Newtek Business Loans Review 2021

When looking for small business loans, you may have come across Newtek’s small business finance options. With term loans and various revolving line of credit products, Newtek business loans offer a solution to a variety of funding needs.

Newtek labels itself as “Your Business Solutions Company.” In fact, they offer an array of services to businesses—from business loans to payroll services to insurance and more.

While they deal in more than just loans, Newtek still shells out a remarkably high volume of business funding—over $2 billion since 2003, to be exact.

Let’s break down the two types of Newtek business loans so you can decide whether either of them is right for your business.

Generally speaking, term loans offer the most manageable terms for small business owners—with longer terms, larger loan amounts, and lower interest rates, they offer funding that won’t seriously impede your business’s cash flow.

Newtek’s other type of small business financing is their business line of credit, which is a revolving, asset-based line of credit. This means that your business assets—either your inventory or accounts receivable—will secure the loan.

The type of Newtek small business finance product you’re applying for will determine the eligibility criteria. 

For term loans, which have stricter qualifications, Newtek lends to businesses that:

• Have at least two to three years of tax returns
• Are based in the U.S.
• Are for-profit
• Have repayment ability from earnings
• Are in the following industries: 
  • Manufacturing
  • Wholesaling
  • Services
  • Retailing
  • General and heavy construction
  • Special trade construction
  • And more

For their lines of credit, at minimum, your business will either need to have accounts receivable due within 30, 60, or 90 days or non-perishable inventory.

Newtek does not offer much information on what documents you’ll need to apply for one of their loan products. However, for most business term loan or line of credit applications, you should expect to provide:

• Bank statements
• Tax returns
• Business plan
• Personal and business credit scores
• EIN and/or social security number
• Business license and permits
• Secretary of State business registration
• Legal contracts and agreements
• Financial statements (i.e. balance sheet, profit and loss statement, cash flow statement)

For more details, check out our guide on business loan requirements.

If one (or multiple) of Newtek’s small business finance products appeals to you, the next step is to learn about the application, underwriting, and repayment processes.

First, you’ll fill out a prequalification form on Newtek’s website, which asks for some basic business information, including time in business, loan amount, business name and address, etc. You will also select the best time for one of their lending specialists to call you.

Once this is submitted, Newtek has a 48-hour turnaround window. During this time, you’ll be assigned a lending specialist who you’ll work with throughout your loan process. Newtek boasts that they will complete all of your required paperwork and documents for you; however, beyond that, they don’t go into much detail about what you’ll need to provide for the underwriting process. 

Based on their Better Business Bureau responses, Newtek’s loans are done through the SBA 7(a) program. Thus, the underwriting process will be lengthy and you will need to provide extensive documentation. Read our guide on SBA loan requirements and SBA loan timeline for a better understanding of what to expect.

If you’re applying for a line of credit, you will have a less rigorous underwriting process. Since these products are secured by your inventory or accounts receivable, they pose less of a risk to the lender. If you were to default on your loan, Newtek would seize and liquidate the assets to recoup their losses. You’ll also be able to receive your funds more quickly, in as little as two weeks.

If you’re approved for the term loan, you’ll receive the loan amount as a lump sum in your business bank account. You can then use these funds for any business-related purposes. Term loan uses include to expand or acquire a business, increase working capital, increase cash flow, open a new location, invest in marketing or ecommerce, purchase inventory or equipment, purchase or renovate owner-occupied real estate, refinance existing business debt, or make leasehold improvements.

For the accounts receivable-secured line of credit, you can receive up to an 80% advance rate on your outstanding invoices. Then, once the invoice is paid, you’ll receive the remaining balance—minus Newtek’s lender fees.

With their inventory-secured line of credit, you can receive an advance of up to 50% of your inventory’s worth. Lines of credit can be used for working capital, meeting payroll, tax payments, or other operational needs. Additionally, a business line of credit is great to have in your back pocket in case an emergency or time-sensitive opportunity comes up.

You can also expect slightly different repayment processes depending on which type of Newtek business loan you choose. To repay the term loan, you will have scheduled payments, typically monthly, of a set amount that includes your interest and principal payment. While Newtek does not disclose what their interest rates may be, this will typically vary based on your credentials. Newtek also claims to have limited or no prepayment penalties, meaning if you are able to pay back your loan ahead of schedule, you will either face no or a smaller fee.

Newtek’s lines of credit are revolving, which means once you repay what you borrowed, your limit will reset to its original amount and you are free to draw from it again. You’ll also only pay interest on the amount you actually use—not the total you’re approved for.

Once you start an application with Newtek, you will have a dedicated loan specialist to assist you with your application and post-funding process. Additionally, you can call their general customer service line, request to be called at a specific time, email them, or use their live chat function.

Newtek does not have many customer reviews online, with only 11 reviews on the Better Business Bureau. However, the average rating is just one star out of five and customers have overwhelmingly negative feedback. Points of contention center around the lengthy application process, unhelpful tech support, having to put a “good faith” deposit down, and feeling pressured into accepting loan offers.

However, Newtek is also one of the SBA’s most active lenders, facilitating over $336 million in SBA loans from the first to third quarter of 2020. With so much loan volume, you can expect that there are some satisfied customers out there who chose not to leave reviews about their experience. That said, you may also want to include some other top SBA lenders for your funding needs.

Newtek is not in Fundera’s Lender Network. The Fundera team carefully vets all of the lenders in our network, and have determined that Newtek either doesn’t have the technology to work with Fundera or does not offer a financing product that competes with the other lenders in its product class. We suggest considering another lender in this product class.

See if you qualify for similar products in Fundera’s Lender Network.