capital business loans. For such products consider a bank with more of a focus on ABL (asset based lending), such as Middlesex Savings Bank, Crestmark or Chemical Bank.

Northwest Savings Bank Pros and Cons

In addition to the Northwest Bank reviews above, we reiterate these key pros and cons:

Main Pros:

·       Provides various business financing options, including lines of credit.

·       SBA preferred lenders.

·       Veterans in commercial business and real estate lending.

·       Extensive property and casualty insurance products.

·       123+ years in business.

 

Main Cons

·       Limited ABL options.

·       Regionally-focused.

·       Invoice factoring not offered.

 

Similar Lenders to Northwest Bank:

·       Tab Bank

·       Mascoma Savings Bank

·       Riviera Finance

·       Independent Bank

·       Webbank

·       Union Savings Bank

 

1https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1471265/000147126518000014/nwbi-12312017x10k.htm