Last reviewed by:
Melissa Wylie
September 27, 2018
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author’s opinions and recommendations alone. It may not have been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.
OnDeck
Small business financing made simple, because getting a loan shouldn’t feel like a second job.
99%
Very professional service provided by Steve Cruz whom made the process very easy to understand! From start to finish, I got funded in 3days. Job well done!
By: Tiffany
Excited to help build our business credit. Jordan Bousman made this process super easy and quick. He was fantastic!
By: Amanda
Anthony Modreck provided a professional experience. really professional and answered all of my questions. I would highly recommend this company and Anthony specifically!
By: Rochelle
Jordan Bousman was excellent to work with during the entire process. He was timely and accurate. He did not try to oversell and was very concise.
By: janet
Scott was great to work with! Made the whole process fast and easy! We will use them again in future
By: Cheryl
OnDeck was founded in 2007 to provide access to capital to small business owners. The New York-based online lender assesses businesses based on overall performance, not just the owner’s credit score.
Since launching, OnDeck has issued more than $8 billion to more than 80,000 small businesses across 700 industries.
Compare small business loan offers
OnDeck offers short- and long-term loans as well as lines of credit to qualifying business owners. Payments are due daily or weekly, depending on the terms of your financing.
| OnDeck: At a glance | |||||
| Loan product | Loan amount | Loan term | APR range/ factor rate | Fees | Time to funding |
| Short-term loan | Up to $250,000 | 3 to 12 months | As low as 9% Simple Interest.
(average rate is 25.3% Simple Interest) |
One-time origination fee
1st loan: 2.5%-4% of loan amount 2nd loan: 1.25%-3% of loan amount 3rd+ loan: 0%-3% of loan amount |
As soon as 24 hours, but it could take longer if additional underwriting information is required. |
| Line of credit | Up to $100,000 | Fixed weekly payments | As low as 13.99% APR.
Average rate is 32.6% APR |
$20 monthly maintenance fee, which is waived for the first six months if you withdraw $5,000 or more from your account in the first five days | As soon as 24 hours, but it could take longer if additional underwriting information is required. |
| Long-term loan | Up to $250,000 | 15 to 36 months | As low as 9.99% Annual Interest Rate (AIR).
(average rate is 48.7% AIR) |
Same one-time origination fees as short-term loans | As soon as 24 hours, but it could take longer if additional underwriting information is required. |
Rates current as of 9/27/2018
OnDeck financing is targeted toward business owners who have trouble securing traditional bank loans because of poor credit. The company looks beyond credit score and takes additional metrics into consideration when evaluating borrowers, such as cash flow, transaction data and public records related to the business,
To help you improve your credit score, OnDeck reports information about your business’s loan repayments each month to three national credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and Paynet. For customers with a line of credit, OnDeck solely reports to Experian on a monthly basis. On-time payments to OnDeck would reflect positively on your business credit profile and help you improve your overall score.
OnDeck works with businesses in most fields, from dentist offices to martial arts studios, but the company restricts its services. OnDeck does not work with businesses in a number of industries, listed below.
These businesses are not eligible for OnDeck loans:
| Pros | Cons |
| Takes performance metrics beyond credit score into consideration | Low interest rates are rare. The company advertises a low annual interest rate of 9%, for example, but the average AIR is actually 42.5% |
| Helps you improve your credit score | Lien placed on business assets to secure the loan |
| Easy application process | Certain industries are restricted from borrowing |
| Loan product | Annual revenue | Min. business credit score or personal credit score | Time in business |
| Term loans | $100,000 | Personal credit score of 500 | 1 year |
| Line of credit | $100,000 | Personal credit score of 600 | 1 year |
OnDeck places a general lien on your business assets until the loan has been paid in full, which means you could lose your business if you fall behind on your loan.
The company doesn’t use a specific asset, such as real estate or inventory, as collateral, which allows businesses that don’t have valuable collateral to apply for financing.
A personal guarantee is also required, which gives OnDeck the right to pursue your personal assets if your business fails to repay the loan, but the lender doesn’t place an actual lien on your personal assets.
Banks traditionally require collateral to secure business loans, but online lenders typically favor general liens to speed up the process. If a lender doesn’t have to assign value to any collateral, then you’re more likely to get your funding quickly. However, the lender would be able to go after all of your business assets if you fail to repay the loan, rather than just a sole asset, such as your work vehicle. Additionally, you may have trouble obtaining additional financing from another lender once a lien is placed on your business.
The OnDeck application can be completed online or over the phone.
Documents to apply
Types of loan rates differ by product. OnDeck advertises different types of interest rates on its loan products, which can make it confusing to compare rates from product to product. On the three products listed in our review, OnDeck offers a simple interest rate, an annual percentage rate (APR) and an annual interest rate.
It may be hard to know the difference between the three, so we’ll explain.
Fees. The loan origination fee is required each time you borrow from OnDeck, but it decreases with each new loan you take out. A line of credit requires a $20 monthly maintenance fee, but you can avoid paying it for six months if you borrow $5,000 or more within the first five days.
Your rate may be higher than the lowest rate advertised. Eligibility for the lowest interest rate is reserved for businesses with the strongest creditworthiness and cash flows, as well as businesses that have an excellent repayment history on prior OnDeck loans. For all the low rates OnDeck advertises, it also shows that the average rate secured by borrowers is often much higher (see table above).
Daily or weekly payments. Like many business lenders, OnDeck requires daily or weekly payments to pay off your loan, which are based on the amount and term length of your financing. Frequent payments are designed to eliminate the burden of a large monthly payment and should be manageable based on the information you gave the company.
OnDeck’s broad requirements give business owners a chance to secure financing without relying heavily on credit score or collateral. OnDeck measures the overall health of your business when issuing loans and designs a daily or monthly repayment schedule that works for you. If your business falls within the company’s acceptable industries, OnDeck could be a quick, efficient way to fund your business needs.
Before you choose a lender, be sure to compare offers from at least a few companies. At the end of the day, you want the best offer — rate, repayment term and fees — that you can get. A loan marketplace like LendingTree makes this simple, because we offer a short online form that asks a few basic questions and gives you the chance to get multiple loan quotes in one place.